The Sri Lankan Elephant is an herbivore. It eats grasses, leaves, bark, fallen fruits (such as wood apple) and palm leaves (like coconut leaf). Kitulpalm tree (Caryota urens) is a favorite food. Large bulls need nearly 200 kg of food per day.
The historical range of the Sri Lankan Elephant includes all Sri Lankan eco-regions: lowland rainforests, montane forest and the Sri Lankan dry-zone forest. Today the Sri Lankan Elephant is extinct from montane forest and occupies mainly dry-zone forests, although a small population lives in rainforests.
The Sri Lankan Elephant is endangered. Ivory trade in Sri Lanka had a very long history for more than 2000 years. In 1800s and early 1900s many bull elephants were killed by trophy hunting. Between 1999-end of 2006 every year nearly 100 Wild Elephants were killed. Today few elephants live out side protected areas. Tusk elephants are very rare to see in wild due to heavy poaching. Only 5%-7% of wild elephants have tusks. Very low numbers of elephants live in Peak Wilderness sanctuary. The forest covers about 220 square km of lowland and montane rainforest. This is likely the only wild elephant population that lives in the rainforest. Historically large numbers of elephants lived in the rainforest.
| Year | Wild Elephant numbers |
|---|---|
| 1800 | 12000-14000 |
| 1900 | 10000-12000 |
| 1920 | 7000-8000 |
| 1970 | 5000 |
| 1999 | 4000 |
| 2003 | 3500 |
| 2004 | 3350 |
| 2006 | 3150 |
| 2007 | 2900-3000 |
