Elephants have and will always enjoy a special place in Sri Lanka as they easily garner the spotlight in different fields such as cultural and religious ceremonies and also in tourism. From the grandiose and monumental age-old ceremonies and festivals of Sri Lanka to the lush woodlands of Sri Lanka, elephants seem to be thriving majestically and unperturbed.

           However the truth is far different from this and every measure should be taken to conserve the valuable elephant population of the country. Sri Lanka possesses a significantly lengthy history with regard to the trade of ivory which has led to a brutal decline of the majestic elephants of Sri Lanka. The elephant tuskers have been affected mostly by the ivory trade which has stretched its influence for over 2000 years. Poaching and hunting games over the centuries has also contributed heavily to this sad decline of the Sri Lankan elephant. The loss of habitat due to the rapidly progressing settlements and development projects of Sri Lanka have also led to a disheartening increase in human – elephant conflicts.

             Despite all of the adverse scenarios there are still hundreds of elephants in Sri Lanka in the wild and as captive and rehabilitated animals in temples and orphanages.The Sri Lankan elephant is just one of the three subspecies of the Asian Elephant and as the elephant is found natively only in Asia and Africa, tourists from the Western World have high levels of eagerness and enthusiasm to catch a glimpse of these majestic and formidable creatures.