Save and Rescue an Asian Elephant Today

Dear Elephant Champions,

If you were in Wasgamuwa last week, you might have seen something amazing: a herd of elephants calmly wandering through the corridor between the national park and the forest reserve, completely undisturbed. No fences breached, no farmers in distress, no injuries—just quiet, powerful movement through a space created for peaceful coexistence.

That’s not just luck—it’s the product of years of hard work, partnerships, and innovation.

Project Orange Elephant, our flagship solution to human-elephant conflict, continues to thrive. The concept is simple but genius: elephants don’t like citrus. So, what if farmers grew oranges around their crops? The result: over 110,000 orange plants have now been distributed to more than 1,250 farmers across 22 villages. It’s a triple win—farmers earn income, elephants stay safe, and our forests stay peaceful.

And while the oranges do their quiet work on the borders, we’ve been busy in the classrooms and community halls too. From school visits to village meetings, we’re nurturing a culture of understanding and respect between humans and wildlife. Our teams are always on the move, delivering educational outreach to teach families how to live alongside elephants—and why it matters.

This quarter also marked a celebration of decades of progress: on World Environment Day, we reflected on the fact that Wasgamuwa now contributes less than 2% to the national Human-Elephant Conflict statistics. That’s a staggering drop, and it shows that what we're doing isn't just working—it's transforming the future.

We’re not stopping here. New groves are being planned. More fences are being managed by the communities who live with elephants daily. And there's always more work to do—more stories to tell, more corridors to protect, more partnerships to grow.

So as we step into our next chapter, we're taking a moment to say: thank you. Your support fuels every orange tree planted, every fence maintained, and every life—elephant and human—kept safe.

With gratitude and hope,
The Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society Team