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Tame Elephants in Sri Lanka
@ the Elephant and Biodiversity Forum
by Jayantha Jayewardene
Historical
Mans' association with elephants goes back a long time. The earliest record of elephants being tamed and used by man is from India in 2000 BC. In trying to trace the origins of this association, it has been suggested that hunters in the olden days brought back the young of the animals that they had killed for meat. Baby elephants may also have been brought back and kept as pets. Since an elephant is very tractable its obedience would easily have led to taming and training.
The Sri Lankan people have, from time immemorial, captured elephants from the wild and tamed them for their use. As a result of this association a lasting affinity has developed between man and elephant. The tamed elephants were used for many purposes. They were used as armed transport by the ancient Sinhala kings for war with the invaders from neighbouring India. They were used to attack the Dutch and Portuguese who held the Maritime Provinces of the country. Elephants were used to defend the Kingdom of Kandy when outside forces attacked it.
The ancient Sinhala kings used elephants for their ceremonial occasions, which were conducted with much pomp and pageantry. They kings gifted elephants to kings and potentates of countries they had friendly relations with and with whom they traded. Elephants were also traded with other countries. Certain temples had elephants, which took part in religious rituals and ceremonies, especially peraheras
Elephants have assisted in the agricultural pursuits of man in earlier times. They assisted in the clearing of jungles for agriculture, hauling off the logs and clearing the land. They were also used for ploughing some of these lands. Elephants drew carts, which carried people.
The elephant was used to transport material used in the construction activities of ancient times. Some of the great ruins we see at Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa and other places would not have been possible if those giant stones were not moved into place by elephants. Elephants were also used to stamp down crushed stone with its feet, for the foundations of reliquaries such a Maha stupa at Anuradhapura. The feet are covered in leather to prevent injury or hurt. Elephants were used in the construction of the large reservoirs that were the base of our hydraulic culture.
Most of the ancient kings maintained large stables of elephants mainly for use in wars. King Rajasingha I is reputed to have had 2000 elephants which he used to lay siege on the Dutch Fort in Colombo in 1587/88.
Capture
Over the years many methods have been employed to capture elephants. In the first record of elephant capture in Sri Lanka, Robert Knox (1681) writes that tame elephants were used to lure elephants from the wild. Selected she elephants from the king's stables would be sent amongst the elephants that are to be captured. These females come back at a given signal. When the females return, the wild elephants, follow them through the villages, towns and into a specially constructed paddock.
Tame elephants were used to lure wild elephants in another method of elephant capture practiced in the early days. The wild elephants chosen for capture would be lured to a place where tame elephants moved about freely. Little by little, with food being easily available and there being no interference from man, the wild elephants becomes less cautious. Then trained elephant trappers move in and noose the hind legs of the wild elephant.
Another method of capture practiced for some time long ago was with the use of a pit. A pit was dug along one of the jungle paths used by the elephants. This pit was covered with leaves and camouflaged. In some instances another pit was dug and left open to deceive the elephant that would be wary of the open pit and would fall into the camouflaged one. In some instances the elephants were driven along these paths making the chances of their falling in greater. After some time this method of capture was done away with since there was much injury caused to the elephant whilst falling into the pit.
Another method, again using the paths used by the elephants, was to tie a noose with its other end tied to a strong tree. The noose was just a little bigger than the foot of an elephant. When the elephant stepped on the noose its leg would get caught. When the elephant tugged at the rope round its leg, the noose tightened and the elephant was unable to move and struggled to get free. The trappers then quickly noosed the other legs of the elephant.
In another method of noosing wild elephants, the trapper follows the elephant chosen for capture, and after getting up to it, slips the noose round the back leg of the elephant. The antlers of a sambar (Cervus unicolour) or deer (Axis axis) is tied to the other end of the rope. As soon as the noose is put round the leg of the elephant it runs away. At some stage the antlers get entangled with strong roots or trees and the elephant has to stop running. Then the trapper and his assistants, who have been running behind the elephant, close in and tie the rope to a strong tree. Whilst the elephant is thrashing about, nooses are quickly slipped round its other legs and the animal secured.
All methods of elephant capture described above had a great disadvantage in that it was possible to capture only one elephant at a time. In the pit and laid out noose system there was no choice in even the single animal that was caught. The pit system injured and sometimes even maimed the captured elephant for life and it was then useless.
Later on the popular method of elephant capture was the kraal or stockade method where a whole herd or more of elephants were driven into a stockade. This ensured that a number of elephants were caught at once. Kraaling was practiced in Sri Lanka till the early 1950s. This method of capture necessitated the participation of a large number of men to drive the elephants into the stockade. It was also a much more costly exercise since so much manpower and a strong stockade was needed.
Monitor elephants are specially chosen to assist in the capture and training of wild elephants. The monitor elephant with its intelligence and maturity, is able to understand what is required of it when capturing or training a wild elephant.
The wild elephant is tied up and kept in the presence of humans and other tame elephants. Most times the handlers and trainers keep talking throughout the day and night, whilst touching and feeling the animal and also stroking it with their hands or the leaves of a small branch. Sometimes a fire, which the elephant dislikes, is lit to prevent it from falling asleep. No food is given to the elephant. All these actions are designed to break the resolve of the elephant.
After a few days, with the loss of sleep coupled with hunger, the elephant looses its resistance and becomes subdued. When the elephant is relatively calm, it reconciles itself to accepting food and is ready for training. It is then given food and water to drink.
It is essential that only one person gives the elephants commands, otherwise it lead to confusion in the elephants' mind. This is generally done by the mahout, who is with the elephant from the time it is caught and its taming starts.
After capture and taming, the process of training begins. This is generally when the animal starts accepting food. The elephant is gradually trained to push logs, roll them, lift them etc. They are also trained to stack logs neatly. The forehead, base of the trunk and the forelegs are used to push the logs in to place. To haul larger loads, such as heavy logs, a rope collar is placed on the neck and two chains are attached to the log on either side of the animal and the ends are attached to the collar.
It is in the course of its training that the elephant establishes a close relationship with its mahout. This relationship, which grows with time, generally remains throughout their association.
From the latter part of the reign of the kings of Kandy, many families have owned elephants. All these animals were those that were captured in the periodic elephant kraals. The animals that died were replaced by those captured from the jungles. There were only a few instances of tamed elephants breeding.
A number of families owned over 10 elephants. However, with the ban on broading the source of replacements dried up and now there are only a few tame elephants left. Since most of the tame elephants in this country are old, the numbers are reducing fast.
A census of the domestic elephant population in 1970 showed that there were 532 elephants among 378 owners in the island. In 1982 the Department of Wildlife Conservation carried out a census of the domestic elephants in the country. This census showed that there were a total of 344 elephants made up of 190 males, of which 29 were tuskers, and 154 females.
Elephants in Sri Lanka are owned by different types of people and for different reasons. Some owners are rich, some not so affluent, whilst there are still others who can hardly maintain an elephant. Some owners keep elephants because they are fond of elephant and like to keep them as pets. Others keep elephants because of the prestige and status which owning an elephant brings. Some have an elephant or two because it has been a family tradition to keep elephants. Others keep elephants to work for them.
I found that there are some elephant owners, who love their elephants and care for them. These owners get directly involved with the day to day care and management of their elephants. In other instances the owners had the elephant in charge of its mahout and did not know where their elephants were.
Most of those who buy the few elephants that come up for sale now are those who have timber or saw mills. The other category of buyers are new rich gem merchants who wish to keep elephants for prestige.
Five females own elephants. They are: Ms S.S. Madurawathy Menike, 3 females in the Kegalle district; Ms Kamini Samarasinghe, 2 females and a calf, in the Kegalle district; Ms Menike Gunaratne, 1 male, in Badulla district; Ms H Dassanayake, 1 female, in Kurunegala district and Ms J.M. Amerasinghe Menike, 1 female in the Kurunegala district.
Many elephants have killed their mahout and also other people. Two elephants have killed their owners. Anton Ratwatte's elephant killed him. This elephant was later with Mr P.Wijegunawardene of Neboda and is now dead. An elephant called Raja belonging to Mr Sam Samarasinghe of Kegalle killed him in. This elephant is now with Mr. Gunatileke Banda of Devanagama in the Kegalle district.
Mahouts
The keeper or handler of an elephant is called a mahout. Mahouts of all ages look after domestic elephants in the island. The majority of these mahouts are the sons of mahouts. I have met some fourth generation mahouts as well. Generally a new mahout starts off as an apprentice to his father. However, there are also a few mahouts where neither the father nor any ancestor has been a mahout.
The knowledge of elephant handling and management that the mahouts have is not documented anywhere. Most of the mahouts have learnt elephant handling and management from their fathers or from older mahouts under whom they have been apprenticed. Mahouts are very careful to whom they pass on their knowledge. Most of the older mahouts have an extensive knowledge of elephant management. This knowledge is a combination of what has been handed down by the older mahouts together with their innovations and experiences.
An elephant responds to commands by its mahout. These are special commands otherwise, if it is a commonly used language like Sinhalese, anyone could command and control the elephant. Obedience to commands is essential. This obedience comes with a respect, tempered by a certain degree of fear, that the elephant develops for the mahout. Elephants can be made to obey commands through total fear also but this would be short lived since the elephant will react violently when fear is converted to anger.
Mahouts use a goad (ankus or hendu as it is called in Sinhalese) when they are dealing with elephants. The goad is a foot-long metal cap fitted onto a stick, which is about four or five feet long. The metal cap is tapered into a sharp point at the top. The goad is a very important tool in the training and control of an elephant. It is used very judiciously by most mahouts to get the elephant to obey its commands, but without injuring the animal.
There are many instances where the elephant has killed its mahout due to it being ill treated. In some other instances the killing of the mahout was because the elephant has been over worked.
A notable feature now is that there are very few new mahouts taking up this vocation. There are two major reasons for this. One is that there are fewer elephants to be looked after and the other is that mahouts are considered to be low on the social scale. Some of the reasons for mahouts being classed low on the social scale are their addiction to liquor, poor living habits, a certain lack of personal cleanliness and non conformity to social standards.
Another important reason for fewer mahouts taking up this vocation is that with better education, the youth of today tend to look out for more socially acceptable white-collar jobs. Income is not a bar to most youth becoming mahouts.
The earnings of a mahout generally depends on the work that the elephant does. Some mahouts are paid a monthly wage, which varies from RS 2,000 to RS 4,000 per month (20-40 pounds sterling). In other cases the mahouts are paid a part of the earnings of the elephant. These mahouts are paid RS 400 (4 pounds sterling) each day that the elephant works. This acts as an incentive for the mahout to try and get more work for the elephant.
Elephants are worked from 15-20 days per month. Sometimes the mahout is also paid around RS 50 per day by the person who hires the elephant. Some of them also supply the mahout with liquor. These 'incentives' are offered in an effort to get more work out of the elephant. Elephants are worked for only half the day, so the mahout is free for the rest of the day, except to bathe the elephant. The mahout, as a result, has a lot of free time which most of them spend in drinking, generally after bathing the elephant.
Food
Elephants that are kept in captivity are mainly fed on Kitul (Caryota urens), Coconut (Cocos nucifera), Jak (Artocarpus integra), erithrinia sp, and Bo (Ficus religiosa)) All these species have domestic uses in this country.
Wasantha Godagama reports that elephants also eat, depending on availability, Pota wel (potteos scandens), Gonna (Ficus callosa), Palu (Minilkara hexandra), Nuga (Ficus benghaliensis), Na (Meusa foerra), Attikka (Ficus racemosa), Agal adara (Adhatoda vasica), Budeliya (Tolracera sarmentosa) and Erabudu (Erithrinia lithosperma). Banana (Musa avcuminata) is also consumed when available.
The Land Reform Act in 1972, where each individual was allowed to own only 50 acres of land, affected a lot of elephant owners. The large extents that some owners had, were greatly reduced and they had to go elsewhere in search of food that they normally had on their estates. Some owners whose elephants did not work and earn any money were hard pressed as a result of this new financial burden. Many owners sold their elephants. There was a ready market for these elephants.
Elephant owners are now finding it increasingly difficult to maintain their elephants. On the one hand the work available for elephants is reducing and, as a result, their incomes are reducing. This means that owners have to supplement the earnings from the elephants, to maintain them. On the other hand food is becoming increasingly difficult to find and is as a result becoming more expensive.
Work
Elephants work for half a day, generally for five to six hours. During the other half of the day they are rested and bathed. The work available for elephants has reduced greatly, mainly because tractors and other machinery, which are now available, can do this work faster. It is only in difficult and inaccessible terrain that elephants are necessary. They are also still very useful in the timber industry.
The domestic elephant in Sri Lanka is engaged in a variety of works. The main types of work are:
- Timber industry
Elephants are used to push down trees in the jungle and drag the logs onto the road. These logs are then loaded onto lorries by the elephant. At the timber yard or saw mill the elephant unloads the logs off the lorry and stacks them. They are hired sometimes by the tea and rubber estates to haul, onto the road, the trees that have been felled for use as firewood and timber.
- Construction industry
From time immemorial elephants have assisted man in his construction work. The great reservoirs in the dry zone and the ancient cities, that presently lie in ruins, were all constructed with the assistance of elephants. They helped to haul the building materials that were used. Elephants are used to carry steel girders used for roofs. They carry bags of sand from the rivers on to the road. Metal from stone quarries are brought to the road by elephants.
- Tourism
Elephants are kept in tourist hotels and other places where tourists visit. They give tourists rides on their backs. Beach hotels have elephants on the beach for tourists to ride. Most tourists love to have their photographs taken either on the back of an elephant or standing by its side.
Some elephants are kept in hotels in the dry zone where there are suitable jungles close by. They are used to take tourists and even local visitors on safaris into the jungle. Tourists are taken for an hour or two , on elephant back, into the jungle where they see a lot of wildlife, many times even elephants.
- Ceremonial
The most common ceremonial occasions in which elephants participate are the annual processions or pereheras conducted by temples all over the island. The largest of this is the Esela perehera conducted by the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy. This perehera used to see well over a hundred and twenty elephants participating. In recent years the numbers have dwindled. The other major perehera is the Navam Perehera conducted by the Gangaramaya Temple in Colombo. The Bellanwila, Kelaniya and Dondra temples with numerous other temples conduct pereheras where elephnats participate. Some pereheras have only one elephant participating.
The capacity of an elephant to carry out heavy work keeps on increasing till it is about 40 years of age. Its performance then plateaus for a short while and from that time on its performance gradually drops. The rate it drops at depends on the condition of the animal, the food it gets, the hours and type of work it has to perform daily and the regularity of this work.
Value of Elephants
The value of anything is the price that the purchaser is willing to pay. All other calculations are hypothetical. Earlier when elephants were more freely available than they are now, the price of an elephant was comparatively very low. At that time elephants could be caught from the jungles on a permit that was easy to obtain. In a 19970 survey report the value of an elephant was placed at RS. 15,000. Now with an increasing demand and a diminishing supply afemale elephant of about 45-50 years sells at RS. 750,000 - 900,000. A tuskless male was sold recently for RS.705,000. On the other hnd a tusker was sold fpr RS 1,200,000.
An analysis of the values of elephants over the years show that due to the number of elephants available for sale the prices have shown a tendency to increase. This is also partly due to the fact that the value of the Rupee has steadily reduced. On the other hand there are very few elephants coming up for sale. There is no capture from the wild due to government restrictions. The younger animals, both male and female, command better prices than elephants that are over 45 years old. The tuskers on the other hand, whatever their age, command a high price.
Jayantha Jayewardene has been studying elephants for over 30 years and is the author of the comprehensive book 'The Elephant in Sri Lanka'. Jayewardene has a group of elephant enthusiasts who are engaged in many elephant related projects. He invites anyone who is interested in assisting in elephant conservation in any way to contact him at 941-615/32, Rajagiriya Gardens, Nawala Road, Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka or e-mail romalijj@slt.lk.
D E F I N I T I O N S :
Musth is a periodic physiological and behavioural phenomenon that the males undergo. This is caracterise by the enlargement of the temporal gland, which is situated between the eye and the ear. An oily substance is secreted during the period of musth and the elephants show hyper-irritability and decreased responsiveness to the mahouts commands. The elephant in musth attacks mahout and other elephants when in this stage. An elephant comes into musth when it is at a period peak physical fitness. Musth can last from six weeks to one year. Sometimes reduced foods brings the animals physical condition down quickly and it comes out of musth.
From http://www.search.lk/elephant/news/tame_e.htm
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