Many hundred years ago, in Sri Lankan jungles there were thousands and thousands of elephants. Those days there had always been a natural balance between animals, people and the rest of nature.But with the arrival of the English, the animals ware killed for sport. Later people started killing elephants for their valuable skins, and tusks.
There after 1948 vast areas of jungle were cleared for farmer villages. They were called resettlement schemes. By now the population in our country has gone up very much.Thisincreasing number of people need land, houses and food. People have cleared more and more jungles. So the elephant have lost their habitat.
Over the years number of animals living in Sri Lankan jungles have dropped dramatically.
Even the few remaining elephant do not have enough forest areas. Elephant sometimes wander across the national park boundaries on to farming and hunting land. When elephants enter the farm lands farmers shoot them in order to protect their cultivation.
By now the number of wild elephants in Sri Lanka have dropped dramatically. There are only about 3000 wild elephants. So now it's high time to take immediate actions to protect them. Severe laws should be imposed to protect wild elephants. Public awareness programmes should be organized to teach the people about the value of wild elephants. New forest areas should be declared national parks where no body is allowed to kill or hunt elephants. It is our duty to let our future generations to see these giants.
