105 domesticated elephants have been living in SL

By Shantha Chandrasiri   

A recent survey has revealed that 105 domesticated elephants have been living in Sri Lanka as at January 09, 2023.   

A senior wildlife conservator said according to the register 69 of them were males and 36 females.   
He said the Buddhist temples owned 27 elephants, Sri Dalada Maligawa eleven, Devalas ten and the private owners 57. The official said several of domesticated elephants were tuskers. 

 
He pointed out that according to the register, there had been 350 domesticated elephants by the 1980s but it had reduced to 105 by now and the majority of them were more than 50 years old.   

Owners of domesticated elephants said it takes about three years to train an elephant to march in a procession and that it was an arduous task. They pointed out that it would not be possible to find elephants for religious ceremonies in the future due to the shortage of trained elephants.     

• Elephants for religious ceremonies would be scarce in the future due to the shortage of trained elephants.