Migara
Male
Sri Dalada Maligawa
Sri Lanka
All range states
Range state·South Asia
Sri Lanka
An island herd sharing space with 22 million people
Sri Lanka's ~5,900 elephants are genetically distinct from mainland populations. High human-elephant conflict has driven innovative coexistence tools — from SMS early warning networks to community watch groups — that are now models for the rest of Asia.
SubspeciesSri Lankan elephant (E. m. maximus)TrendStableWild~5,913
Asian range
~5,913
Wild population
Estimated in range
409
Database records
From elephant.se
399
Living
351 named
73
Camps
Distinct facilities
2Sanctuaries
1Hotspots
320HEC / year
Database
Featured records
Recently updated named elephants in Sri Lanka.
Living
Sumana Hasthiya
Male
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
Sri Lanka
Living
Sinha Raja
Male
Polwatte temple
Sri Lanka
Living
Banda
Male
Matale Aluvihara Rock Cave Temple
Sri Lanka
Living
Samurdhi
Male
Badulla Hali Ela Hindu Temple
Sri Lanka
Living
Kapuru Gijindu
Male
Weyangoda Sri Nagendraramaya temple
Sri Lanka
Living
Kanchana
Male
Polwatte temple
Sri Lanka
Living
Bandu
Male
Munneswaram Devalaya
Sri Lanka
Facilities
Camps & facilities
Top elephant.se locations by record count — many linked to our curated sanctuary directory.
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
CuratedSri Lanka
78 named·88 living·camp
Uda Walawe Nationalpark
Sri Lanka
57 named·67 living·camp
Uda Walawe Elephant Transit Home
Sri Lanka
21 named·25 living·camp
Yala Ruhunu National Park
Sri Lanka
22 named·22 living·camp
Sri Dalada Maligawa
Sri Lanka
20 named·19 living·camp
Panamure elephant kraal
Sri Lanka
1 named·12 living·camp
Curated
Sanctuary directory
Hand-verified listings tagged by experience type and welfare criteria.
On the ground
Coexistence in action
Field programs reducing human-elephant conflict, mapped on our range map.
Early warning
2019SMS Early Warning System
Rangers and community scouts send real-time SMS alerts when elephants approach villages. Residents secure livestock and children before elephants arrive.
Impact
Zero human fatalities in pilot villages since 2019
Resources
Field notes & stories
Editorial coverage relevant to Sri Lanka.
Data source
Individual elephant records are synced from elephant.se by Dan A. J. Koehl, used under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. We reformatted the data for search and filtering; the original records remain authoritative.
Records synced weekly into MySQL on mahoot.xyz.