Her precise articulation, the firm gestures and the way in which her short hair is held back by clips is enough to tell you that Preethi de Silva brooks no nonsense.

In Sri Lanka, the elephant has had a very close association with the people, culture and religion of the country. It is estimated that the beginning of the 19th century, there were some 10,000 wild elephants in Sri Lanka (Mackay, G. M. 1973), but in subsequent years, indiscriminate capture and hunting led to the destruction of thousands of elephants.