Caring for the treasured jumbos

The month began on a sad note for Sri Lanka’s wildlife enthusiasts, when an 11-year-old tusker was shot dead in Udawalawe National Park, about 160 km southeast of Colombo. The results of the post-mortem examination pointed to a fatal bullet injury in the animal’s head.
Caretakers in the park told local media that the calf, which had two tusks, had no history of menacing people living in the area. Authorities have since been trying to find the person who fired at the elephant.

In fact, 2018 hasn’t been great for Sri Lanka’s tuskers, which are venerated as a “national treasure” and have been a huge tourist draw for decades. As many as 277 elephants have died during the year, due to causes such as electrocution, accidents on railway tracks, ‘Hakka Patas’ or traps made of explosives, and gun shots fired by people guarding their crops from the animal. Last year, as many as 256 tuskers died, according to Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation.

In a bid to address the growing threat to the elephant population — over 6,000 across the island — authorities are taking a range of measures from electric fencing to earmarking some zones as “protected areas”, Department spokesperson Hasini Sarathchandra said. “We are also trying to increase awareness among people through schools in areas near the different national parks,” she told The Hindu.

The task at hand is not easy, especially in the wake of growing environmental challenges — both natural and man-made. In July, a tusker was found washed out to sea and was later rescued by the Sri Lankan Navy, whose personnel spotted the animal in distress and towed it to the shore. Officials suspected that the elephant might have been swept into the sea while crossing the Kokkilai lagoon, near Mullaitivu and Trincomalee districts in the island’s northeast. The prolonged drought in the region was pushing the elephants off their usual course in the nearby jungles.

Illegal waste dumps

In September, authorities launched a probe into the death of wild elephants in a marsh in the island’s east. Illegal waste dumps have also emerged a serious source of danger for elephants. Earlier this year, AFP reported the spotting of a herd of wild elephants foraging for food in a mountain of garbage in central Sri Lanka. The animals were swallowing dangerous material from the illegal waste dump, including plastic mixed with decaying food. Meanwhile, human-elephant conflict remains a key challenge for people living near forest areas. Until November 30 this year, 88 people have died after being attacked by the beasts. “You can’t completely eliminate human-animal conflict, but you can mitigate it to a significant extent,” according to Jayantha Jayawardena, an expert on Asian elephants.

Especially so, in the case of fatal train accidents that make frequent headlines here. In September, a train transporting oil across the island killed two baby elephants and their mother. Last month, a passenger train hit and killed three young elephants in eastern Sri Lanka.

“The Wildlife and Railway Departments got together and agreed on certain measures to address this problem, but nothing gets implemented. The human element in this has been very negative,” said Mr. Jayawardena, managing trustee of the Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust. In his view, authorities do not have a much-needed proactive conservation strategy, but are often “just firefighting”. “If an elephant calf inside a national park is shot dead, then where else can the animal be safe in our country,” he asked, referring to the December 1 incident.

Meera Srinivasan works for The Hindu and is based in Colombo.

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2 elephants die in another Lanka train collision

COLOMBO: Two elephants were killed and another critically injured Sunday crossing railway tracks in Sri Lanka, officials said, in yet another tragic collision involving the protected animals and speeding trains, reports AFP.

A Jaffna-bound night train rammed into two elephants at Ambanpola, 150 kilometres (93 miles) north of Colombo, killing one and injuring the other. In a separate accident, a passenger train derailed after hitting and killing an elephant near Palugaswewa, 160 kilometres (100 miles) north-east of Colombo.

No passengers were injured in either accident.

“Train services have been disrupted, but we are working to remove the carcass and repair the track on the eastern line,” an official said by telephone.

Speed restrictions are imposed on trains passing through elephant habitats but these are difficult to enforce. Only 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s trains are believed to be equipped with speedometers, local media reported Sunday.

Two weeks ago, a passenger train struck and killed three elephants. A fortnight before that, a mother elephant and her two calves were hit and killed in the east of the country.

Sri Lanka considers elephants a national treasure and they are protected by law. But conflicts between humans and elephants near wildlife sanctuaries remains a problem.

Official figures show 1,200 elephants have been killed by humans in the past five years, with 375 people trampled to death by the beasts.

The government announced in August it would erect 2,651 kilometres (1,556 miles) of electric fencing to keep elephants out of villages bordering wildlife reserves.

It is estimated there are 7,500 wild elephants in Sri Lanka.

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Shock treatment as Sri Lanka battles wild elephants

Sri Lanka Wednesday announced plans to substantially extend electric fencing after marauding elephants killed 375 people in the past five years and villagers retaliated by slaughtering nearly 1,200 of the beasts.

The Government said the toll marked a clear escalation of the human-elephant conflict and urgent steps were needed to protect both people and wildlife.

Government spokesman Gayantha Karunathilaka said authorities would begin constructing 2,651 kilometres (1,556 miles) of new electric fencing to keep elephants away from villages bordering wildlife reserves.

The cabinet also approved a plan to upgrade the existing 4,349 kilometres of electric fences — which repel elephants but do not seriously hurt them — and ensure better maintenance.

There was no immediate estimate of the costs.

The announcement came two days after President Maithripala Sirisena called for urgent action, saying elephants were straying from national parks, raiding villages and destroying crops.

Sirisena said wildlife, including elephants, destroyed about 35 percent of the country’s agricultural produce.

A monkey population of one million in the island of 21 million people was responsible for wiping out much of the coconut harvest earlier this year and driving prices up, the president said.

He also said there were almost daily reports of elephants attacking villagers or destroying property.

Official figures show 5,800 incidents of elephants attacking property in the past five years.

Elephants are considered a Buddhist symbol and protected by law. Killing wild elephants is an offence punishable by death, but there were regular reports of angry villagers poisoning or shooting them.

Sri Lanka also bans the capture of wild elephants, although many people have illegally raised baby jumbos — seen as a status symbol.

Official records show there were about 200 domesticated elephants in Sri Lanka before the recent ban on capturing them. The population in the wild is estimated at 7,500. (Courtesy AFP)

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Elephants on 'hostile territory' in Sri Lanka

Udawalawe National Park, Sri Lanka - It is difficult to predict when the elephants will come.

As darkness falls around Sri Lanka's Udawalawe National Park, the 52 villages that speckle its borders go on alert. Thin wire fences hum with the threat of electricity.

Across the dry zone, farmers climb up into rudimentary treehouses overlooking their paddy fields. They must try to stay alert as the darkness deepens. Armed only with torches, fireworks, and their voices - loud and hoarse - they may be forced to face down giants.

Ashoka Ranjeewa, an elephant researcher, has spent many nights out here. When he first arrived in Pokunuthanna, there were few friendly faces. Bordered on two sides by the national park, and on one side by the Dahaiyagala sanctuary, this village of some 100 families has seen more than its fair share of elephant attacks. Farmers here allege the compensation they are paid is meagre and comes late. Outsiders only come to gawk, taking pictures, commiserating.

None of this stops the elephants from coming.

Killer elephants

The foragers are most often male elephants - bulls - on average weighing in at 5,000-6,000 kilogrammes, and reaching over three metres tall, these are among the largest land animals alive.

The villagers of Pokunuthanna used to believe just four to five bulls took turns invading their land. But when Ranjeewa installed some infrared night vision cameras, he raised the count to 35.

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800 km long electric fence around villages to keep wild elephants away

Colombo: Sri Lankan government has decided to build another 800 kilometers of electrical fence to prevent elephants from entering into villages.

According to the government, about 60-80 human lives and lives of more than 200 wild elephants are lost annually due to human -elephant and cost-effective electric fencing has been identified as the only viable solution and most productive measure to control this long-standing conflict in the country. -

About 3300 km long fences have been constructed so far in this regard. Construction of 275 km of fences are under way for 2016.

It has been planned to erect 800 km long fences in 2017 in seven wildlife zones according to a proposal made by Minister of Sustainable Development and Wildlife Gamini Jayawickrama Perera, and the Cabinet of ministers has granted approval to purchase required material for the project.

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