In the Mahaweli Development Area, protected areas such as Wasgomuwa National Park, Flood Plains National Park, Somawathiya National Park and Trikonamadu Nature Reserve have been linked resulting in an overall area of of contiguous habitat for elephants. Nevertheless, about 65% of the elephant's range extends outside protected areas. Former range In the historical past, elephants were widely distributed from sea level to the highest mountain ranges. They occurred in the dry zone, in the lowland wet zone as well as in the cold damp montane forests. During the colonial period from 1505 to 1948, the wet zone was converted to commercially used fields and became heavily settled. Until 1830, elephants were so plentiful that their destruction was encouraged by the government, and rewards were paid for any that was killed. In the first half of the 19th century, forests in the montane zone were cleared large-scale for the planting of coffee, and afterward tea. The elephant population in the mountains was extirpated. During the British rule, many bull elephants were killed by trophy hunters. One of the British army majors is credited with having shot over 1,500 elephants, and two others are reputed to have shot half that number each. Many other sportsmen have shot about 250–300 animals during this time. Between 1829 and 1855 alone, more than 6,000 elephants were captured and shot under order of colonial British Empire. By the turn of the 20th century, elephants were still distributed over much of the island. The area currently known as Ruhuna National Park was the Resident Sportsmen's Shooting Reserve, an area reserved for the sporting pleasure of British residents in the country. In the early 20th century, mega reservoirs were constructed in the dry zone for irrigated agriculture. Ancient irrigation systems were rehabilitated and people resettled. This development gathered momentum after the independence in 1948. As a result, elephant habitat in the dry zone was severely fragmented. Population trend The size of wild elephant populations in Sri Lanka was estimated at 19,500 in the early 19th century; 10,000 in the early 20th century; 7,000 to 8,000 in around 1920; between 1,745 and 2,455 individuals in 1969; between 2,500 and 3,435 in 1987; 1,967 in June 1993 that were fragmented in five regions; between 3,150 and 4,400 in 2000; 3,150 in 2006; 2,900–3,000 in 2007; 5,879 in 2011, on the basis of counting elephants at water holes in the dry