Tears of the Gentle Giants

They roam the jungles in search of food and water. They cross from one forest to another when food is scarce and few. Some return back to their habitat alive, others die on the way. This is the plight of Sri Lanka’s unique elephants.

The Human-Elephant Conflict (HEC) is a much talked about subject. Elephants are losing their valuable habitats due to illegal encroachment by humans, the destroying of forest land and poaching. Discussions are held and suggestions made. Some suggestions are put to the test while others die a natural death and sadly it is the elephants that pay with their lives.

The Wildlife & Nature Protection Society (WNPS) has fought for many years for the rights of these innocent animals whose deaths are on the increase. Their hard work has paid off with some elephants been saved from imminent deaths.

CMA CGM Lanka (Pvt) Ltd has now joined hands with the WNPS to support the ongoing Human-Elephant Coexistence Project in Ehetuwewa, Anuradhapura. As part of this initiative, thirteen solar-powered street lamps and eight Light Repel Systems (LRS) have been installed to enhance community safety.

“The Project, initiated by the HEC Subcommittee of the WNPS and launched approximately one and a half years ago, aims to mitigate HEC by changing community perceptions to foster more positive attitudes toward elephants, to modify the environments of conflict-affected villages, to reduce human-elephant interactions, and to improve the socio economic conditions of affected communities to help them cope with loss and damage,” Chair – The Human-Elephant Coexistence subcommittee WNPS Supun Lahiru Prakash said.

Solar-powered street lamps

“Accidents caused by elephants often result from unexpected encounters on roads”, Prakash says and to mitigate this, under growth within a five to 10 metre strip along rural roads of the Panakkawewa and Ihala Weli Wewa villages, have been cleared with solar-powered street lamps been installed to enhance visibility and safety.

Addressing the gathering, President WNPS, Graham Marshall explained that “…as per its Constitution, the WNPS continues to give the highest priority to Elephant Conservation and, particularly, to the HEC. The HEC Subcommittee focuses on mitigation and conservation in line with five strategies including strengthening the legislative framework on Elephant Conservation and HEC mitigation, empowering inter-sector collaboration on HEC mitigation, stimulating stakeholder engagement in Elephant Conservation and HEC mitigation, promoting scientifically proven low-cost HEC mitigation measures, and enhancing scientific understanding related to the matters of Elephant Conservation”.

Director and General Manager CMA CGM Lanka, Pvt Ltd Kingsley Abeywickrema, stated that “…the company is a joint venture between Hayleys Advantis Ltd and CMA CGM S.A. the 3rd largest Shipping and Logistics Company in the World.

“CMA CGM Lanka has many island-wide sustainability initiatives and funds are allocated through their annual budget and with voluntary monthly staff contributions. Based on CMA CGM’s pillars, i.e., ‘Acting for Planet & Acting for People’ backed by Hayley’s ESG drive, CMA CGM Lanka continuously contributes towards the well-being of people in rural villages and the protection of the environment throughout the island,” Abeywickrema said.

He added that annual beach clean-ups, uplifting the quality of the Ralapanawa School, Nawagattegama, providing water and sanitary facilities, library cupboards and books, lab equipment, sound system, and planting 80 coconut trees in Samanpura Maha Vidyalaya, Weerawila, providing a 5,000-litre water tank to an orphanage in Wellawaya, distributing medicines to hospitals such as Apeksha and Lady Ridgeway Hospital, assisting various Elders’ Homes, Disability Centres with food and other facilities are some of their other programmes.

Agents of change

Prakash, expressed his gratitude, “…with the financial support of CMA CGM Lanka, we managed to provide more protection to the villages with more solar-powered street lamps”.

Member HEC Subcommittee and Field Officer WNPS Anuradhapura District Centre, Upuli Madarasinghe lives in the community and closely monitors the effectiveness of the mitigation measures. She explained, “We use different approaches to change the minds of the villagers. We focus on children as ‘Agents of Change’ in altering the image of elephants from negative to positive. Elephants are perceived as problem-causing animals. However, we show them the benefits of having elephants as they help bring revenue to the country and community as tourism attractions in National Parks,” Madarasinghe explained.

She says, we created a Drama Group for the village children and they performed excellently in conveying the message of conservation to the local communities. “Before this project, there was a poor relationship between Rangers of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) and the villagers. We understood the limitations that the Rangers are faced with and tried to help them to link with the community. In addition, we try to provide solutions for their essential needs, such as access to safe drinking water among others,” Madarasinghe said.

At a time when many organisations are joining hands in an effort to solve the ongoing HEC, the untimely death of famed tusker Deeghadanthu 1 has been reported. We are very sad to see history repeat itself in such a tragic way and the victim this time is the largest tusker remaining in the Kala Wewa National Park Deeghadanthu 1, who was electrocuted and killed in an inhumane manner on 27 November 2024 night. This was not a coincidence, but an extension of the famed tuskers experienced in this area such as Barana, Revatha, and Walagamba for years,” Prakash explained.

The forests around the Kala Wewa National Park are where many tuskers are reported in the wild in this country he added and this was the tusker that remained in the area with the largest tusks.

“This valuable resource has now been lost to our country, and if we can learn a lesson from his loss at least at this moment, it will be better for the future generations of Deeghadanthu. One of the main reasons for declaring Kala Wewa National Park and conserving the natural eco systems around Kala-Balalu reservoirs, was the abundance of large tuskers such as Barana, Revatha, Walagamba,and Deeghadanthu. Statistics show that the tusker percentage is much higher in this area when compared to other elephant home ranges in the country,” Praskash explained.

Hydropower project

Due to a hydropower project, the reservoirs were kept full over the past years, and the elephants living in this area were confined to a small strip of forests around the national park he says and the situation became even worse when the Moragahakanda Irrigation Project supplied water to Kala Wewa.

“The elephants in this area usually use the tank beds during the dry seasons to feed on lush green grasses that emerge when the water level goes down as same as the great elephant gathering in Minneriya National Park. The spread of invasive alien floral species such as Agada, and herding of cattle inside the protected area led to a severe food shortage for the elephants. Elephants including Deeghadanthu were forced to enter into villages and cultivations to find food,” Prakash revealed.

He says the failure to pay attention to such factors in the so-called environmental impact assessments conducted before the implementation of development projects has resulted in Deeghadanthu’s untimely demise.

“In addition, the three main causes of elephant deaths including gunshots, electrocution, and Hakka Patas, which account for more than 60 per cent of the elephant mortalities, remain unaddressed. It is heartbreaking to say that the DWC, the Ceylon Electricity Board, and the Police have not yet implemented any positive, collective programme to prevent these electrocutions. This approach should consist of raising awareness, law enforcement, and raids to expose unprotected power lines,” Prakash stated.

Tuskers electrocuted and killed

The fact that four huge tuskers were electrocuted and killed in this region in a very short period he added provides clear evidence for the lack of collaborative action.“On the other hand, the government has no integrated programme other than passing the ball to the DWC to mitigate the HEC, which is one of the largest socio-economic, environmental, and political problems in Sri Lanka. The National Action Plan for the Mitigation of HEC in Sri Lanka, which proposes such an integrated scientific approach, has been pigeonholed for four years,” Prakash said.

The government failed to appoint a Presidential Task Force to implement the action plan since December 2020 he says and as a result, the country is losing one or two members of Deeghadanthu’s generation daily. “The situation regarding the other party of this conflict, humans, is also tragic. In the past five years, on average 405 elephants have died annually, while 138 human lives have been lost due to this conflict. There are no accurate estimates of the number of morbidities and property damages resulting from this conflict. No ruler has ever thought about the social issues and mental health problems that have arisen in conflict-prone areas. These are the concerns raised by the poor electrocuted elephants,” Prakash said.

He says in 2018 (before the 21 April attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic hit the tourism industry), 47 per cent of all tourists who came to the country visited Sri Lanka’s national parks. “In the first quarter of 2024 alone, the country’s national parks generated Rs 2,000 million in revenue for the government (source: Department of Wildlife Conservation). Elephants are the main attraction for these tourists. According to studies by Srilal Miththapala, a tourism expert, the overall economic value of a single wild elephant to Sri Lanka tourism is close to Rs 4 million,” Prakash explained.

24 hour protection

However, “such valuable animals are being killed without any accountability daily” he added and although Deeghadanthu is just another elephant for the DWC in this country, it is not the case in other countries.

“For example, the Kenyan government deployed rangers 24 hours to protect the legendary tusker, Ahmed. However, Deeghadanthu, the last elephant with the largest pair of tusks reported to live in the forest area surrounding Kala Wewa National Park, died untimely and without any such attention. We should not be surprised by this sleepy behaviour of the DWC, because it has only 882 officers who can enforce the Wildlife Protection Act and administrate more than 15 per cent of the country’s total land area,” Prakash said.

Out of the approved carder of 1591, which is not sufficient at all, 45 per cent remain vacant he lamented and in such a context, nothing more can indeed be expected regarding the conservation of Deeghadanthu’s descendants as well as the whole wildlife of the country.

If Deeghadanthu’s death can serve as a catalyst for prompt action to change this tragic outcome, even under the current government, the WNPS greatly appreciates its continued partnership in the Human-Elephant Coexistence Project in Ehetuwewa. This is a prime example of the success of the Corporate World working with Conservation Groups in protecting the precious wildlife and wilderness of Sri Lanka while investing in the local communities who have these wonders as their neighbours,” Prakash explained.

This article first appeared in the Ceylon Today on the 14th of December 2024.