Even though elephants are not rare in Sri Lanka, elephants with tusks are a rare occurrence in this island nation. Likely due to poaching, trophy hunting, and the domestication of wild elephants, the gene associated with having tusks has become rare among the population. While more than 50% of male elephants in neighboring India have tusks, in Sri Lanka, less than 15% of male elephants bear tusks. Even today, tusked elephants remain vulnerable due to the black market demand for ivory.
The central part of Sri Lanka has the highest population of these remaining magnificent tuskers. Finding and photographing these elephants is an adventure in itself, as males only join herds during their mating period, a time when they are quite aggressive. Despite our contacts in nearby villages keeping an eye out for them, locating these elephants in the many scattered forest patches is quite challenging. However, during our last expedition in March 2024, we managed to find two of these majestic giants.
One tusker was spotted right in the middle of a huge lake. A crowd had gathered to see it, and we waited about two hours for it to come closer so we could take some decent photographs. Finally, it approached the lake’s bank, allowing us to capture some great shots.
The tusker known as Ratta, still in its youth, proved particularly elusive. Just as we were about to give up around five in the evening, we received a lead from a villager and decided to give it one last try. When we arrived at the location, there it was, with a herd of about ten elephants. Ratta was very aggressive, but just before the light faded, we managed to capture a few snaps of this beautiful creature.
