Journal of Threatened
Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 April 2026 | 18(4): 28657–28661
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6161.18.4.28657-28661
#6161 | Received 29 June 2023 | Final received 25 February 2026| Finally
accepted 17 March 2026
A preliminary study to
investigate behavioural differences among elephants
residing near the Buttala-Kataragama and Habarana roads in Sri Lanka, where they are regularly fed
by passing motorists
108/10 Shalawa
Road, Mirihana, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka.
Editor: Heidi Riddle, Riddle’s
Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary, Arkansas, USA. Date of publication: 26 April 2026 (online & print)
Citation: Muthukumarana, T. (2026).
A preliminary study to investigate behavioural differences among elephants
residing near the Buttala-Kataragama and Habarana roads in Sri Lanka, where they are regularly fed
by passing motorists. Journal of Threatened Taxa 18(4): 28657–28661. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.6161.18.4.28657-28661
Copyright: © Muthukumarana 2026. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License. JoTT allows unrestricted use,
reproduction, and distribution of this article in any medium by providing
adequate credit to the author(s) and the source of publication.
Funding: Elephant Conservation Organisation.
Competing interests: The author declares no competing interests.
Author details: Tharindu Muthukumarana is a zoologist specialising in elephant research. He is the author of the award-winning book The Life of the Last Proboscideans: Elephants. He also founded the Elephant Conservation Organization, dedicated to advancing research and promoting
science-based elephant conservation.
Abstract: This study examined the behavior
of wild Sri Lankan Elephants Elephas maximus living in districts near Buttala-Katragama road (B035) and Habarana
road (A11). Elephants at B035 were observed to be more attracted to food given
by motorists than those at A11, who were more interested in feeding on
surrounding vegetation, strolling, and crossing the road. Motorists travelling
the B035 route were also observed to be more likely to feed elephants than
those travelling the A11 route, despite the latter having the most traffic.
Keywords: Asian Elephants, behavioural plasticity, conservation, Elephant cognition,
Elephants’ food solicitation, ethology, road ecology, Sri Lanka, wildlife-human
negative interaction.
Introduction
Wild elephants showing an
interest in food given by humans is not new (Muthukumarana
2017). In Sri Lanka, places have been identified where some elephants could be
said to be “addicted” to getting food directly from people travelling through
the area. These places include Somawathiya, Sithulpawwa, Udawalawe, Buttala- Katragama road, Habarana road, and Kebaliththa in
Yala Block IV. Of these, the Buttala-Katragama
road (B035) and Habarana road (A11) are significant
since both cut through protected forest patches. The Buttala-Katragama
road goes through Yala National Park-Blocks III, IV,
and V, the latter connecting with Lunugamwehera
National Park, which connects with Vetahirakanda
Nature Reserve and thereby Udawalawe National Park.
The Habarana road runs adjacent to Minneriya National Park and a jungle corridor that connects
to Kaudulla National Park (Image 1).
On either side of these two
roads, sign boards have been erected informing travelers of the presence of
elephants and advising not to feed them. Both roads are heavily used by
motorists, and incidents have been reported when vehicles have collided with
elephants, and when elephants are said to have attacked motorists. In Buttala-Katragama road, elephants have been reported to
take food by force by blocking the road and using their trunks to grab food
from inside vehicles. This act may damage the vehicle
but the animals do not seem to intentionally attack the passengers.
Study objective
To identify which population of
elephants is more “addicted” to human-provided snacks. Features of “snack
addicts” include:
1. They linger near or on the
road for long periods of time, extending to several hours.
2. They show little interest in
feeding on nearby vegetation.
3. They show considerable
interest in passing vehicles, with responses including approaching them and
lifting their trunk next to windows to accept food.
There were previous reports that
elephants on Buttala-Kattaragama (BK) road are more
interested in buses than other vehicles, since they are more confident in
getting food from riders therein. Thus, one aim of this study was to examine
this aspect. Another goal was to check whether musth
periods were associated with aggressive responses to motorists.
Evaluation
Records come from the years
2013–2019, during which a survey recorded 203 elephant encounters on BK Road,
and 145 in Habarana. When an elephant or a group of
elephants was sighted, their behaviour was assessed
against the ethogram and related criteria, and the relevant data were
documented. Each sighting was classified as a “case,” with observation duration
varying according to the elephants’ proximity and visibility. The mean observation
time per case was 97.5 ± 82.5 minutes on BK and 70 ± 60 minutes (113 days) on Habarana (109 days). Twenty-seven behavioural
criteria were checked for both the populations (Table 1 & 2), and
observations also indicated more traffic on Habarana
road relative to BK road. Recent observations seem to indicate a similar behaviour pattern.
Additionally, traffic was
monitored for 20 days on both the BK and Habarana
roads. Specifically, the number of vehicles passing per minute was recorded.
The mean traffic values were then calculated separately for each road (Tables 1
and 2).
Buttala-Katragama elephants’ analytical data
From the behaviour
criteria, the behaviour that was observed the most
was “Staying on the middle of road for long times”. In all the other sightings,
except in one herd, elephants had an interest in staying on the road. But herds
seem to prefer staying off the road compared to the individual males. This also
clarifies that most of the “addicts” were males. It is also remarkable that
bachelor herds were absent, and male elephants that were within a range of 55 m
were not cooperative with each other for a long time.
In the few herds observed, the
number of individuals ranged from 2–5 individuals. Per herd there were at least
one each of the following: infant, juvenile, and sub-adult. The adult number
ranged from 1–2 individuals. These were basically small herds and since the
research was based upon sightings, sometimes the same herd might get counted on
different occasions.
Out of the elephants that
exhibited aggression towards motorists, only one of them was in musth condition. None of the members in any herd showed any
signs of aggression.
The types of vehicles that gave
food were (in descending order): van n = 80, three-wheeler n = 56, car n = 54,
bus n = 51, truck or lorry n = 33, SUV n = 25, motorcycle n = 9, cab n = 8 and
tractor n = 1. However, it was remarkable to notice that out of the four
incidents of force grabbing, three were from buses, while only one was from a
three-wheeler. It should be mentioned that those buses were filled with
passengers going on a pilgrimage. The three-wheeler incident happened to a
foreigner who had rented a three-wheeler and was passing by that road.
Habarana elephants’ analytical data
From the behaviour
criteria, the behaviour that were observed the most
were “Interested in Strolling Along the Road”, “Interested in Feeding on
Surrounding Vegetation”, and “Crossing the Road and Entering Forest (without
strolling)”.
All the elephants that were
interested in strolling along the road were male elephants. In this behaviour, they may stroll along the road and enter to the
side of the forest. Sometimes they strolled more than 1 km in distance.
Out of the 26 herds that were
encountered during the course of the study, about 22 herds were interested in
feeding on the surrounding vegetation. This vegetation is the flora present at
road side, basically 15 m away from the road.
About 17 herds crossed the road without strolling. The remaining nine
herds may have crossed before the encounter. There were two bachelor herds that
quickly crossed the road.
The number of herd members ranged
3–70 individuals per herd, including multiple herds getting together to form a
kinship herd. Usually in a herd, there would be less than 15 individuals, so
having a greater number than that means these are likely kinship herds (Prasad
2004). Per herd the infant number ranged from 1–15 individuals, while juveniles
ranged 1–26, sub-adults 1–17, and adults 1–12. There was one kinship herd with
two adult males.
Out of the elephants that
exhibited aggression towards motorists, not a single musth
elephant belonged to that criterion. About four herds did exhibit aggression
towards the motorists.
The types of vehicles that gave
food were (in descending order): car n = 3 and bus n = 1.
Discussion
The bulk of begging elephants’
diet is not the food they get from humans along the road. Those foods are
morsels that they have a special interest in. The foods that were given
consists of fruits, vegetables, baked goods and sweetmeats. This preliminary study shows that the
elephants at the BK are the most “addicted” ones when compared with the Habarana population. This fact is clearly proven since the
majority of elephants at BK were interested in standing on the road pathway for
a long period of time. Unlike the Habarana elephants,
the elephants at BK did not show much interest in strolling along the road,
feeding on surrounding vegetation, or even crossing the road without strolling.
The motorists travelling through the BK road were the ones that were more
interested in giving food to elephants when compared with Habarana.
In BK, the motorists from vans,
three wheelers, cars, buses, and truck or lorry were the ones that fed
elephants. Though it was known by some that elephants at BK showed a special
interest in buses rather than other vehicles, yet motorists from vans, three
wheelers, and cars gave more food to the elephants. Despite that, it is concerning that forced
grabbing of food was mostly on buses. A probable hypothesis could be that since
all the buses subjected to force grabbing are pilgrimage buses, those buses are
usually filled with lots of snacks. Due to the fact that elephants possess a
remarkably strong olfactory sense, they may be able to detect it (Bates et al.
2007; Plotnik et al. 2019). That could trigger them
to grab the food. If not, perhaps it could be due to elephants’ high cognition
capabilities; they might have learnt that they get more food from buses, so
targeting buses would be more beneficial and promising.
There wasn’t much relationship
between aggression and the musth period of the
elephants. In BK even the small rate of aggression shown from one elephant
towards another elephant was mainly because of dominance while getting snacks
from the motorists. From the rate of aggression shown to motorists, about five
of the motorists behaved in a risky manner near the presence of the elephants.
This means either the passengers got out from the vehicle or the vehicle drove
closely to the elephant. In one case a motorist provoked the elephants to
exhibit aggressive signs. In that particular incident, the elephant was
standing at the roadside feeding on vegetation when a vehicle approached. The
occupants lowered the window and began shouting at the animal. In response, the
elephant performed a mock charge as a defensive reaction. It did not damage the
vehicle or injure any passengers. Nevertheless, such reckless human behaviour could easily have resulted in a tragic outcome.
In BK there were nearly 20
individual male elephants that followed the habit of begging. Some are
frequently engaged in this behaviour while others
only do it occasionally. From the earliest times until today there is one bull
elephant in his prime with a broken tail that is more frequently seen begging
for food. This elephant, named “Buttala Raja”, is
more placid towards the motorists, but sometimes exhibits aggression towards
other male elephants over food given by motorists. In Yala NP there is
a young elephant named “Gemunu” that has a habit of forcibly stopping safari
vehicles and getting food from them for consumption. But generally, “Buttala Raja” did not exhibit such behaviour.
During the curfew time due to the Covid-19 pandemic, “Buttala
Raja” was not seen on the road as much but was frequently spotted at the
Wildlife office near the Galge entrance. This was
mainly due to the deserted road. In the same time period elephants did cross
the Habarana road as usual. Yet almost every minute a
vehicle passed. This situation indicates that the Habarana
road carries heavier traffic than the BK road, which may partly explain the
higher mortality from elephant–vehicle collisions reported in Habarana compared to BK. Although elephants along BK
display stronger food-soliciting behaviour and often
remain in the middle of the road for prolonged periods, the Habarana
population is at greater risk of being struck by vehicles due to the higher
traffic volume (Department of Wildlife Conservation 2018).
Some motorists that travel on the
BK road take some food with the aim of giving it to an elephant. A main reason
for this to happen is that certain people believe that if food is not given to
the elephants, they may not let the motorists pass. In Yala
Block IV there is a religious site with a tamarind tree called Kebiliththa Devalya. In here a
lot of offerings are made to the Kataragama God.
Because of these activities a wild male elephant named “Madhu” comes to this
site frequently with the aim of getting fed by the pilgrims.
Conclusion
In Habarana,
more than a decade ago there was a young male elephant that was “addicted” to
food given by the motorists. Just like the BK elephants, this elephant would
stay on the road and approach motorists with the aim of getting food from them.
This elephant was frequently seen near a road-side shop. Motorists even used to
stop near this shop and buy foods for this elephant. Later this elephant was
translocated to another place by the wildlife officers. Relative to this study,
this incident leaves us with the question that “if this young elephant wasn’t
translocated, would there have been more young male elephants that would have
followed the begging pattern of the initial elephant?”
Because of a high frequency of
traffic and of a higher accident mortality due to vehicle-elephant collisions
in Habarana, it would be better to have a strategy to
mitigate this issue. Solutions such as building flyovers can be time consuming,
and science should be utilized in the building process. As a short-term
strategy, ground surveillance to monitor the traffic, something similar to what
is done on Kaziranga’s National Highway 37 in India,
might have some positive feedback at least for the time being. In more extreme
cases speed bumps could be considered.
Since this research shows that
some buses that carry pilgrims are vulnerable to force grabbing, it would be
better if the respective authorities promoted an alternative route for reaching
their destination. This type of action could ease the friction between
elephants on the road and the motorists. Moreover, this is a preliminary study,
and further research is needed to obtain more details about those elephants.
Table 1. Behavioural criteria noted at Buttala-Katragama.
|
Cases / Incidents |
n |
|
Shows any nervous feelings
towards vehicles (tries to flee away from the motorists) |
10 |
|
Any signs of aggression towards
vehicles (try to mock attack the motorists) |
9 |
|
Interested in feeding on
surrounding vegetation |
16 |
|
Staying in the middle of the
road for long times |
174 |
|
Shows any aggression towards
any other male elephants |
3 |
|
Herds (Adult-female/may have a
juvenile or infant male) |
6 |
|
Adult male |
197 |
|
Juvenile (male) |
1 |
|
Sub-adult (male) |
48 |
|
Number of elephants exhibiting
temporal gland secretion |
9 |
|
People getting out of the
vehicle (to give food/watch or photograph) |
25 |
|
Engagement of nearby resources
such as water |
1 |
|
Elephants staying at side of
the road but people are feeding them |
3 |
|
Elephants taking food by force |
4 |
|
Number of times when another
elephant was present within a radius of approximately 55 m |
12 |
|
Interested in strolling along
the road |
6 |
|
Number of times when herds were
detected to beg for food from the motorists |
5 |
|
Total number of vehicles that
gave food to elephants |
115 |
|
Average number of vehicles
passed an elephant per 1 min |
2.56338 |
Table 2. Behavioural criteria noted at Habarana.
|
Cases / Incidents |
n |
|
Shows any nervous feelings
towards vehicles (tries to flee away from the motorists) |
1 |
|
Any signs of aggression towards
vehicles (try to mock attack the motorists) |
10 |
|
Interested in feeding on
surrounding vegetation |
73 |
|
Staying in the middle of the
road for long times |
2 |
|
Herds (adult females /may have
a juvenile or infant male/with kinship herds) |
26 |
|
Adult male |
133 |
|
Sub-adult (male) |
11 |
|
Number of elephants exhibiting
temporal gland secretion |
8 |
|
People getting out of the
vehicle (to give food/watch or photograph) |
12 |
|
Engagement of nearby resources
such as water |
5 |
|
Elephants staying at side of
the road but people are feeding them |
2 |
|
Number of times when another
elephant was present within a radius of approximately 55 m |
4 |
|
Interested in strolling along
the road |
93 |
|
Kinship herds |
2 |
|
Quickly crossing the road &
entering forest (without strolling) |
27 |
|
Locals feeding elephants |
1 |
|
Males testing strength in the
middle of the road |
1 |
|
Bachelor herd |
4 |
|
Bachelor herd (only two
together) |
3 |
|
Standing behind an electric
fence or high slope |
7 |
|
Total number of vehicles that
gave food to elephants |
4 |
|
Average number of vehicles
passed an elephant per 1 min |
10.333 |
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