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by Aditha Dissanayake

Call him Maximus. His one year old brain cannot understand why his mother has been lying on her side for so long. She does not flick her trunk. Her body is cold to his touch. She is so quiet. "Wake up mum" he whines, "I'm hungry... I'm scared... please wake up."

But his mother cannot hear him. She cannot feel her baby's head rubbing against her neck. She cannot respond when he tries to raise her to her feet. She lies in a pool of mud at Patahanwewa in the jungles of Bakamuna - shot dead by an unknown hunter.

Little Maximus will be sent to the sanctuary for elephants at Udawalawe, says Forest Ranger, J. Wickramasinghe. But, Maximus does not wish to go. He does not want to leave his mother - the only person who had loved him, who had looked after him. "Why are all these people staring at me, Mum? Are they enjoying my grief?" he whines again.

There is no one to answer him - to comfort him. From now on, there will never be!

Maximus! Forgive mankind for what he has done to you!

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