Sri Lanka, Aug. 13 -- Sri Lanka's elephant problem is far from over. With each passing day, the gentle giants of our jungles are facing a worrisome plight. Statistics indicate that over 350 elephants had succumbed to injuries as a result of the human-elephant conflict. But this conflict, if managed properly, could have been averted.
It is a known fact that farmers and people of yesteryear coexisted with nature. Farmers kept a portion of their harvest (known as Kurulu Paluwa) for birds and animals such as elephants. This was an unharvested outer strip or buffer zone of the paddy field left deliberately near forest boundaries. During the early 20th century, Sri Lanka was mostly covered by dense natural forests. These dense forests allowed l...