ABSTRACT Human–elephant conflict (HEC) and poaching are the foremost threats to the survival of elephants (African, Loxodonta africana ; Asian, Elephas maximus ) in their natural environments. Reducing HEC has the potential to save hundreds of elephant and human lives annually across Asia and Africa. Lone adult male elephants are the principal crop raiders; therefore, we investigated the effectiveness of a variety of audio playbacks at deterring 22 wild adult male Asian elephants from food sources in a wildlife reserve in southern Sri Lanka in January, 2011. Food was provided ad libitum , and the reactions of the elephants in response to various stimuli were recorded and analyzed. Vocalizations from a wild Asian elephant matriarchal group resulted in a flight response in 65% of trials conducted, in contrast to a control sound, a chainsaw, which produced no flight responses from any adult male. We demonstrated that audio playbacks could be used as a short‐term deterrent to wild adult male Asian elephants from crop raiding; thus, providing a simple, natural, cost‐effective, and humane way of mitigating HEC. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.