The elephants have already come to Minneriya

They are no longer the happy mothers they used to be… they are sad and dejected because their babies have been snatched away from them. They desperately want to feed and cuddle them as any mother would want to. But where have their offspring gone, wonder Shanthi and Punchi who anxiously await their little-ones’ return.

Prodding and poking in the name of taming: This picture taken by the Young Zoologist Association tells the fate of the elephants in Kandy

This is the plight of two cow elephants at the Pinnawala Orphanage, following the sudden removal of their two under-aged calves on July 25, on the grounds the pair was an offering to the Raja Maha Viharas of the Malwatte and Asgiri Chapters. Cabinet approval had been granted for the transfer of the two baby elephants.

Life, for small Raju and Sindu, away from their mothers, has been miserable too. These two-and-a-half-year-old calves were the only two tuskers of the 50 baby elephants born at Pinnawala, the Sunday Times was told by a caretaker, when we visited the Orphanage on Wednesday.

Describing the scene when the calves were taken away, he said the mother elephants looked on helplessly, but trumpeted out loud and pulled at their chains. Even villagers had lit crackers to protest the brutal wrenching away of the baby elephants from their mothers. According to an eyewitness, a number of people, including some in police uniforms, had assisted in forcibly removing the calves from their mothers.

“The cow elephants are still in a state of shock. When it comes to feeding time, they cry out, as they are unable to suckle their young,” said the caretaker adding that like human beings, elephants were very attached to their calves and were protective of them.

A picture of sadness:The two mothers huddle together as if to compensate for their loss:

Elephant expert and Managing Trustee of the Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust Jayantha Jayawardene said, these elephants were too young to be removed from their mothers as they had much to learn from them and the rest of the herd. “Elephants are not born with natural instincts. It is essential they stay with their parents, because like human beings, the adult elephants teach their little ones various things, like food habits and other survival instincts. They live and grow in a herd so there is a lot of learning from adults,” he said.

He said, a better option would have been to transfer the ownership of the elephants to the Maligawa and allow the baby elephants to be with the mothers until they reached a certain age. According to lawyer and wildlife activist Jagath Gunawardene, Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Ordinance state that one cannot deprive animals of their right to food; they cannot be subjected to torture or any kind of physical or mental abuse and they cannot be tied in a manner that hinders their movements.

“In this instance, the animals are being deprived of their right to natural food—their mothers’ milk, kept in an unsuitable environment and subjected to mental agony caused by the separation from their mothers,” he said.

Gunewardene said Cabinet approval was given for the removal of two ‘baby elephants’ and not tuskers. There was no indication of the age too,” he said. He said, it was not a good practice to separate calves from their mothers until the age of five as they depend on the mother’s milk till then. He said usually calves are taken away once they were over five years.

Also opposing the move was the Young Zoologist Association (YZA), whose members witnessed and took photographs of the harassment being meted out to the calves in Kandy, during attempts to tame them. They said the calves should be sent back immediately to the Pinnawala Orphanage.

According to the YZA President Pubudu Weeraratne, the two baby elephants have been separated from each other, with one being kept in a small shed and the other tied to a coconut tree. They were being fed kitul and coconut leaves, he said.

Weeraratne said the calves had been removed from the Orphanage without permission from the Department of Wildlife Conservation. The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage comes under the National Zoological Gardens and the Wildlife Department has authority over the registration and transportation of animals.

A spokesperson from the Wildlife Department on conditions of anonymity said, the Department had not been informed about such a transfer. Attempts by the Sunday Times to contact the Director of the Zoological Gardens failed. We were told he was not available to take our calls. 

What the minister says

Gamini Lokuge

The baby elephants were taken away temporarily to familiarise them with the perehera environment, Recreation Minister Gamini Lokuge who is in charge of Zoological Gardens, including the Pinnawala Orphanage, told the Sunday Times.

“These two baby elephants were gifted to the Mahanayaka Theras to be trained for the perehera and this was done with Cabinet approval. They are still too young to participate in the perehera, but since they need to be exposed to the environment gradually, we decided to keep them at the premises of the Diyawadena Nilame’s house, during the ongoing perehera season. They will be retuned to the Orphanage once the pageant concludes and they will be brought back when they reach a certain age,” he said.

DN: I’m not keeping any animal by force

Diyawadana Nilame Pradeep Nilanga Dela Bandara speaking to our Kandy correspondent Shane Senevirathne, said, no elephant was brought forcibly from Pinnawala and there was no legal issue with regard to that.

“I don’t accept the claims that army and police officers from Kandy went to Pinanawala to bring these elephants. When they were to be brought from Piannawala on an earlier occasion, some villagers fired crackers and even tried to assault the people, which is why a special police team was deployed this time. These baby elephants were brought with a gate pass issued by the Zoo Director. It was a Presidential order.

The DN challenged anyone to show an elephant, who still drinks milk after three years. He said they eat only leaves, but those drinking milk won’t eat leaves. These tuskers would be returned to Pinnanwala only if there was a policy decision by the Government to do so. I am not keeping any animal by force,” he said.

Harmful effects of separation

Happy days at Pinnawala: Sindu and Raju with adult elephants

The Sri Lanka Wildlife Veterinarians’ Association has issued a statement highlighting the consequences that could arise following the separation of calves from their mothers.

“The baby elephants suckle till they are about five years of age and they are dependant on milk as a main source of nutrient. Weaning them at an early age could result in nutritional complications such as protein deficiency which leads to the swelling of the abdomen, and calcium deficiency that can cause birth abnormalities and/or factures etc,” the statement said.

It added although bottle-feeding the calves infant formula was an option; it too can cause problems such as indigestion, diarrhoea, anaemia and dehydration. The abrupt separation can result in anxiety and depression and this can result in immunity problems in addition to the behavioural abnormalities.

The elephants have already come to Minneriya

By Srilal Miththapala
The Sunday Times

The famous ‘Elephant Gathering’ at Minneriya Park has become a regular phenomenon from June to about October each year, which coincides with the dry season in the North Central Province. The Minneriya tank fills up with the rains from the previous months, and as the drought settles in, the water level recedes, though the tank never really runs dry. Wild elephants from all the surrounding areas, from as far as Wasgamuwa, the Somawathi Sanctuary and Kantale thus congregate at the Minneriya Park due to the availability of water during the drought. The receding waters of the tank also leave behind rich, freshly sprouting grass, which is a favourite with the elephants.

This picture taken at Minneriya Park on March 27, shows the Gathering in full swing

During the rainy season that begins around September/October each year, the reservoir fills up, and so do many other water holes and tanks in the area. Having adequate water and food in the surrounding areas, the elephants then begin to move away from Minneriya. Hence the ‘Gathering’ is seen as a seasonal phenomenon at the Minneriya Park.
This has been the case in the past years, where during the rainy season, one could see only about 10-20 elephants in the park, a far cry from the hundreds seen during the ‘Gathering’ in the dry season. However, like in many parts of Sri Lanka and the world, there has been considerable change in weather patterns over the past few years. This year in particular, the North Central Province seems to have received relatively less rain, although accurate figures are still unavailable from the Meteorology Department.
The available figures indicate that there was a drop of 62% and 64 % in the rainfall for the months of October and December 2008 respectively, compared to the corresponding months in 2007. Data for the month of September is not available, while November 08 shows a marginal increase over November 07. (See graph ).

Ref. Meteorology Department, Sri Lanka

Source: Hotel Sigiriya

Consequently, the Minneriya tank has not filled up as much as it normally does and according to records maintained by Hotel Sigiriya, elephants have been sighted in increasing numbers in the park, from as early as March this year.
Since alternate water holes and food sources have not re-generated due to the lack of rains, the elephants seem to have not moved too far from the Minneriya /Sigiriya area this year. 
In addition, there seems to have been a larger number of Human Elephant Conflict (HEC) incidents reported this year. Already there have been three recorded deaths of humans due to altercations with wild elephants within the last three months in the Sigiriya/ Habarana area alone.
Elephants have been sighted often in the evenings and nights on most roads. Last week a mature male elephant was seen beside the main Dambulla – Polonnaruwa highway, nibbling at the foliage as early as 6 p.m. Recently the new Vil Uyana Boutique Hotel in Sigiriya was visited by wild elephants who had caused slight damage to the walkways.
Certainly more careful observations and studies will have to be done before any firm conclusions can be arrived at.
The Minneriya Gathering is probably the largest gathering of Asian Elephants in one and the same place. However, it is important that we guard against over-visitation of the Park.
As it is, unregulated movements of jeeps in the open plains, not only disrupt the movement of elephants from the surrounding jungles to the water, but also damage the young sprouting grass.
The Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka (THASL) with the help of environmentalist and CEO of Jetwing Eco Holidays Gehan de Silva Wijeyeratne has conducted a few awareness programmes for jeep drivers of the area. The public who visit this park, also need to understand the delicate balance of this whole event, and ensure some form of self discipline themselves.

Wild life experts lock horns over baby elephant transfers

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
The Sunday Times

As controversy surrounded preparations to transfer two “babies” from the Elephant Transit Home (ETH) at Uda Walawe to the Pinnawela Orphanage, opinion among activists was divided whether this was a good or bad move.
“We are hoping to move ‘Atlas’ and another baby elephant from ETH to Pinnawela on Sunday (today) or this week,” said W.A.D.A. Wijesooriya, Director-General of the Department of Wild Life Conservation (DWLC), when contacted by The Sunday Times.

When asked whether the transfer was to ensure that foreign tourists could see babies being bottle-fed milk at Pinnawela as alleged by conservationists, the Director-General was quick to reject it, saying that the ETH was overcrowded. “Whereas there should only be about 20-25 elephants there, we have about 35,” he said.
Even Uda Walawe Park capacity is an issue, was his contention. A recent survey had found that the 30,000-hectare park had 700 elephants of which 400 were adults and in the northern part last year bull elephants had killed two people and destroyed crops, the DG said.

Baby elephants being fed at the Uda Walawe transit home

So, more releases into the wild would mean less space for them and more forays into villages, resulting in human-elephant conflicts, was the DG’s view which was also echoed by some conservationists.
However, other wildlife experts who wished to remain anonymous claimed that the transfer was just to “give pleasure to foreigners” in seeing babies being bottle-fed. “At present, the babies at Pinnawela are under-fed by their mothers, which in itself is a wonderful sight, as happens only in the wild,” one activist pointed out. “That should be promoted among tourists”.
Asked whether it was right to move two baby elephants meant for release to the wilds to an orphanage where they would have to lead a captive life, though in relative freedom unlike a zoo, DG Wijesooriya said that although ‘Atlas’ had been reintroduced to the wild, he had returned to ETH. The other baby which was already in the wild was “going into villages on the eastern part of the park and there was a likelihood of it facing some harm from humans”.
A third earmarked for Pinnawela was frequenting the Habarana-Minneriya Road and people were feeding it. “We are hoping to capture it and take it to Pinnawela,” he said.
However, other sources were adamant that no baby reintroduced to the wild was going into any villages. One source said the department was trying to find lame excuses to justify its whims.
With regard to ‘Atlas’, The Sunday Times understands that a special “re-integration plan” to the wild has been drawn up. But when asked Mr. Wijesooriya denied knowledge of such a plan.
While some activists argued that like at Pinnawela, even at ETH babies came into human contact and could one day go into villages because they were used to humans, wildlife officials said the contact was minimal. “Yes, these babies which have been abandoned, when brought to ETH have to be bottle-fed and later funnel-fed,” said an official, explaining that the moment they are weaned they are sent into the wild.” The babies are also not tethered with chains attached to their legs at night but tied with rope around their necks. To concerns about the monitoring of freed babies, a source explained that radio collars are fixed when they are released. “Records indicate integration with wild herds without a problem,” the source said.
With The Sunday Times getting information that the babies were to be moved from Uda Walawe to Pinnawela at a ceremony most-probably attended by Environment Minister Champika Ranawaka himself, the questions that arise are: What is the mandate of the much-commended and unique ETH? On what grounds are so-called “foster parents” or sponsors mobilized to pay for the babies? If the babies are being looked after at ETH to be freed to the wild, is it right for them to be shunted here and there?
Serious issues need serious answers after due discussion by the DWLC in consultation with the experts, including those who look after the elephants at Uda Walawe, Pinnawela and the Zoo.

Why do elephants come back home?

By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
The Sunday Times

Human settlements have expanded and forests have been cleared, invariably leading to conflicts not only with elephants but other wild animals as well. As soon as there is a human-elephant conflict in some area, the traditional answer has been to “translocate” the elephant, uprooting it from its habitat and placing it in a new environment, with the expectation that it would settle down there and not cause conflict.
But is this the best answer, looking at it from both the human and elephant points of view? This is what the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) is trying to find out, after several instances where elephants translocated many km away have come back to their very own “gama” or home, like humans who keep going back to their ancestral villages.

The collared one tusked elephant

Near a tank

The one-tusked elephant with a herd of elephants

Such “homecomings” have been easy to detect in recent times because some of the elephants have been “collared” by the DWLC in collaboration with the Centre for Conservation and Research.
The latest “walkabout”, however, has been by an elephant which is easily identifiable even without a radio collar as it is a majestic one-tusked adult male.
Tranquillized and captured in the Ehetuwewa divisional area in Galgamuwa on February 14 due to complaints by villagers that the elephant was creating trouble, it had been released at the Somawathiya National Park at midnight on February 15/16, 93.4 km. away in a direct line.
Translocation of an elephant is a “major operation” which needs the deployment of 20-30 people. The elephant has to be located, tranquillized by shooting with an anaesthetic dart, then tied up with thick rope and loaded on to the truck which would carry it to its new home, The Sunday Times understands. 
It should also be done in the appropriate situation, so that the danger to the elephant as well as to the team capturing it is minimal, a wildlife official explained, adding that otherwise tragedies as at Elahera where a wildlife official was killed in March could happen. There, the officials had found the elephant but as daytime is not the best time to carry out such an operation had cornered it and decided to come back in the evening.
However, the villagers had in their foolishness decided to take matters into their own hands without consulting the wildlife experts and lit flares and crackers to get the elephant out of its resting place. When the wildlife team came back on hearing the commotion, the animal had charged, killing one of them.
In the case of the one-tusked elephant, the radio collar -- one of 15 purchased with funds from the Asian Development Bank -- indicates that he left the Somawathiya National Park a few days after being translocated, The Sunday Times learns.
Explaining the workings of the collar, Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando of the Centre for Conservation and Research says that it records the position of the animal eight-hourly and once in two days transmits the information to a satellite. This information can then be downloaded from a computer, the data processed and plotted on a map. This information is very valuable to the DWLC in its work.
The elephant had left the Somawathiya National Park, walked up a little towards Kantale and the border of Trikonamadu, then northwest of Kantale to the Hurulu reservoir area, gone south, crossed the Habarana junction, kept going south, turned west, crossed the Kurunegala-Dambulla Road at Galewela, walked through the lower part of the Kahalla-Pallekelle sanctuary and come back “home”. (See map)
Nearly a month and 243 km later, the one-tusked elephant is back at “home”, The Sunday Times learns. 
About two weeks ago, the villagers had complained once again about this elephant which is quite used to humans and also unafraid of them. The DWLC had arrived to find the elephant in a little patch of forest in the middle of the village. It was midday and the officials were in a quandary – if they lit flares and crackers to chase it away it could charge or go in any direction and easily harm people, another wildlife source said.
But the villagers who were furious had turned on the wildlife team, the source said, adding that they mistakenly believed that the DWLC had faked the translocation and only dumped the animal at Kahalla-Pallekelle.
Why do elephants come back “home”?
Elephants, especially adult males, have a very strong attachment to their home range. They also have a very specific home range, explains Dr. Fernando, adding that not all but some come back home. Translocation is a decision taken to solve the human-elephant conflict, by looking at it from the human point of view. It is also a very costly exercise both in terms of money and human resources.
“What of the elephant,” he asks. In the past five years, experts have been looking at this issue and assessing this management action. “To solve the human-elephant conflict or mitigate it, we need to understand the elephant part of it as well. For this, we need information,” he stressed.
When translocated elephants return, they travel in the night. They also travel through areas where people may not be used to elephants. This could be dangerous to both people and elephants, The Sunday Times learns.
The one-tusked elephant had come through Galewela, which is a highly residential area and someone could have got killed if they confronted the animal, says Dr. Fernando. On the other hand, someone could also kill the elephant. This could lead to an increase in the human-elephant conflict.
What are the options in dealing with the human-elephant conflict?
According to Dr. Fernando, there are limited options. The need is to identify the biggest trouble-makers, with the first option being to translocate them at a National Park and if they persist in coming back place them in an electrically-fenced area.If that fails the only other options available are, of course, capturing the bad trouble-makers and domesticating them or in the case of inveterate trouble-makers shooting and killing them, he points out.
Dr. Fernando says that if all else fails trouble-makers can be domesticated in a scientific manner, without resorting to the traditional way of tying them up, starving them and then breaking them. “There are new ways in which horses are being tamed,” he says, recommending that Sri Lanka should look into the possibility of setting up an institution which specializes in taming wild elephants especially as they are quick and good learners.
Emphasizing that the human-elephant conflict is more of a man-made one because humans have encroached on animal territory, he explains that translocation, capture and domestication or shooting the trouble-makers are not desirable options, especially from the point of view of elephant conservation. 
“They are mainly to manage the human–elephant conflict out of human necessity. Therefore, if we are considering any of these we should make sure that it is because there is no other way out and humans simply cannot live with that particular elephant,” he stresses.
Conceding that more information is needed with regard to elephant behavioural patterns, a wildlife source says it is important to identify elephant conservation areas and also reserves where elephant management can take place.
Many decisions are taken from a human angle but we need to look at the animal as well. What is best for the elephant must also be considered, the source said, adding that otherwise we will create an imbalance in our ecosystems.

The fall of Ravana

By Malaka Rodrigo
The Sunday Times

Among the many elephant deaths we hear of, this was particularly shocking. Not only because it was a majestic tusker being monitored through a satellite collar, but also because it was killed inside a national park.
Ravana died on August 25 in a muddy water hole inside Lunugamvehera National Park, from infected gunshot wounds. The post-mortem revealed that the jumbo– named after the powerful king of ancient Sri Lanka – was starving at the time of death - the wound on its cheek preventing it from taking food in its last days.

The collared tusker

The Lunugamvehera park was supposed to have been a sanctuary for the animal which was translocated there last December. It had initially been moved to Uda Walawe National Park in September 2007 after crop-raiding in its home grounds of Anuradhapura and was radio-collared by elephant expert Dr. Prithiviraj Fernando before release in the park. But soon, it tried to make its way back leaving a trail of destruction in the villages of Aluthwewa, Handapanagala and Buttala. One man was killed and an elderly villager was saved only after a constable shot the elephant in its foot.
Realising that Ravana was in trouble, Dr. Fernando informed the DWLC officials who treated the injured jumbo and then decided to translocate it to Lunugamvehera. But though it never crossed outside the electric fence of the Lunugamvehera park boundary, its crime was again crop raiding. How is this possible within a national park? Only because lands that should be part of the Lunugamvehera National Park right inside the electric fence boundary are under cultivation. The leased land is part of the Protected Area and Ravana was shot on several occasions when attempting to raid crops.
Ravana was fatally wounded by a gunshot wound that penetrated its jaws. After suffering for a few days, the majestic tusker died a pitiful death.
The 500-acre plot of land in question, leased to Sarvodaya. Lunugamvehera park has little water and the lush green crop in the cultivated area is inevitably a magnet for elephants.
The land was given to Sarvodaya in 1972 on a 30-year lease for use as a farm. There are 19 families living there, but the major threat is from the trespassers. Between 2002-2004, Sarvodaya authorities with the support of Police chased away the illegal encroachers, but with the blessing of some of the local politicos in the area, the encroachment has started again.
Ravana is not the first casualty of this mini-battlefield. This year alone, at least three elephants have been found dead near this stretch of land and the total death toll in the last two years has been as high as 10 elephants.
"No shooting was done by Sarvodaya as we do not have weapons. The threat to elephants is mainly from the illegal encroachers who do not tolerate the raiding jumbos," said Nandana Jayasinghe, Director of Sarvodaya who looks after the facility at Thanamalwila.
One solution would be to have a separate electric fence surrounding the 500 acre land. Sarvodaya is promoting the facility as a Model for Eco Village concept. But since their lease expired on July 2002 and its renewal is still under discussion, they do not want to invest in electric fencing until the lease is extended.
"If people continue cultivating in an elephant territory, these kinds of unfortunate incidents are inevitable. It will be a hassle both for farmers and elephants. So if farmland cannot be removed, at least an electric fence surrounding the 500 acres should be immediately done," said Dr. Fernando.

Ravana dead in a muddy water hole

Meanwhile, Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation, Ananda Wijesooriya commenting on the incident said it was sad that people who encroached into this land for cultivation were shooting the elephants. “We are analysing the deeds etc, before taking any action," he said, adding that the current electric fence was done according to the boundaries allotted at the time of setting up Lunugamvehera Park. The department is currently evaluating the strategy to fence off this land, located inside the fence.
Unless action is taken speedily, more elephants could suffer the same sad fate as Ravana.

The last trumpet

Time is running out for the few solitary elephants at Sinharaja, writes Malaka Rodrigo ,Pix by Azam Wahid and Dulan Ranga
The Sunday Times

All was silent in Sinharaja. Police and the civil guards were in the leech-infested terrain, moving stealthily to avoid stepping onto trap guns when they heard a gun shot and an elephant's painful cry echoed across the jungle.
One of the three remaining elephants roaming around the periphery of Sinharaja had been shot. The Police team quickly sealed off the area and nabbed the culprit who was armed with an unlicensed T56.
The man-a notorious illicit liquor maker confessed to shooting the elephant. Fortunately it was not badly hurt.

It was indeed an eventful week for the villagers and the elephants at Sinharaja. Sunday, July 13 started with a tragedy in Kopi Kella - a small village in Rakwana when villagers tried to chase away an elephant that had been enjoying the fruits of a villager's orchard.
Angered by a firecracker, the elephant attacked, fatally injuring Lalith Rajaratne a 40-year-old villager. The elephant was in musth and hence dangerous, said Lal, a man from the adjoining village.
"These elephants are naturally shy. They used to inhabit the Walan Kanda sanctuary, but their natural habitats have been disturbed, forcing them to come down to the villages regularly," said B.A.
Muthubanda, an Assistant Director of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC). Muthubanda looks after the Southern region. Rainforests like Sinharaja mainly have canopy level trees, giving the elephants limited foraging options. So the elephants of Sinharaja need to move constantly from forest to forest to find food unlike their cousins in the Dry Zone who enjoy the grasslands and savannah habitats. 
The elephants had a traditional path they used to move through freely, but these routes are blocked mainly by the emerging tea plantations. Even the forests around Walan Kanda that belonged to the Land Reclamation Commission were distributed to tea planters limiting the options available to these three elephants forcing them to find new routes These unfortunately cross the villages near Rakwana making Sinharaja another theatre for the human / elephant conflict.
Those who live in Kopikella, Rambuka, Kajugaswatta, Pahe Kanuwa and Beverly Estate have had close encounters with these jumbos. Nilantha Abeywardene, a teacher at the Rambuka School said these jumbos sometimes damage houses and raid crops, but usually avoid humans. They were not to be seen for about five-six months, but suddenly appeared in the periphery of his village a few weeks ago, he said.
Is it a seasonal movement? Dulan Ranga, who lives in Deniyaya said that elephants enter into 'Morning Side' of Sinharaja usually during September and stay until November.
Wildlife experts are also concerned. "Recently we've seen the evidence of the presence of these three elephants in Sinharaja Morning Side. They had walked through an old cardamon plantation and a tea estate, destroying some of the bushes. It is apparent that tea plantations encroached and blocked these elephants' traditional routes. Action has to be taken to stop this illegal encroachment immediately.
It is also suggested to study the health conditions and chance of survival in isolation of these elephants and take a decision as per expert advice regarding their future. WNPS' Elephant Sub-committee is also monitoring the situation closely," Douglas Ranasinghe, President - Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) told The Sunday Times.

Elephant expert Dr. Prithviraj Fernando also stressed the need to study these elephants, as Wet Zone elephants may have unique behaviour patterns. Sinharaja has only three elephants and the Peak Wilderness (around Sri Pada) has a few more herds. Even the African Elephants were categorised as two species recently - Savannah Elephants who inhabit the grasslands and Bush Elephants who inhabit the forests. So it may be the time for full scale research to understand the behaviour of wet zone elephants, before it is too late.
Unlike in other areas of the country where there is a human-elephant conflict, most villagers prefer that the elephants remain in their villages.
In 1994, a team led by Dr. Nandana Atapattu of the Department of Wildlife Conservation tranquilized and captured an elephant here intending to move it, but were stalled by protesting schoolchildren and villagers. The villagers fed the weakened jumbo for four days until it could walk on its own. It was probably the first and only example of a village at risk by elephants not wanting the animals removed.
Like in 1994, a voice is once again being raised that the elephants need to be relocated. But the villagers are in a quandary. They do not want to send the jumbos away from Sinharaja, but they also need a solution to live without fear from the very same animals.
"The elephants’ presence in the forest indeed helps to reduce illegal activities in the forests as humans fear to go inside the jungle," reiterated the Rakwana police OIC U.P. Nelumdeniya.
It is clear, a management plan is needed to tackle this issue before it costs another human or elephant life.

A jumbo baby-smuggling racket, centred around the wilds in Habarana, has wildlife officials concerned,
Malaka Rodrigo reports
Sunday August 24, 2008

"Please find my baby. If someone has kidnapped him, please return my baby." Remember the plea of the mother of baby Gavish who was kidnapped from Kalubowila Hospital last year? Fortunately that story had a happy ending but the mother of the baby elephant discovered recently in captivity may still be lamenting in the wilds of Habarana.

The baby abduction from Kalubowila led to the discovery of a baby smuggling racket that shocked the nation. At present, Sri Lanka's Wildlife Department officers are investigating trails of baby elephants allegedly being abducted from the wild. The recovery of a baby elephant illegally held without a proper permit in an estate close to Colombo is probably only the tip of this iceberg, they feel. The elephant is now in the Uda Walawe Elephant Transit Home.

The baby elephant that was recently discovered in captivity

Reports of a possible baby elephant abduction racket had been in the air for quite some time. It is believed that baby elephants are isolated from their herds and then stealthily transferred to different locations. The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC)'s Flying Squad had been investigating this for a long time when they received a tip about the elephant held on a private estate.

The owner of the baby elephant claims that it was born to one of their captive female elephants. But the veterinary report proves that the baby elephant had pellets in its body. "How can a baby elephant born in captivity have pellets in its body?" questions Upali Padmasiri, head of the Department of Wildlife Conservation's Flying Squad. Pellets are the result of gunshots and most Sri Lankan wild elephants unfortunately live with them. This raises fears of mothers being shot to separate the baby from the herd.

Habarana is believed to be the centre of this alleged racket. The area has a high elephant density being in the centre of three national parks namely Minneriya, Kawdulla and Hurulu. Transporting elephants used for elephant safaris in and out from Habarana is also common, so it is an ideal ground to execute abductions. But smuggling out an elephant is different from taking out a butterfly cocoon or a spider from the wild. It is a big animal and the herd furiously defends its calf making capture difficult and dangerous. That is why environmentalists believe this is an organized racket.

It is believed some of the baby jumbos have been issued false birth certificates upon recommendation by some veterinary surgeons.

This is not the first case of a baby elephant being allegedly taken from the wild. In 2001 wildlife officers led by M. Faize, former head of the Flying Squad- found another baby elephant, which the owners claimed had been born to one of their captive elephants. The court case dragged over a long period and an order was received to perform a DNA test to verify the truth of the owner's claim. But the DNA test could not be performed due to failure to take blood samples. The reasons the DNA test could not be done using elephant dung is unclear. Later, a veterinary surgeon claimed that he treated the baby elephant confirming the pregnancy of the captive mother elephant. So the case was dismissed, without completing the DNA verifications.

These claims raise another question. Have any of the elephants in captivity given birth? And if they did, why has it not been publicized in the newspapers? Veterinary surgeon Dr. Ashoka Dangolla who treats domesticated elephants says owners prefer to keep the elephant calves from the public eye during their younger days. Several births to captive elephants have taken place, but they are not publicized, he says.
"We have only 135 captive elephants in the country and the latest lost (?) is 'Hurathalie' who participated in the Kandy Perahera a few days ago," Dr. Dangolla said.

Of this number there can be only about 20 female domesticated elephants who can be bred, but owners usually do not like their female elephants being pregnant due to the long gestation period during which the elephant cannot be used for any other purpose. The elephant calf depends on its mother's milk for the first three years of its life.

Pinnawala has now become the main source for providing new blood to the captive elephant population in Sri Lanka with a few donations from India and Thailand.

Capturing elephants from the wild was stopped in 1875 with the infamous Panamure Kraal. The Elephant Owners' Association claims that most of the domesticated elephants are over 50 years of age and stresses the need for young blood. There was a plan for rogue elephants that become a threat to humans and property to be captured from the wild and then auctioned instead of relocating them in protected areas. The idea was put forward considering that our national parks are already overcrowded with elephants and as a strategy to strengthen the captive elephant populations. But many elephant activists are critical of this idea, considering the conduct of the mahouts and some of the owners of the domesticated elephants.

Conservationists believe that there could be 10-12 elephants so far abducted this way. "We will continue the investigations and do our best to bring the culprits to book," said the Director General of the DWLC, Ananda Wijesuriya. All elephants have to be registered under the DWLC and the Environmental Ministry warns all the owners to register their elephants immediately, if they haven't done so far.

A recent Reuters report indicated that about 70-80 elephants are abducted (yearly?0 in the Indian province of Assam alone. Thailand has also faced a similar problem where baby elephants are smuggled from neighbouring countries - Vietnam, Laos. It is important therefore that the loop holes in the law are closed without leaving room for the culprits to squeeze through.

There is also a need to protect the officers who stand up to influential people who are purported to be behind the rackets. They have received the fullest support from the Minister of Environment Champika Ranawaka so far and the country does not want this case to end up at another dead-end with high profile interferences. The appeal is to the public: If you see a baby elephant that is less than five years old being kept under suspicious circumstances, inform the Wildlife Flying Squad on 1991.

Should Pinnawala release elephants to private owners?

'Sinha Raja' was probably the most unlucky elephant released by Pinnawala. This handpicked healthy calf met a tragic death, when it was hit by lightning when chained to an iron bar in an open area.

A few days after Sinha Raja's death, another elephant was released from Pinnawala on a political request. During 2002- 2003, 11 elephants were donated to temples. Pinnawala remains the main source from where elephants are given out for captive.

Most of the requests for elephants are through temples on the basis that elephants are needed to continue cultural events like peraheras. Pinnawala came up with a unique solution for this demand under the guidance of former director Brigadier H.A.N.T. Perera. The suggestion included training a squad of Pinnawala elephants for cultural events with the formation of a committee comprising some key elephant owners and temples.

The administrators planned to keep this squad at Wagolla and had made an arena to train elephants for peraheras to get them used to torches at night etc. Having this squad at one place would have enabled better treatment with better standards. If this concept materialized, it would also have ensured a supply of well trained elephants available for a reasonable price for cultural events, together with a group of trained veterinary surgeons. This year there were more incidents at cultural events; one woman in Ragama was killed. Such tragedies could also be avoided.

The proposal of a trained Elephant Squad was submitted to Parliament in 2003, but nothing has happened so far, other than the setting up of a parliament committee.