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The economic value of elephants in Sri Lanka for tourism-by Srilal Miththapala It is estimated that there are some 6,000 wild elephants in Sri Lanka today. This then means that there is a treasure worth more than Rs. 23.4 billion ($ 128 m) out in the wild Source:FT From time immemorial, travellers of days gone by and modern-day tourists have been fascinated by Sri Lanka’s elephants. Today, wildlife, and elephants in particular, is a major component of Sri Lanka tourism’s product portfolio. Unfortunately at the same time, due to haphazard and unplanned development, encroaching into hitherto elephant habitats, there are widespread altercations between man and elephant, resulting in large numbers of elephants dying. Today Sri Lanka has earned the dubious ‘honour’ of being rated as the country with the highest number of elephant deaths in the world. In this analysis I attempt to evaluate the economic benefits of an elephant ...