Planters and elephants
Jayantha JAYEWARDENE
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 these
jungles were shot indiscriminately if they got in the way of those
clearing the jungles.
A solitary elephant |
There is a belief that the elephants that inhabited these jungles
went down to the low country when their habitat was invaded by man. This
is not true. They were killed. Later when these 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 theirs or that of others, shooting elephants
for sport.
Major Thomas Rogers killed 1,500 elephants. He was struck by
lightning and killed at the Haputale Resthouse when he 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 road 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, where the 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 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 70s. In the 1960s and 1970s Ron Ferguson and 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, both estates in
Lunugala, also suffered the detrimental effects of the visits of wild
elephants, who did damage on these estates as well.
Elephants had come up from the Lunugala area and visited the large
area of patana land between Mahadowa Estate, Madulsima 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 patanas. As Russel Tennekoon, the assistant
superintendent of El Teb, at that time, says these elephants were ‘just
visiting’. Not seen. No damage done.
Some wild elephants looking for food at an estate |
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 have come 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
there.
In 1967, 1969 and 1970 when Ted Gottellier was the Manager of
Poonagala Estate, 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 one morning, it in the tea.
In the 1990s a number of elephants had come up to the Makaldeniya,
Poonagala and Koslanda estates. I carried out a survey of these
elephants when Viji Johnpulle was the superintendent of Poonagala, and
found that there were seven elephants trapped in this area. They had
come up from Wellawaya and Koslanda, through village gardens and rubber
plantations, but had not been able to go back, mainly because of
increased human activity. These 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 these 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 tranquiliser. 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 these 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 as 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 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 hair
pin bend from the bottom. On occasions elephants were seen making their
way from the 6th or 4th bend, along the road, to the 5th bend & onto the
patanas closeby.
These elephants also visited Heatherleigh and Ensalwatte Estates
regularly. I remember the late Aelien de Silva talking of these
elephants visiting Ensalwatte Estate, Deniyaya when he was
superintendent of there. Kumarawatte Estate was a cocoa and rubber
estate on a high hill close to Moneragala town. Bibile Estate, which was
in the plains, and Kumarawatte had herds of elephants visiting the
estates 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 had come, in the night, to 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 since they are very protective of
their young and will not expose them to danger by going far out from
their jungle habitats.
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. Both humans and elephants die due to these conflicts. Solutions
to human-elephant conflicts are not easy.
[This paper was prepared to coincide with the Diamond Jubilee
celebrations of the Ceylon Planters’ Society] |