Sri Lankan mahout Nishanth relaxes with a tame elephant Suddi, who was recently released from government custody following a court order, in Pannipitiya, a suburb of Colombo, Sri Lanka, Sunday, September 12, 2021. (Photo by Eranga Jayawardena/AP Photo)

This picture taken on June 3, 2023 shows wild elephants eating rubbish mixed with plastic waste at a dump in the eastern district of Ampara. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

School girls hold hands while looking out at the Indian Ocean at Galle Face beach in Colombo on December 9, 2022. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

A fisherman throws his net to catch fish in a lagoon in Batticaloa November 24, 2015. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

A mahout walks a tusker along a busy road in Colombo, Sri Lanka on January 19, 2021. (Photo by Dinuka Liyanawatte/Reuters)

A spot-billed pelican sits on a street light in Colombo on March 16, 2021. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

Spot-billed pelican interact on the banks of an artificial lake in Colombo on September 28, 2021. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)

Police officers try to stop medical students as they protest against Sri Lanka's crippling economic crisis, outside the Health Ministry in Colombo on April 6, 2022. (Photo by Ishara S. Kodikara/AFP Photo)