By Jayantha Jayewardene - The Island
Planters in Sri Lanka have had a long association with wild elephants. This association started with the pioneer planters who moved to the upcountry areas to open up land for the cultivation of coffee and cinchona. Unfortunately those early associations were always confrontational and detrimental to the elephant. The jungles that were inhabited by the elephants were cleared at a rapid rate to be replaced by coffee and cinchona plants. The elephants that had lived in those jungles were shot indiscriminately if they got in the way of those clearing the jungles.
There is a belief that the elephants that inhabited those jungles went down to the low country when their habitat was invaded by man. This is not true. They were killed! Later when those pioneer planters settled down on their estates they went after the wild elephants to shoot them, in what they called a sport! Books by writers like Sir Samuel Baker, Alfred Clarke, Harry Storey, D. J. Hennessey, and Sir Emerson Tenant are replete with accounts of shooting elephants for sport.
Major Thomas Rogers killed 1,500 elephants. He was struck by lightning and killed at the Haputale Resthouse when was 40 odd years old. Ironically, his grave at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club also seems to have been struck by lightning. Major Skinner a roads engineer and Payne Galleway a tea planter are reported to have killed over 700 elephants each.
On the other hand the pioneer planters used tame elephants, which were plentiful at that time, when they were clearing the jungles and planting coffee. Elephants are sure footed and were very adept at moving, with heavy loads, over rough, steep and unchartered terrain. They were used to assist in the construction of roads, bridges, culverts and railways. They were used to uproot the stumps of jungle trees that were cut down. Elephants were hired on a daily basis and payment would depend on the type of work performed. The elephants to be tamed for work were caught by the kraal method––wild elephants were driven into a stockade and, when captive, tamed and trained for work. Tame elephants were used to assist in the taming of the wild elephants that were caught.
Elephants on estates in the recent times
Shawlands Estate, Lunugala had wild elephants coming up from the Bibile and Moneragala areas and raiding the vegetable gardens of the labourers. Douggie Jenkins, Bevil Jansz and the late Russel Bowen were the Superintendents of Shawlands in the 1960s and 70s.
Hopton Estate, also in Lunugala, had elephants visiting them in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time Ron Ferguson and the later Kumar Gunatileke were the superintendents of that estate. Wild elephants also came up to Hopton and Swinton divisions from the Bibile/ Moneragala area and mainly raided the vegetable gardens of the labourers. In fact Hopton had an item styled ‘Elephant Damage’ in the report that the Visiting Agent submits periodically.
Yapame and Kehelwatte estates, both in Lunugala, also suffered the detrimental effects of the visits of wild elephants.
Elephants came up from the Lunugala area and visited the large area of patna land between Mahadowa Estate, Madulsina and El Teb Estate, Passara. Both estates are over 4,000 feet above sea level. Their dung was found by Mike Clarke, superintendent of El Teb, on one of his treks through the patnas. As Russel Tennekoon, the assistant superintendent of El Teb, at that time, says those elephants were ‘just visiting’. Not seen. No damage was done.
Elephants also visited Meedumpitiya division of Passara group when Douggie Lamb was the superintendent and David Witham the assistant superintendent on that division.
In the 1960s wild elephants came up from the Wellawaya area to Gamawela Estate, Passara and Mahatenne division of Dammeria Estate also in Passara. I was superintendent of Dammeria in the 1970s but the elephants did not come there again.
On the other side of Badulla, a herd of elephants from the Talpitigala area used to come to Keenakelle and Ledgerwatte estates, which were in Hali Ela. The elephants caused very little damage whilst they were there.
In 1967, 1969 and 1970 when Ted Gottellier was the Manager of Poonagala Estae, Bandarawela, a wild elephant used to come up from the Koslanda /Wellawaya area and cause a lot of damage to the vegetable gardens of the labourers. The first time it came to the plantation the pluckers were going to work.
In the 1990s a number of elephants came up to the Makaldeniya, Poonagala and Koslanda estates. I carried out a survey of those elephants when Viji Johnpulle was the superintendent of Poonagala, and found that there were seven elephants trapped in this area. They had come from Wellawaya and Koslanda, through village gardens and rubber plantations, but not been able to go back, mainly because of increased human activity. Those elephants were all males. Most of them are still there. Wild elephants raided the Koslanda town during the ‘Adi Poosai’ festival in 1999. They brought down the banana trees that had been used for the ceremony.
In the 1990s the Department of Wildlife Conservation made an attempt to capture and translocate those animals. However, with the first capture they encountered many problems. One was that, due to the hilly terrain, it was difficult to dart the elephants with a tranquilliser. If the elephant fell down with its head in a position lower position than the body, it would die due to the intestines etc. pressing against the diaphragm. The other problem was that those elephants were in a part of the estate that was not well roaded. It was therefore difficult to bring the elephant to a main road due to there being only narrow and winding field paths. The elephant that was captured was re-located in the Yala National Park.
For many years elephants moving down from the fringes of the Sinharaja Forests used to appear on Deepdene Estate, Rakwana. Almost 50 years ago when Bathiya Jayaratne and later Sarath de Zoysa were in charge of Deepdene, elephants were regular visitors. Sometimes when coming late at night at night from Colombo or the club they used to encounter elephants on the road. Sometimes the elephants did not move away quickly keeping the occupants of the vehicle waiting. Elephants still visit Deepdene, though in smaller numbers now.
This herd used to visit the cardamoms and paddy field at Aigburth Estate, Rakwana. Ralph Amerasinghe says that they disturbed cardamom harvesting many times, when he was there, by coming during the day. Their smell preceded their arrival. He says that in the 1970s elephants were regularly encountered on the Bulutota Pass, which is on the Rakwana–Deniyaya road. In the past road engineers traced new roads along the paths taken by the elephants since it ensured an even gradient. The Bulutota Pass with its 10 elbow or hair pin bends is a perfect example of this. The Sinharaja forest reserve borders the even numbered bends of this pass. The most frequent sighting of elephants was at the 4th hairpin bend from the bottom. On occasion elephants were seen making their way from the 6th or 4th bend, along the road, to the 5th bend and onto the patanas close by.
Those elephants also visited Heatherleigh and Ensalwatte Estates regularly. I remember the late Aelien de Silva talking of those elephants visiting Ensalwatte Estate, Deniyaya, when he was superintendent there.
Kumarawatte was a cocoa and rubber estate on a high hill close to the Moneragala town. The Bibile Estate, which was in the plains, and Kumarawatte had herds of elephants visiting them and causing much damage. Ambrose Perera and Harold Winter were the superintendents of Kumarawatte and Bibile respectively in the 1970s.
There has always been speculation as to whether there are elephants still in the Adam’s Peak area. There are elephants on the side opposite the steps that the pilgrims use. The elephants come to the side of the pilgrim route during the off season when there are no crowds. These elephants are seen very rarely though their fresh dung is found regularly, especially in the area known as the Gouravilla Plains. Once however when Ralph Amerasinghe was the superintendent of Laxapana Estate a few elephants came in the night, to the Dalhousie Estate, which is at the base of Adam’s Peak. Various reports suggest that there are seven to fifteen elephants in the Adam’s Peak area.
No human has been killed in all these instances mentioned above, the exception being at Makaldeniya, when a labourer, after a bout of drinking in the night, tried to take on an elephant he encountered near the bungalow, and was killed by the elephant for his trouble.
A herd of elephants, which generally consists of 12 to 20 animals, is led by the matriarch. The herd consists of the matriarch and her female progeny. All males are ejected from the herd when they reach puberty. This is nature’s way of preventing inbreeding and also assists in the flow of blood and genes, amongst the herds. The males wander about either alone or in small groups. It is mostly the males that are involved in human elephant conflicts. They are bolder and go well into human habitations and cultivations looking for food. The females in a herd, on the other hand, are wary of invading human habitat since they are very protective of their young and will not expose them to danger by going far out from the jungle.
An ever increasing human population demands more and more land for settlement, development and agriculture. The jungles which are the elephant’s habitat are cleared to meet these demands. The reduced habitats are now not sufficient to satisfy the elephants need for food and water. The elephants come out looking for food and water and come into conflict with humans whose crops they raid and whose houses they damage.
[This paper has been prepared to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Ceylon Planters’ Society]
