Experiences and emotional responses of farming communities living with Asian Elephants in Southern Sri Lanka

Individuals’ tolerance toward wildlife can be based on a combination of tangible benefits and costs (e.g. economic gains and losses) as well as intangible benefits and costs (e.g. shared values and risk perceptions). Asian Elephants (Elephas maximus) potentially present both types of benefits and costs for rural communities. We examined which factors were associated with emotional responses toward wild Asian Elephants among agriculturalists using a questionnaire survey of 300 households situated around the Wetahirakanda sanctuary connecting Udawalawe and Lunugamwehera National Parks, Sri Lanka. Respondents were all from the Sinhala-Buddhist ethno-religious majority with average annual household incomes of Rs. 339,335 LKR (∼$2610 USD). We found that none of the surveyed households derived any economic benefits from tourism despite the proximity of two national parks, whereas 171 (57%) had experienced crop damage by Elephants. Though the median annual income lost due to elephants was Rs.50,000 LKR (4%), 21 households (7%) had losses exceeding 100%. Only six individuals (2%) recollected any human fatalities in their communities. Only three individuals reported positive feelings toward elephants, whereas all others had negative or neutral feelings. Economic factors were not significant predictors of feelings toward elephants, whereas fear of elephants and worry about crop damage had the largest and most significant negative effects. Our findings suggest that it might not be sufficient to reduce losses solely at an individual level, but that human-elephant coexistence interventions should target communities as a whole to reduce the spill-over effects of worry and anxiety by association with others who have experienced loss.