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The Sri Lankan elephant (Elephas maximus maximus) is a subspecies of the Asian elephant, native to Sri Lanka.It has been listed as an endangered species since 1986. This subspecies is smaller than the African elephant, but typically larger than the Asian elephant: it can grow to 2 to 3.5 meters in height and 4 to 6 metres in length.
Leopard of Punanai: The leopard called "man-eater of Punanai" is the only officially accounted for man-eating leopard of Sri Lanka, where leopard attacks rarely happen. [65] [66] It killed at least 12 people on a jungle road near the hamlet of Punanai, not far from Batticaloa in the east of Sri Lanka. Its first victim was a child.
This situation is fueled by human encroachment of wildlife areas and the effects of global warming on the health of ecosystem on which such animals depend, which motivates a competition for food with humans, especially the raiding of farms. The monkey menace is parallel to similar conflicts with elephants and leopards. [1] [2] [3]
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Human-wildlife interactions have occurred throughout man's prehistory and recorded history. An early form of human-wildlife conflict is the depredation of the ancestors of prehistoric man by a number of predators of the Miocene such as saber-toothed cats, leopards, and spotted hyenas.
An increase in sloth bear-human interaction has also caused many conflicts. [4] These conflicts include death and injury to humans, livestock loss, damage to property, and retaliatory killing of wildlife causing humans to fear this species.
The wildlife of Sri Lanka includes its flora and fauna and their natural habitats. Sri Lanka has one of the highest rates of biological endemism (16% of the fauna and 23% of flowering plants are endemic [ 1 ] ).
Sri Lanka has thus become the country with the highest elephant mortality rate worldwide. [30] The Sri Lankan Department of Wildlife Conservation official records showed that 407 elephants were killed in 2019. The next three years after that showed 328, 375, and 439 elephant fatalities, respectively.