Status and trends in conservation and management of elephants in sri lanka: an analysis of social media behaviour

Abstract

Elephants are one of the major wildlife attractions in Sri Lanka. It has been revered in Asia for centuries and plays a vital role in the continent’s culture, religion, and war. They also play a critical role in maintaining forests in the region. Today, Elephants are considered to be an endangered species, just like many species of animals that became extinct on Earth hundreds of thousands of years ago. The human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka is currently a strong socioeconomic and conservation challenge. Social media groups and pages posting environmental news in Sri Lanka can be seen disclosing various facts about elephant-human conflict, conservation and management trends and situations in Sri Lanka. The main objective of this paper was to identify the status and trends of elephant conservation and management in Sri Lanka. Also, the importance of human-elephant conflict in Sri Lankan social media and its content, the purpose and results of posting on social media, and the impact of social media news on reducing human-elephant conflict are also identified here. For this, a secondary source of data, social media, is selected, and data is collected through 20 selected pages and 20 groups. It analyzes the number of news items published in these during the last year, their content, accuracy, the language used, the purpose and nature of reporting, and the situations that occurred after reporting. Reported news is analyzed in a number of different areas. Due to the unsustainable development processes in the country, environmental scientific factors, and political instability, this elephant-human conflict has escalated. For this, the study has revealed that the expansion of elephant migration routes, correct conservation strategies, rules, and the use of technology are essential.