Conserve or Perish?

By D.C. Ranatunga

“As long as political interference continues to exist – and let’s face it, that’s not going away anytime soon – Yala and other national parks will continue to be a mess and conservation is going to remain a pipe dream. This is where civil society can come in.”

This was the simple message given by the renowned authority on wild life conservation, Dr. Sumith Pilapitiya in his recent talk ‘Civil Society’s Role in Conservation’. A full house listened to his thought-provoking address on a subject which is of concern to everyone interested in nature and environment. Readers of Weekend FT Lite would not have missed the well-compiled article which appeared last Saturday based on his talk. It was interesting reading. Hopefully the authorities concerned read it. 

Dr. Pilapitiya analysed the grave situation giving facts and figures and identifying the problem areas. “There is very little hope in expecting the authorities to take care of the problem. We have to pressurise them to take care of the problem. Conservation in Sri Lanka will fail if it continues this way,” he insisted. “Work with the media, channel private sector and CSR money for conservation. Random acts are good, but it’s time to do something collectively to actually make an impact,” he appealed.

When we talk of wildlife conservation, we tend to straightaway think of elephants. The monarch of all Asia is also Sri Lanka’s beauty. The elephant is the majestic creature dominating the country’s fauna. Possibly we are so concerned because of the close relationship we have with elephants which we see every day. We hear of threats from numerous quarters and we read about the numbers going down. And of course, there is no other animal that had been so closely associated with the people for so long, particularly in traditional and religious activities. 

Researcher Jayantha Jayewardene says that this association dates back to the pre-Christian era, more than 5,000 years. Ancient Sinhalese kings captured and tamed elephants, which used to abound in the country. He quotes an inscription dating back to 1st century BC at Navalar Kulam in Panama Pattu in the Eastern Province mentioning a religious benefaction by a prince who was designated Ath arcaria or ‘Master of the Elephant Establishment’. The Elephant Establishment was called the Ath panthiya. 

Sinhala literature of the 3rd Century BC indicates that the State elephant or Mangalahatti was the elephant on which the king rode. This elephant was always a tusker and had a special stable called the hatthisala. The post to which it was tethered was called the alheka. 

Elephants were also an export item from early days. Elephants were exported to Kalinga by special boats from about 200 BC from the port of Mantai (Mannar). Exports are also recorded by Ptolemy in 175 AD. 

In the days of the Kandyan kingdom, the king maintained a special unit that dealt with all matters concerning elephants, including their capture, training, conservation and export. This unit was under the chief officer known as the Gajanayake Nilame. He was of a high caste and received many favours including land. Those who were used to capture elephants were from lower castes.

That was the time when the capture or killing of a wild elephant was punishable by death. Only the king had the authority to capture or kill an elephant. 

The Portuguese continued the export of elephants. Capture of elephants continued until the British did it on a low-priority basis. The British however, indulged in the shooting of elephants as a form of sport. Elephant populations started diminishing rapidly with the wanton and indiscriminate destruction of the elephant herds. The planters combined their sport and the protection of their plantations and shot elephants at will, so much so that the once large elephant population in the hills dwindled rapidly. 

Capturing young ones

There was a time when elephants were captured in the eastern coast by Moorish trackers called ‘Pannikyans’ and tamed them. They only captured young ones around four to eight feet in height. Before capturing them a permit had to be obtained from the Government Agent of the district. 

A vivid description of the operation is described by H.A.J. Hulugalle: “The trackers then go into the forest, follow a herd and camp in the neighbourhood. Equipped with deer hide nooses, torches and an old gun or two, they approach the feeding animals at dusk and watch their movements. They creep up stealthily in twos and threes, dodging from tree to tree until they reach the young animals. There is absolute silence when this is being done. Sometimes the trackers have to deal with an infuriated mother. When the leg of a young animal is momentarily uplifted, the tracker skips the noose dexterously and tightens it, the other end being secured to the tree.

“No sooner has the nooses being slipped, the men raise a shout and discharge their guns in the air. Flares are lit and there is a general stampede among the animals who disappear into the forest. The captured animal is then led away to the camp by three men who drag at a rope round its neck while two men behind have hold of a restraining rope on one of its hind legs. The Pannikyans treat their captives well. They themselves run great risks and many a man has come by a horrible end in the course of noosing elephants.”

End of Kraals 

Presently there is much talk about the human-elephant conflict. Destroying of crops of farmers happened even in early years, mainly during periods of drought. That’s when ‘kraals’ were held periodically to capture elephants and tame them.

What is a kraal? “Kraals refer to the capture of wild elephants by driving herds or individual animals into a heavily manned stockade that was constructed by enclosing a popular water hole and were camouflaging it in ways that blended them with the habitat. While the wild animals in the area were located, hundreds of men carrying flares, thunder-flashes and spears stampeded them into the stockade by generating a violent din with drums, whistles, guns and crackers.” – ‘Images of British Ceylon’.

Tame elephants were used to entrap the wild ones which were noosed and tied to trees. 

It is on record how an elephant kraal was organised in 1870by Iddamalgoda Basnayaka Nilame and Ekneligoda Disawe for the entertainment of the Duke of Edinburgh who visited Ceylon. Maduwanvela Rate Mahattaya (RM) and J.T. Ellawela who had witnessed the kraal, had later selected Panamure near Embilipitiya as a suitable place for kraals. At least twelve kraals had been held between1896 to 1950 at this venue. 

A kraal organised by Sir Francis Molamure in 1950 had a sad ending when a young, strong bull elephant was shot dead. It marked the end of elephant kraals which were banned thereafter. 

As mentioned earlier, the debate on the human-elephant conflict goes on. Elephants are being killed at village level. They also die in accidents. We read about deaths as a result of being hit by trains. There is poaching resulting in the numbers in the parks decreasing. The need to do something to save the monarch sooner than later is a ‘must’.

(More next week)

Pix by Rajiv Welikala