COLOMBO, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation Ministry has decided to conduct a new countrywide census on the elephant population in 2023, the parliament's media unit said in a press release on Friday.
The decision was made at the first meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Wildlife and Forest Resources Conservation held at the parliament complex.
The need for a fresh elephant census has arisen as about 12 years have elapsed since the last census, the press release said.
A complete census of elephants will be conducted as part of a long-term program to reduce human-elephant conflict. Lawmakers present at the meeting pointed out that elephant-human conflict has been worsening in the South Asian country, according to the press release.
It was revealed at the meeting that the existing 16 major elephant corridors in the country have been mostly blocked due to the illegal settlements of people.
According to the press release, the obstacles blocking the elephant corridors would be removed as part of the effort to reduce the incidents of elephant-human conflict. ■