In this tropical island nation where 19 million people share space with about 3,000 wild elephants, forests are dwindling and the huge beasts are entering villages to forage in garbage dumps for food.

The sad state of Sri Lankan elephants is not unique. The elephant population in Asia has fallen from hundreds of thousands at the turn of the 20th century to only 16,000 in 11 countries today, according to the United Nations.

Many face difficult lives. They are used by beggars in Thailand, and to move timber in Myanmar. In Cambodia, still recovering from years of war, there are only about 250 wild elephants left, and fewer than 150 captive ones.

Hoping to help the elephant — whether the Asian or the larger African variety — more than 150 delegates from around the world were expected for a three-day conference beginning Sept. 19 in Colombo, Sri Lanka's capital. The conference is backed by the U.S.-based International Elephant Foundation.

Sri Lankans and arriving environmentalists were shocked to see elephants feeding from garbage near Polonnaruwa, an ancient city famed for its ruins.

Recently, a 5-ton elephant, balancing on three legs, used its left front foot to kick a plastic garbage bag across the ground. Seeing it fall open, several other elephants, surrounded by dozens of cows, started to chow down.

The variety was good: curried rice, rotting bread, cooked vegetables, fruit and even green chilies, a must in Sri Lankan cuisine. Discarded flower garlands helped round out the menu.

"If you are forced to leave your home and your access to find food is made limited, what will you do?" asked S.A.M. Salim, resident of a small village near Polonnaruwa. "Most likely you will beg."

In some ways, elephants are honored here. In Buddhist-majority Sri Lanka, no major religious function is complete without an ornately decorated elephant.

But that hasn't protected them from the pressure of Sri Lanka's disappearing forests. In 1956, 44 percent of Sri Lanka was covered by forest compared to just 27 percent today. A century ago, anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 elephants roamed the jungles of this island off the southern tip of India.

Today, 3,000 elephants are believed to live in Sri Lankan forests and another 500 have been domesticated and live in Buddhist temples, sanctuaries or transit homes.

"It is tragic, but true," said Edmond Wilson, deputy director at the state wildlife department. "Their habitat is shrinking, forcing them to seek food elsewhere."

The food, though, is often laced with danger.

The Polonnaruwa garbage dump is beside a highway that links central Sri Lanka with the eastern town of Batticaloa.

Plastic bags — a common cause of choking — are often consumed with the food. Since hospital waste is also dumped there, the beasts risk being hurt by syringes and glass bottles. Bloody discarded bandages also risk infection.

Every year, about 150 of Sri Lanka's elephants unnecessarily die; shot or electrocuted by angry farmers, or killed by untreated infections or diseases, Wilson said.

Wilson conceded that elephants have been forced to eat garbage in Polonnaruwa, but said the government was helpless.

"We have told the local municipality that the area is a corridor for the elephants and they should not dump garbage there," he said.

The Polonnaruwa dump has become a regular stop for tourists who photograph herds of eight to 10 elephants eating garbage. Every morning, the elephants gather, growing attentive when they hear the tractors loaded with garbage approach. The real feast, though, starts around 10 a.m. when trash from the hotels arrive.

"They know what 'dishes' are in what trays, I mean trash tractors," said Salim, the villager.

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