{"id":118987,"date":"2021-10-07T17:05:05","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T00:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=118987"},"modified":"2021-10-13T13:57:32","modified_gmt":"2021-10-13T20:57:32","slug":"the-elephant-in-sri-lanka-part-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/10\/07\/the-elephant-in-sri-lanka-part-13\/","title":{"rendered":"THE ELEPHANT IN SRI LANKA Part 13"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

revised   12.10.21<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a\nstrong pro-elephant lobby in Sri Lanka which says the elephant must not be\ndomesticated. It must be left alone, to wander in the forest. There are no\nforests left for it to wander in, since those forests were converted to tea estates\nduring British rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Therefore the elephant is now kept as a\nprotected species in elephant reserves. These \u2018managed elephant reserves\u2019 come\nunder the Department of Wildlife Conservation. The reserves are generous in\nsize, specially at Wilpattu and Yala, taking into consideration the small size\nof Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state\nalso provides elephant orphanages for the protection and preservation of\nelephants. (Section 29 of the Fauna and Flora Ordinance). In their natural\nstate, Elephants are very caring and operate as small matriarchal family units\nin larger herds. They will look after \u2018orphaned\u2019 baby elephants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elephant activists\nare opposed to the idea of individual ownership of elephants. An elephant\ncannot have an individual owner as they come under Public Property in the existing\nlaws, said  one activist. This is a\nhowler. The term \u2018Public property\u2019 as defined in Offences against Public\nProperty Act, No. 12 of 1982 means the property of the Government, any\ndepartment, statutory board, public corpora-ration, bank, co-operative society\nor co-operative-union\u201d.  Elephant activists\nalso said that the elephant, in its free state should come under the Zoological\nGardens Department. That is another howler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very term\nelephant \u2018owner\u2019 was incorrect, these activists said. Wild animals such as\nelephants could not be \u2018owned\u2019 by anyone. Those who hold elephants on legal\npermits given by the  Department of\nWildlife Conservation are elephant caretakers\u201d. this is a borrowed\nobservation.In 2018 courts in the Indian state of Uttarakhand ruled that<\/a> animals both\nwild and domestic are not property but legal entities\u201d on whose behalf humans\nmust act as guardians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, individual can own elephants in Sri Lanka. It is legal.    The Fauna and Flora protection Ordinance\nspeaks of Registration and licensing of elephants (section 22a) and Penalty for\nunlawful possession of elephant (Section 23).Put together, it implies lawful\nownership. This is well known and had been going on for years. Elephants can\nhave a private owner and tame elephants have been registered all these years\nobserved Jayantha Jayewardene.   There is\nno \u2018caretaker \u2018nonsense either.  Owners\nare liable in courts if anything happens to the precious elephant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Captive elephant industry is a violation of animal rights. It\u2019s\ncruel, inhumane and contradicts the teachings of Lord Buddha, said one activist.\nTrue we had a culture of taking elephants in perahera for around 200 years. But\nwe now know that this is harmful we must make changes to culture and continue\nthe perahera without elephants, said another. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These elephant activists pounce on the use of elephants in\nperahera, which takes place once a year \nbut they ignore the elephants trapped in the Dehiwela zoo.  At Dehiwela, there is daily evening\nperformance where elephants perform antics such as wiggling their backs to\nmusic, hopping on one foot and standing up on their hind legs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One activist has launched a campaign to expose the cruel treatment\ngiven to elephants. He posted video clips of a tusker whose limbs were\nrepeatedly jabbed with a goad by an angry mahout. The tusker was identified as\nRaju, one of the elephants belonging to the Dalada Maligawa and currently held\nat a temple belonging to the Asgiri Vihara. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another said that captive elephants were genetically and\necologically dead animals.  Elephants in\nthe wild roam free procreate and provide ecological services. They disperse\nseeds, knock down old trees and allow new growth of plants. When an elephant is\nremoved from the habitat, all these actions cease,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unlike larger\nAfrican elephants, which have never been domesticated in large numbers, Asian\nelephants have worked closely with humans for millennia said elephant experts. The anthropologist\nKaty Moran who spent some months studying elephant care in Sri Lanka , has  commented on this. Her comments\nindicate some degree of ignorance as to the situation in Sri Lanka  also idealism, but they are worth noting. Moran\nlater became Principal Investigator for the Smithsonian, where she documented\ntraditional systems of elephant management and their uses for conservation and\nsustainable development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unique\nwork potential of domesticated elephants is underdeveloped in Sri Lanka, said\nKaty. Elephant labor can substitute for small lift and traction machinery and\naccomplish equivalent tasks for comparative costs. Elephants can haul one- to\ntwo-ton loads about a mile each day at costs competitive with the mechanized\nequipment that Sri Lanka now imports. Elephant use could cut the incalculable\ncosts to Sri Lanka of increased dependency on foreign governments for imported\nmachinery, fuel and parts, which also results in increased trade deficits for\nthe island’s economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not only are\nelephants an underutilized resource for traction in terrain that is too soft or\nsteep for wheeled vehicles, but no roads need be built to use elephants and\nthey do not degrade the environment with their tracks. “Fuel” for\nelephants is abundant in the local environment. More importantly, this\nnaturally renewable resource can duplicate itself continued Katy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Domesticated\nelephants can also be exported. This will help the economy. Markets abroad\ncould be developed easily since Asian elephants are highly valued in zoos and circuses\nin the West, continued Katy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A captive\nbreeding program could be developed since Asian elephants have an endangered\nconservation status. A breeding program could offer Sri Lanka a field center\nfor basic and applied research, training and education in veterinary medicine,\nelephant husbandry, population genetics, zoology, anthropology and a comparison\nof in situ and ex situ conservation methodology, said Katy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most\nimportantly, elephant domestication offers Sri Lankan access to, benefits from,\nand participation in utilization of their most valued national natural\nresource, the Asian elephant. Employment of traditional elephant management\ntechnology for capture, training and maintenance generates pride in ancient Sri\nLankan traditions and offers the means for economic development to the people.\nEnsuring elephants “a right to live and move about in any part of this\nland” integrates the goals of development and conservation of the species.\nIt nurtures the values that are a motivating force in Sri Lanka, proven by the\nvery survival of elephants in both wild and captive states on this small island\nfor over 25 centuries, concluded Katy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Sri\nLanka is reported to have well over 50 Non Governmental Organizations (NGO)\ndealing with elephants, very few of them actively contribute towards the well\nbeing of the elephants at the field level said Dangolla and Silva. Only the MEF contributes towards the health\ncare aspects of captive elephants by providing veterinary services, and housing\nfor sick domestic elephants at their premises.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF) is a rescue and care home for tame elephants Wikipedia  described MEF. It is situated on a 15-acre\nestate in Kegalle owned by the late Sam Samarasinghe, a dedicated animal lover.\nThe estate has been the home of Samarasinghe family and their elephants for\nmany generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The estate\nbecame an elephant oriented tourist concern. Called Club\nConcept Elephant Bath in 1979.  in1999, on the death of the\nowner, with the support of the World Animal Protection<\/a> society, it\nwas made a sanctuary for captive elephants, with proper caretaking facilities\nand medical services. It is the only certified non-profit organization<\/a> working with\ncaptive elephants in Sri Lanka it has cared for more than 80 elephants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MEF finds and\ntakes in mistreated elephants paying the elephant owners a monthly wage. Many\nof the elephants are recovered from the logging\nindustry<\/a>, within which poor living and working conditions can cause tusk\ninjuries, potentially resulting in breakages, nerve damage, and gum disease. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other\nelephants MEF rescues come from elephants that individual people keep in their\nhome gardens, temple-owned elephants which are often neglected when not used\nfor religious purposes, and the elephants hotels keep captive for tourism. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The elephant\nowners are not obliged to cover any of the costs. Many of them turn to MEF when\nthey are no longer capable of coping with the immense cost of keeping an\nelephant. MEF covers all medical, food bills, and a salary for the mahout. The\naverage daily expenditure on an elephant amounts to around Rs.7000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These\nelephants are taken care of by 13 local mahouts and a number\nof foreign volunteers<\/a>. Every\nelephant has a night bed at which it is fed in the evening and tied throughout\nthe night. In the morning, each elephant is bathed in the river and fed its\nbreakfast in a day bed. The food, which is delivered daily from off the\npremises, consists of coconut<\/a>, kitul<\/a>, and jackfruit<\/a> bundles.\nEach elephant’s daily consumption is counted and recorded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A daily\nveterinary check is carried out on each elephant which involves a foot sweep to\ncheck for foot rot<\/a>, and the\nfeeding of a vitamin dough ball containing all the vitamins and supplements\neach elephant requires . The foundation maintains a close working relationship\nwith Dr. Ashoka Dangolla, of the Veterinary faculty at University of Peradeniya.  This has \nled to the establishment of a Mobile Veterinary Unit (MVU) that provides\nmedical services for sick and injured elephants throughout the country. MEF\nalso runs the Footsteps\nElephant Consultancy<\/a>, the only mahout training program to be recognized and accredited\nby the  Department of Wildlife Conservation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tourists can\nobserve and ride the elephants at MEF as well as assist with their daily\nwashing in the Kuda Oya River<\/a> that runs through the grounds.\nMEF ensures that it strictly abides by the guidelines set by the Sri Lanka\nTourism Development Authority<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the\nafternoons, the elephants are taken to an open area where they have the chance\nto search for hidden baskets of fruit and roam around on their own. This  is a period of relaxation and play , it allows\nthem to socialize and develop relationships with each other.[6]<\/sup><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MEF  uses traditional methods of elephant training\nwhich involve the use of pressure\npoints<\/a> known as nila points and the ankus<\/a>. The ankus\nis used to apply strong, clear pressure in very particular points that the\nelephant is trained to react to. When used correctly, the ankus does not cause\nthe elephant any pain. However, MEF is now turning to  new  a\nmahout training program meant to shift elephant training towards a rewards base\nstyle, where the elephant gets a treat when it has successfully completed a verbal\ncommand given by the mahout.  ( Continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118987\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}