In Sri Lanka, the relationship between the local farmers and the indigenous elephants hasn't always been the friendliest. Thousands of elephants have been killed in this country - not for their tusks, hide or meat, but because they're a nuisance, wandering into the farmers' crops and trampling them.
Luckily, the elephants and and farmers are learning to live together more harmoniously because of one natural resource the elephants have that the farmers now desire: the elephant's poop. The farmers are now welcoming elephants into their land so they can gather up the feces left behind to turn around and sell it to companies, like ecoMaximus, who have figured out a way to turn the poop into something useful: paper. Thus, elephant feces is now being seen as a sustainable economic resource to the Sri Lankan farmers.