KAMALIKA PIERIS
revised 12.10.21
There is a
strong pro-elephant lobby in Sri Lanka which says the elephant must not be
domesticated. It must be left alone, to wander in the forest. There are no
forests left for it to wander in, since those forests were converted to tea estates
during British rule.
Therefore the elephant is now kept as a
protected species in elephant reserves. These ‘managed elephant reserves’ come
under the Department of Wildlife Conservation. The reserves are generous in
size, specially at Wilpattu and Yala, taking into consideration the small size
of Sri Lanka.
The state
also provides elephant orphanages for the protection and preservation of
elephants. (Section 29 of the Fauna and Flora Ordinance). In their natural
state, Elephants are very caring and operate as small matriarchal family units
in larger herds. They will look after ‘orphaned’ baby elephants.
Elephant activists
are opposed to the idea of individual ownership of elephants. An elephant
cannot have an individual owner as they come under Public Property in the existing
laws, said one activist. This is a
howler. The term ‘Public property’ as defined in Offences against Public
Property Act, No. 12 of 1982 means the property of the Government, any
department, statutory board, public corpora-ration, bank, co-operative society
or co-operative-union”. Elephant activists
also said that the elephant, in its free state should come under the Zoological
Gardens Department. That is another howler.
The very term
elephant ‘owner’ was incorrect, these activists said. Wild animals such as
elephants could not be ‘owned’ by anyone. Those who hold elephants on legal
permits given by the Department of
Wildlife Conservation are elephant caretakers”. this is a borrowed
observation.In 2018 courts in the Indian state of Uttarakhand ruled that animals both
wild and domestic are not property but legal entities” on whose behalf humans
must act as guardians.
However, individual can own elephants in Sri Lanka. It is legal. The Fauna and Flora protection Ordinance
speaks of Registration and licensing of elephants (section 22a) and Penalty for
unlawful possession of elephant (Section 23).Put together, it implies lawful
ownership. This is well known and had been going on for years. Elephants can
have a private owner and tame elephants have been registered all these years
observed Jayantha Jayewardene. There is
no ‘caretaker ‘nonsense either. Owners
are liable in courts if anything happens to the precious elephant.
Captive elephant industry is a violation of animal rights. It’s
cruel, inhumane and contradicts the teachings of Lord Buddha, said one activist.
True we had a culture of taking elephants in perahera for around 200 years. But
we now know that this is harmful we must make changes to culture and continue
the perahera without elephants, said another.
These elephant activists pounce on the use of elephants in
perahera, which takes place once a year
but they ignore the elephants trapped in the Dehiwela zoo. At Dehiwela, there is daily evening
performance where elephants perform antics such as wiggling their backs to
music, hopping on one foot and standing up on their hind legs.
One activist has launched a campaign to expose the cruel treatment
given to elephants. He posted video clips of a tusker whose limbs were
repeatedly jabbed with a goad by an angry mahout. The tusker was identified as
Raju, one of the elephants belonging to the Dalada Maligawa and currently held
at a temple belonging to the Asgiri Vihara.
Another said that captive elephants were genetically and
ecologically dead animals. Elephants in
the wild roam free procreate and provide ecological services. They disperse
seeds, knock down old trees and allow new growth of plants. When an elephant is
removed from the habitat, all these actions cease,” he said.
Unlike larger
African elephants, which have never been domesticated in large numbers, Asian
elephants have worked closely with humans for millennia said elephant experts. The anthropologist
Katy Moran who spent some months studying elephant care in Sri Lanka , has commented on this. Her comments
indicate some degree of ignorance as to the situation in Sri Lanka also idealism, but they are worth noting. Moran
later became Principal Investigator for the Smithsonian, where she documented
traditional systems of elephant management and their uses for conservation and
sustainable development.
The unique
work potential of domesticated elephants is underdeveloped in Sri Lanka, said
Katy. Elephant labor can substitute for small lift and traction machinery and
accomplish equivalent tasks for comparative costs. Elephants can haul one- to
two-ton loads about a mile each day at costs competitive with the mechanized
equipment that Sri Lanka now imports. Elephant use could cut the incalculable
costs to Sri Lanka of increased dependency on foreign governments for imported
machinery, fuel and parts, which also results in increased trade deficits for
the island’s economy.
Not only are
elephants an underutilized resource for traction in terrain that is too soft or
steep for wheeled vehicles, but no roads need be built to use elephants and
they do not degrade the environment with their tracks. “Fuel” for
elephants is abundant in the local environment. More importantly, this
naturally renewable resource can duplicate itself continued Katy.
Domesticated
elephants can also be exported. This will help the economy. Markets abroad
could be developed easily since Asian elephants are highly valued in zoos and circuses
in the West, continued Katy.
A captive
breeding program could be developed since Asian elephants have an endangered
conservation status. A breeding program could offer Sri Lanka a field center
for basic and applied research, training and education in veterinary medicine,
elephant husbandry, population genetics, zoology, anthropology and a comparison
of in situ and ex situ conservation methodology, said Katy.
Most
importantly, elephant domestication offers Sri Lankan access to, benefits from,
and participation in utilization of their most valued national natural
resource, the Asian elephant. Employment of traditional elephant management
technology for capture, training and maintenance generates pride in ancient Sri
Lankan traditions and offers the means for economic development to the people.
Ensuring elephants “a right to live and move about in any part of this
land” integrates the goals of development and conservation of the species.
It nurtures the values that are a motivating force in Sri Lanka, proven by the
very survival of elephants in both wild and captive states on this small island
for over 25 centuries, concluded Katy.
Although Sri
Lanka is reported to have well over 50 Non Governmental Organizations (NGO)
dealing with elephants, very few of them actively contribute towards the well
being of the elephants at the field level said Dangolla and Silva. Only the MEF contributes towards the health
care aspects of captive elephants by providing veterinary services, and housing
for sick domestic elephants at their premises.
Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF) is a rescue and care home for tame elephants Wikipedia described MEF. It is situated on a 15-acre
estate in Kegalle owned by the late Sam Samarasinghe, a dedicated animal lover.
The estate has been the home of Samarasinghe family and their elephants for
many generations.
The estate
became an elephant oriented tourist concern. Called Club
Concept Elephant Bath in 1979. in1999, on the death of the
owner, with the support of the World Animal Protection society, it
was made a sanctuary for captive elephants, with proper caretaking facilities
and medical services. It is the only certified non-profit organization working with
captive elephants in Sri Lanka it has cared for more than 80 elephants.
MEF finds and
takes in mistreated elephants paying the elephant owners a monthly wage. Many
of the elephants are recovered from the logging
industry, within which poor living and working conditions can cause tusk
injuries, potentially resulting in breakages, nerve damage, and gum disease.
The other
elephants MEF rescues come from elephants that individual people keep in their
home gardens, temple-owned elephants which are often neglected when not used
for religious purposes, and the elephants hotels keep captive for tourism.
The elephant
owners are not obliged to cover any of the costs. Many of them turn to MEF when
they are no longer capable of coping with the immense cost of keeping an
elephant. MEF covers all medical, food bills, and a salary for the mahout. The
average daily expenditure on an elephant amounts to around Rs.7000.
These
elephants are taken care of by 13 local mahouts and a number
of foreign volunteers. Every
elephant has a night bed at which it is fed in the evening and tied throughout
the night. In the morning, each elephant is bathed in the river and fed its
breakfast in a day bed. The food, which is delivered daily from off the
premises, consists of coconut, kitul, and jackfruit bundles.
Each elephant’s daily consumption is counted and recorded.
A daily
veterinary check is carried out on each elephant which involves a foot sweep to
check for foot rot, and the
feeding of a vitamin dough ball containing all the vitamins and supplements
each elephant requires . The foundation maintains a close working relationship
with Dr. Ashoka Dangolla, of the Veterinary faculty at University of Peradeniya. This has
led to the establishment of a Mobile Veterinary Unit (MVU) that provides
medical services for sick and injured elephants throughout the country. MEF
also runs the Footsteps
Elephant Consultancy, the only mahout training program to be recognized and accredited
by the Department of Wildlife Conservation.
Tourists can
observe and ride the elephants at MEF as well as assist with their daily
washing in the Kuda Oya River that runs through the grounds.
MEF ensures that it strictly abides by the guidelines set by the Sri Lanka
Tourism Development Authority
In the
afternoons, the elephants are taken to an open area where they have the chance
to search for hidden baskets of fruit and roam around on their own. This is a period of relaxation and play , it allows
them to socialize and develop relationships with each other.[6]
MEF uses traditional methods of elephant training
which involve the use of pressure
points known as nila points and the ankus. The ankus
is used to apply strong, clear pressure in very particular points that the
elephant is trained to react to. When used correctly, the ankus does not cause
the elephant any pain. However, MEF is now turning to new a
mahout training program meant to shift elephant training towards a rewards base
style, where the elephant gets a treat when it has successfully completed a verbal
command given by the mahout. ( Continued)
