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| Monday, 22 November 2004 |
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Jumbo population hits staggering low: The challenge of curbing elephant deaths by Florence Wickramage Wild elephants succumbing to injuries caused by man's negligence has been gradually increasing of late. Elephants knocked down by speeding trains have become an yearly occurence while elephants dying through electrocution comes a close second. Initial reactions to newspaper reports about elephants dying due to train and electrical accidents imply that while one department is launching programmes to protect the fast dwindling wild elephant population, other State institutions such as the Electricity and Railways Departments are decimating these efforts, attributed by some to negligence. Sri Lanka's elephant population is at high risk due to various actions by man caused either voluntarily or involuntarily. The existing human-elephant conflict tops as the number one cause of wild elephant deaths. Population Elephants have been in the forefront of Lanka's history from time
immemorial and have been accepted as the `flagship' of the country's fauna
and have acquired the status of a national symbol. Colonial officials like Samuel Baker who fell in love with the island for her natural beauty states in his reports that Ceylon's jungles were `teeming' with elephants at the beginning of the 20th century and there were elephants even in Nuwara Eliya. Historical records reveal that foreign rulers hunted elephants for `sport' while Arab traders came to Ceylon to trade in spices and Ivory. Ancient Sri Lankan kings had armies of elephants while some elephants were housed near royal courtyards and trained to be executioners of wrong-doers in those far off days. In Sri Lanka today elephants have become ornaments of pageantry and also beasts of burden and is part and parcel of Sri Lankan society. Current statistics estimate the country's elephant population - both wild and domesticated - to be around 2500 - 3000 out of which only a 1076 elephants are found in the wilds. In this context the Ath Athuru Sevana programme of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) to care for stranded and injured jumbos found in the wilds to finally release them to their natural habitats to swell the wild-elephant population in the jungles, is laudable. Accidents Statistics from the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) state that nearly 5 to 6 elephants die annually from railway accidents. During the current year a total of 5 rail-accident elephant deaths occurred - three from the North Western region and two from the Mahaweli region.
The parent elephants died while the injured baby jumbo was found shelter and care at the Ath Athuru Sevana at Uda Walawe and was treated for its injuries. Then on November 08th an elephant was knocked down by a train between Abanpola and Galigamuwa at the 132 and a half kilometre mile post and was killed. DWLC officials also say that at least 5 to 6 wild elephants die due to accidents caused by overhanging electrical power lines. The writer is aware that the Director General DWLC recently met with the General Manager Railways to discuss ways and means to minimise wild elephant deaths through railway accidents. Most of these pachyderms die along the North-Western and North-Eastern Railway tracks due to the abundance of elephant habitats in these regions and elephant movements being very frequent. DG DWLC Danayanda Kariyawasam said that elephants were animals of a low-hearing frequency and do not hear the noise of an oncoming train till it is almost on top of it. Further elephants are scared of bright lights. The introduction of a specially made warning horn to support the low-hearing capacity of the animal and blinking lights to herald a train's passage through elephant territory is being considered. The DWLC has already installed large bill-boards by railway tracks where possible elephant crossings could take place. Railways General Manager Priyal de Silva informed the writer that elephants dying due to railway accidents attributed to the negligence of drivers is not correct. Awareness programmes for railway drivers have been conducted and drivers are aware that elephants would cross railway tracks running through elephant corridors. Many of the jungle areas which existed bordering railway tracks have been cleared for development. As such it is imposible for a speeding train to be brought to an immediate halt on the sudden detection of an elephant on the track. Further, repeated stops by trains and slow movements could also disrupt the railway time-schedule. As such the DWLC has been requested to provide the Railway Department with demarcations of elephant corridor areas of at least one kilometre in extent so that raiwlay-drivers could be alerted about possible elephant crossings through the areas demarcated, Priyal de Silva said. Human-elephant conflict The human-elephant conflict which has become a national problem has still not been solved. Towards reaching a possible solution a national workshop was held at Girandurukotte recently where DWLC officials and experts in the field met to address this burning problem. At these discussions the effectiveness of the `electric fence' now in use became questionable due to desired results of this method not being achieved. As such the need to put into force alternate methods to solve the conflict as against the `electric fence' was considered. The country's present elephant population faces a 10% decrease annually. Most of the elephant deaths are attributed not to natural causes but accidents and accordingly as much as 150 to 160 elephant deaths occur annually. The human death toll is around 50 - 60. During the period 1992-2003, 409 pachyderms have been killed in the Mahaweli regions alone out of which 314 were males. Human deaths during these years were 128. In the year 2004, 50 elephant deaths and 12 human deaths had occurred in the Mahaweli region. The human-elephant conflict is severe in 22 zones out of 28 zones of the Mahaweli region. The war in the North and East has hampered the gathering of authentic elephant status data from Trincomalee. However, according to expert opinion the present complex situation is bound to create an imbalance in the environmental and faunal context. Wildlife officers in the field attribute several reasons for accidental and human-caused deaths of wild elephants. Among these are elephants being shot at by humans; falling into pits while straying into unknown land; railway accidents; falling prey to illegal timber fellers; severe injuries caused by trap-guns; inability to re-emerge on to dry ground after drinking water in the AZD waterway of Maduru Oya; being trapped within armed-training exercises of the armed forces; being poisoned by cultivators etc. Methods already introduced by the DWLC, though under difficult circumstances to minimise the human-elephant conflict include traditional practices of villagers to chase away marauding elephants; proper use of elephant crackers; relocation of unruly elephants; electric fencing and human barriers. Problems encountered in these exercises cause much concern. Only 15% out of 25% of the remaining forest cover is vested with the Department of Wildlife Conservation and several elephant corridors do not fall within the protected areas. Monetary difficulties are encountered in the erection of electric fences at Rs. 3 lakhs per kilometre and the relocation of elephants at the rate of Rs. 170,000 per animal. Workshop Several decisions were arrived at in support of the formulation of a national plan to minimise the human-elephant conflict in the Mahaweli region. (1) To evict illegal settlers from protected areas under an acquisition Act and to provide them with alternate financial avenues; (2) educate villagers in elephant habitat areas about the lifestyle of the animals and the proper use of elephant-friendly methods to chase away crop raiding animals; (4) to provide concrete stepping stones for elephants who enter the AZD Waterway of the Maduru Oya National Park; (5) to plant live fences with thorny bushes such as Beaugainvillea, Lime and Jute around cultivated lands; (6) and the release and revesting with the DWLC, elephant corridors presently outside its purview; (7) to identify thus far unidentified elephant corridors and to free them of human activities. Other supporting factors which emerged at the workshop are: the establishment of a nationally based Development Fund to maintain the presently unsuccessful 'Electric Fencing Programme' and the implementation of same at rural level through locally extablished village societies; creation of new elephant corridors; to concrete an extent of 3 kilometres of the village bank bordering the Henanigala-Maduru Oya main waterway; to attach "live-wire signals" to electric fences; to propagate species of trees and bushes which elephants relish as food; to enforce strict legal action against those who enter protected areas for illegal activities; to dismantle village level arms manufacturing factories; and the initiation of action to prevent armed-training exercises of the armed forces within protected national parks. Two major workshops of experts held at Anuradhapura and Hambantota preceded the latest workshop held at Girandurukotte, where the human-elephant conflict and the need for a national level consensus to find a permanent solution to the H/E conflict was considered in detail and expert advise obtained. Several major decisions were taken at these workshops in support of a National Plan to solve the human-elephant conflict. Environmentalists have voiced their concerns about the progress thus far made by the relevant authorities towards the drawing up and the implementation of a national plan to permanently solve the burning human-elephant conflict whilst at the same time the protection and the conservation of the fast dwindling elephant population. The 12,000 population of elephants during the mid-20th century has today dipped to a staggering low of 2,500 - 3,000. Can anyone imagine a Sri Lanka without the elephant? |
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Produced by Lake House |
On May 1st an elephant was knocked down and was killed by a speeding
train on the Habarana-Trincomalee rail track. On October 11th a family of
three elephants (thunpath raena) were knocked down by a train.
