This columnist does not profess to be an expert on wildlife to make proposals for a successful solution, but our thoughts did wander the Sri Lankan way into the past: How did our ancients deal with the Human-Elephant Conflict?
by Gamini Weerakoon
This column last week was about saving Sri Lanka’s political jumbos facing extinction.
This week we comment on saving the country’s wild jumbos, the quadruped species much dearer to us than those of the biped political category.
The Human-Elephant Conflict, as it is being called, has developed into a national issue and featured prominently at the last presidential election campaign. Two months have passed since what has been described as a ‘historic election’ in this island nation where positive action was expected to be taken to protect both humans and jumbos — whoever was elected the president. But the elephants are perishing — 296 last year as against 96 humans in the year just gone by. Daily reports indicate that the carnage continues with increasing disadvantage to the animals. The kill ratio is about 3:1. There were an estimated 7,500 elephants and more than 22.5 million humans in 2019.
Do we need mathematicians to tell us who will win the race to oblivion?
The new Wildlife, Environment, Land and Land Reclamation Minister S.M. Chandrasena, in his initial statements, has spoken of the distribution of 2000, 12’ gauge shot guns and AG cartridges to Civil Defence Force personnel who are expected to deal with elephants destroying farmlands, as a strategy of resolving the Human-Elephant Conflict. The incongruity here is that while guns can settle wars or armed conflicts, in this issue neither the peasants nor elephants are armed. The peasants or farmers — as they are called — cannot be shot at. It’s illegal; besides, they have votes! If then against whom are the guns going to be trained at? Most probably the displaced animals are in search of food and living space. The government would predictably say it is for the protection of the Civilian Defence Forces. They have to guard the electric fences confining the jumbos to specified areas. According to reports last week, the minister had said in his talks with NGOs that he would withdraw the guns issued to the Civilian Defence Force.
The other strategy spoken of, the electric fence, according to reports, has not been much of a success in keeping out the marauding jumbos from destroying farm lands, homes of farmers, while preventing them from being killed. These poor farmers who eke out a living from toiling in the soil are desperate and say this regularly on TV. With much shilly-shallying done regarding the functioning of the Civil Defence Forces, the problem acquires the status of most Sri Lankan problems: All Talk and No Action.
True, the government is only two months old but humans and elephants kill each other every day. How long can this go on?
The country’s elephant population has been estimated at 6,000, but according to some calculations, Sri Lanka can hold only 3000. What’s the solution for the remainder? Eliminate the excess 3,000 jumbos? That would obviously lead to a national and international furore.
Elephants are considered a ‘National Treasure’ (Jatika Vasthuwak) of Sri Lanka by all its people. Last year we heard declarations of other forms of Jathika Vasthuwas ‘National Treasures’, such as: Airlanka, Mattala Airport, Hambantota Harbour by a faction of politicians who accused the Yahapalanaya government of trying to sell off these projects to foreigners. But the love for these animals emanates from all people — even those who are fighting them off to save their lives. They not only say so but their love is demonstrated when animals get into difficulties in the jungles and are saved by the Wildlife Department with the active assistance of farmers.
Two weeks ago we read a heart- warming report about a baby jumbo being ensnared in a trap set up by poachers in the jungle. The wails of the baby jumbo and its mother made farmers call in Wildlife Department’s rescuers who extricated the baby from the vicious trap after tranquilising its mother to prevent her from interfering with the rescue operation of her baby.
The mother elephant which was tranquilised was treated for her wounds sustained in previous encounters and finally the mother and her baby were seen trotting off to the jungle watched by villagers.
This columnist does not profess to be an expert on wildlife to make proposals for a successful solution, but our thoughts did wander the Sri Lankan way into the past: How did our ancients deal with the Human-Elephant Conflict? Our ancient literature such as the Mahavamsa does not deal with this problem but describes elephants as weapons of war as powerful as armoured tanks. Dutu Gemunu’s elephant assailed the impregnable Vijithipura fortress, broke down its gates with Dutu Gemunu riding him, says the Mahavamsa. Jumbos, apparently, were beasts which were considered a part of society and not a destructive force. They were kept as pets of the well-to-do, used as bulldozers, tractors, armoured tanks in war and bearers of sacred relics in peraheras.
We are not aware of the proposals of the highly estimated think tanks that worked out the national problems to be resolved by the Gotabaya Rajapaksa regime. But we do hope that the issue of domestication of jumbos was considered. Many NGO strategists want the jumbos to roam the wilds freely as they did in their glorious days, but, unfortunately, there are not enough jungles for such unlimited freedom. Even in the vast lands, once of the ‘Brave and Free’, there are no more land or forests for the animals to wander about freely. There are only Zoological Gardens for wild animals and in a very few countries ‘Reservations’ for the indigenous people.
In this country elephants have been used to earn millions of dollars from tourists at wildlife parks and forest reserves. Some tourist hotels, too, have elephants for entertainment of their guests. The elephants should not only be used for tourist entertainment and tourist dollars. They should be made to interact with the people of the country in towns and villages as entertainers in elephant parks. An elephant industry could provide employment to thousands.
If jumbos are unable to restrict their urge to merge — like us humans — birth control methods could be resorted to but not to the practice of culling as in western countries where excess animals are slaughtered en masse because they cannot be accommodated and/or not economically viable.
These are random thoughts of a man on the street. There will be the profound thoughts of whizz-kids of think tanks considered as the crème de la crème of thinkers of the country expressed in their proposals to President Rajapaksa. Unfortunately these have not seen the light of day as yet but humans and elephants keep dying in the wilds each day.
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