Our primary goal is to provide systematic data on survivorship,
immigration, emigration and abundance for a previously unstudied
population of Asian elephants in south-central Sri Lanka. We also
provide other demographic data for comparison with other
populations. We discuss the direct link between having adequate
population estimates, and the ability to set conservation priorities.
Finally, we use this high-quality dataset to evaluate some important
considerations in planning and implementing similar studies
in the hopes that it will be of use to other researchers.