Harassed elephants budget tourists and vlogs

The aggravated elephant toppled the two tuks and pushed over a motor bike that was parked nearby. Although declaring their lives were in danger, these tourists did not stop filming as they knew it would be good footage to sell or upload, resulting in great publicity...

A clip on social media about an elephant charging some tourists caught my attention the other day. Many elephants roam the main roads of the jungle areas in Sri Lanka as the forests are being cleared and the elephants have nowhere to hang out.  Our ignorant people have begun to feed these elephants and it has become habitual for some of these elephants to be on the roads expecting people passing by to feed them.  What people seem to forget is that these pachyderms are wild and should not be fed, especially since wild elephants have their temperaments and varied personalities: bold, shy, laid back or short tempered, at times curious or afraid.  Therefore, one never knows what to expect or which mood an elephant could be in.

The biggest threat to the Sri Lankan elephants is the loss of the forests. Large areas of the forest have been cleared for either human settlement or agriculture purposes. Owing to this, human and elephant conflict have caused destruction to both elephants and humans. The elephants who are displaced naturally invade sugar cane and banana plantations. The battle with humans and elephants happens weekly and leads to the mortality of the elephants, where the percentages soar annually.

My first reaction to the clip was how these tourists, had hired a couple of tuktuks to explore the island. The clip began with them searching for a breakfast for a dollar or less. Food at the first restaurant was priced over a dollar, about which they were complaining until they found a café where they were provided a hearty breakfast for a mere three hundred rupees.  After the breakfast they proceeded to travel on, I believe, Habarana Road, filming all the way.  It was obvious they were shooting a vlog. When they got close to the elephant on the roadside it proceeded to charge the tourists, who with great agility jumped out of their tuktuks and kept going back towards the elephant and provoking it. The aggravated elephant toppled the two tuks and pushed over a motor bike that was parked nearby. Although declaring their lives were in danger, these tourists did not stop filming as they knew it would be good footage to sell or upload, resulting in great publicity.   This makes me wonder if  they may have irritated the elephant in order to film, edit and create a dramatic vlog of them being charged by a wild elephant.

I am aware that, as a country to uplift its economy, we are inviting tourists to come over and spend.  However, it seems that the majority we are attracting are the low budget spenders looking for bargains, living in rented rooms for less than ten dollars a day and some even camping on the beach in their own tents. All media platforms have clips on how they enjoy all that the island has to offer, living on twenty dollars or less a day. It is no wonder the hotels island wide are offering its residents deals throughout the year, as the majority of the visitors are not checking into them but enjoying the Island on a low budget.