Status anrl conservationof the elephant(Elephas maimus) and the alleviation of man-elephantconflict in Sri Lanka
Dcpanmentol Zoology,Universily of Peradeniva,Sri l-rnka
ABSTRACT
TheAsianelePhonl(E|cphsm^xif,ns:)isasloball!|ht^|e"edspecies.h|SilAaka.ilbelo\ss|o|heno]nndtnthsPects ElephasmaximusmaximUs'TherearcPerhals4'a004,500wildeleftan1sinsnla*A'whichdrcd^|rihu|eIlacrcssnuch ztetha,tpoputatio,t of ine on zone L,tennediate zone h he north-west. tu h,ean atut tuah-ust.The sreatest rtuea,o ",,1 atus ndntry asti.uttutul lbetoPk'enl i Sri ranka con* lt otr nabitar los and Jrdetleatatid. MM has ctearcd the Jotest lor dndsedenen|s'Illexatencfuachi]llk|oele|ha"|habnatcd|inres'|nPhfin'sondnnPknenlinsneasutesfotlonS'|enn tonSlenn cahterrotion. the eleDhant shouA be considercd d biolosical sPecies thdt e'olves The 'ee'ls of the sPecies lat alsD he coksi.letel laviwt and evolutioa sholld be Drovidedas turch as possible, btu .lunnT he Pncess, p@ples needsshortd lPvel' Subs|ah|ial equalb, invorlahl' h b sll8esle|l |ha| |h. Soal should be ro froi\ldin|he elePh l poPula|ifu a| the Prc\a fafus|arcassltouklbea|b||e()loe|ePhdn|s-heseateas,@'bel.siS@EdasElephu|Rsseoes(ERl)'11|ERs'n@naqd'enl hdnaa activites couLl contin@ 6 lons as thq do n erkre with tlle wellore ,Easa6 ,tty hdw to be taken but ,.adnional "ot .)ftheetePh,n|s'Anelephantresenemaycon|dil1s.'.nlo|hefPfu|ecetdAr.as{PAJ).s'trRJhavebee|1slqges|ed i,llEs|u.tf'Ele1hd]1|R.seesna!bejoiae.!so|halcoatin]@6loresl@ve|isavailabL,bheelePhdn|s'Si'|ceMsI .fheDr-ZorchasbeenttevelaPedJorasricdtu'?u.Isetlenentt,illhzMmElephotcolrlict(MEc)istohaveatBtnts d1d rcleva hztoture solution. lE eleDhants na| have to be cortined to PAs ant! ERs Studt oJ available sciehtifa 'iata 154 atnrak. Howevet. tnEtter ntuticates that, fot the bnl.tern consenation of elephant, populatioE shouu contain orer DoD atiohs h pAs cout.l be hode to haw access to each other thtouSh ERs so that the ezne loe thtoueh lorylatioas laryet|hah|5a'ca"L|beassutedaLtholshconPatn|Populati@]na'beh@h |dller'Severalsu.hPoNla|ions'pleJer.abu ttu \|ith access to eachathet, could b. raintai'ed in dillerent oreas. varioE tnd$6 Jot the tonsrennconseflatioa of adul| ?lePhan| dre .lkc|$ed' The nos| imPoxan| oJ tlEse are tr1nquillisinS @,d trdflslocafus lhe Ptoble'\.causnry soli|ar! sunable .lePhant h.'titaa w hnr thzse notet anrt s6lt Eroup!, dnd dtiritry l|r8er he ls to PAsand ERs,andMkin|dvailable rcse^,es through @naidnert neasn.' Future tudhagenentMasurcs in PAstud DRsnnst be base.lon DbndSenlent'ou.nt.d rcyarchlodelernineeLePhan|Ibisi|ies,rc4tryPat|e|N,c/oP.IeP]zd6tidpaftens'ek'-Theall"Ninti.nneaslu'zstha| u.ed knetliate orea t inPtdrentatiot (wrhin 12 s@ths) arc the reduction oJthe cJbnce ebcounbts e|ePhdnl'JunlishitryPeoPlefi|hhlnnstoclfuseowa'r.aidinSelePhai's'andrc]@vdloJtheddryetoasannnak|Poblen| causnssolild|!a.lul|naI?s).Thenzdium|ert(|.3years)neasL,e'inc|uderehovnggnauhefulsrcsPonsible|otcroP dePrc.lation'can)in|ou|a\|atevssPberofunesfotPeoPle|oledmabou|e|4Ph4h|s'|heibel@viau\croPfui.li,1il,oena' eE' niP|o|nry he e'is|it|8 ,ne|hods of .|iscoum|inS el.pha,E fok' envri,E vilbSes and cul|ivalio|s' Inkn|8 conlwnfuuoll th' ak'l the ofrcials oI ttarrtents ore rcalktic, elI.ie\t anl eryeditious and inPrcvnS h. rclatiodhip between People (ERs) theDepaflhtent aJvil. ik Consenation- The tonSaem he4urcs woul.linvolve the establishnektoJ Ele tht Reserves afuladiullnes|othePAs'elcPha|l.Iriyes|alrulslocatedceshe]dsbERs4|dolhetlotestedarcas(PA,'hdbna| totlePhlrts enrichne dlhh ERs, alanas.n nt oJ etephdtt aulorher he tivore poputatiots |9ithi't ERs, ct4tion oJdeteftetts ].a|itSDRs'thahsesoJtai.|6ePattensinorder|olesseltheda|adoaland'aPecia)'Jd"sIlaad'andlodis.ourase elePhanls'.ohen|e|insviLlosesanddLiva|io6'rcIoca|ionoJsMevias6'eshblishJne"toIElefuan|ManaSenlen|Unns. comait! develoPme^t ac|iv,ies. enryloJ'nen| oPPoflunities Jor local ||onolio, o[ scientilc feJ?d,?/t' er situ co$efla'ion, $ll haw lobe co\t,|u..|Jo| the DeoPle and s|it'J Nnishfie\ts Jo| ofences aSains| wild e|ePhu|s' Some oJ |hese ac|ivilies
Keywords: Asian elcph^nt,LLePhat,dlrur, md-elephanl conflict, elophant resenes' conservatin'i 2
IN'TRODUCTION ProtcctedArea csrablished undcr the Mahdwcli lJuvercpnenr Progmnme in lhe weslern sector is the Kahalta-palekele l hc Asian elephanr ( Dlephas nat nusL. Sanclua.ywhich . ) is ^ Etoba|y is undei intcnsc cuttjvarion rcday. l.hrs rh.careicd species(IUCN, 1996).This megahefbivo.c, sancruaryconrarns second severatvillages and chenatandswnnrn rnd ln szc onry rorhe Aftica^ cleph^nt(Iaxo.lonta ar.icana) drd-d i. a |rg irngc o'nitj,. ond Inono\. 1 .nr 'crrclr|rt trurc. | .ca^. pre\enrIn ll founrlfs or A .,. ,IcludingS Lj1k, rI rc pr\r ir _rd rcmarnna d ..r_._ srocr nrruratJo sr or rhi5sqncrudy hds nnr oeel trLct) 3c,'!rdph. Jl dinabuIon , Ara , DcidnDJeatr.,s55r chJrd tur lhc Al cutuv.r'ru-o.!rh irufl. Thcren!r.tr.ror pF(m. hJ- J acrJpop r/Jlon or -boul )4.000 {,1,000 lhe abrldoncJ .-.neJ lo , nd 'ngsfon rc.p,\cd. Jnd lrorc rnrmals. which is less than a renth renlly, of rhc size of Lhc Aliican lhe dearion ot new irrigation sys,crns. c]cphant poputaron (Santiapiitai jackson, nave & t990) Cuaemty intensified MECas man encrcachcsinl; tbe rrr.ub.pcocr nar;rat habirarol ol thc A.hn c.eptr.,nlJr. .e.ognrred.tnc \r I anrr"cteplMt bctorasto lne n. mr)olc(ublpp ic. /. /,. ,14]''n'r. rhc rwo other subspccicsbeing ,. ,r. ,r,r!.h ot thc Th. ||Bhr re bcru.Tn Ine !.. , rc(o ut .ncorgd_r/irr 1 ma,.rand and E. nt. stMttunus ot ttl.Janesia. knu$n$ lt.e"Libcrdlion The clephant t.er.. ot Trar. Letam ,L fTj., ..d has piayed !n imporranL.ote rn Sri Lanka,s hisrury, Ergron. turcf\ .I ,h! tor..led Jrcr\ !t I.c ruih culturc. tblklore, myrhotoSy, , n- and ceremony. In:qr"frI h.o ro rhe rnru.) :rr.l^ .,. r1.r, o. (.rphdnr. urn/rrednJ e\ptodrngbumo, 1o\f r.,o dri\cn :."a\ e -prtu-.. hrh"n pu|ul-r on ot rherdrnJhar Increa\eJ run proreflcd!reJ! 'c.8 . -Th(\ ||om w.ifdl.u N"ru,nal p.,.,,o rDoulI Inr|ronr'the 'rr, of ltrc.cnrdry vlrcge\, ," to vver t8 Inrtiron JJtloueh\orne rry Inh.b ttrc ,c,, Ar the present gro*rh )cl rLturbeJ rarc ot L2 pcr annum, the human d.as- On.c he) drc our of,hc rrc^cr. poourJr.or\ .hectephrnr, would erptrr.d ro c\ceeo2, Inr ,rnby _nd rrdrJt(utr ,he rhe'c.tr ?025, tu re-enlcrthc rctugp\rcros\ ou1rc. trneJ d.o rearn {\ mr ron b) vcar lhe /050 r\4n(ha . taqol. On Inu\ rne sprad .rnd rlicn\.rrc! ol rl( or r-,r\ rer or r..ronrt, ohcr hanJ.rhc.toscdlcnopv Inrc{ fover as wett as those nr declrcd of the secDrityirrces also conlriourc rooe .:, 24% or rhcrJnd present l.T 1".+-' afa.in.e ,auo ,1c88 es.atation of rhe probleos incing ctephanrs ?( Jr$erl 1995).Thc \cr) e(i,terIe ot (he ciephrrr In sn Lnnxar! ,hrcrr.ncdb) dcgrr,larion. IneTen.ariondno to$ *" beenqiucn .r ,r.c sn Lxlh,, o/ r. tnb -r. It .hr prc.cnr - ., crcprdn. rrena,Ind.rorc.k onrnJ h_m.rn rrom,llrc":i!l6 .qrlrrJ oNJrdr SJrJ\Jn3mu.tu 'rn & Sqn,rlpiIa r-puLron Uos,h tonunue ,nrnc,kd. rhcn rhr ekpnJnrrl ' r!e4r cn c\ren\i\e bibloSrrph) \r. I urll \oon ol rhe drrd opon theh\t rm.|\ ,o c!rnL DUDrr\nc!on thc or I.he 5I Lrtan ctepnJnt.\4o,t ,le,, s.,h c|hcl !r h.6 alF-Jy becn e\riryncd rrom .omcp Ine gener-t$pcc'i :T rs or rls or rhe conservrtio-oI thc F eph"nr.Tt,c 1no hc 'eaaining bot.rcd Jhd tdpmenlcd An A\lron Ptantor longrer .u rcpurruon\ dre rhc S_iL,i(xn ..rrem(tv vutnerabtelo hq trab elephan or oegmoauor,,c, rlorci- u-\_picpacd b) s,ntiJp rJr & deSrtv,,t9ol, asr $J podchrne.The wrtd ,s Jl etephdnr xlmosr . onr.rnedru rnerquen ot hc Deprflrcnr ol \,tdt,re LniuryTone Cun:c^a on ot \l thcnJtuccphrlrc.qnr.t,MFC,In 'dn) pa,,. ur IF 1r),zoe hos bccomc e.lremct) \er.oJ\.pd rcuGrt) In LhcNorrl!rcnlrct provrnce THE ISLAND OT SRI LANKA A..orJing ro rhe ri.,,rtrrt , - rhronrcteMaha wa6a 'tne ureJl ( r'onr tc). ritd etepndnr,anJ mdn -o-or5 eJ Pbysiography wrLnourmrch @nflid in.ancienttimcs. At that rimc, the Dry zone w-a\reldrircly uell popLtalcd romp.rfd to the \r!et Tle i-tandor Sr. Lankqi, ,runed ru rhe.uurn 5i8i,ricanr . o, nuhbc,, ot u,ld r,cpnan,,- mc roarJnsubront.lent. repl,alcd by thcndror p{( srrrl. IneuD zonrrhen,rhe) reaJrnt)qoutd hJvc I ne InrerprLatron \ome In.orome or s el,,re nxgcryoora,nco ,n t992 conrl(r wrththe peoplc. HoweLer. thc corflrct InlensrtieJ rno-rcareslhal on,J rorattand areaol sriLanta, inchding ati ' icq )cJr\'i0- 5 JeaF'-go. pdor ro rhar. rnr"nd$Jrer .lhc mu(h |.ewcr bod,esbu c\c'_dingoDcn ba). -no agoorr rumrcr5o, clephdDt\risrteJ rte rullvafion .trea rnJ vr.o8e\ rcsr 06.roo km ,Lf,es& rcse,.. ruq5l md thef minds wcre easilyddven i':19 lhe _i, .here away Ontheotner hand, cccordrn8ro Coorxy ,ia84'. .tre thre ,1 rnFn.r -dn eleplanl(onttrc. nJ|l c\st\ loddy In x.host atl moenologicalregions in rhe island(Fig t). i,t !r, f1tr( Lcnta uhcre etephdDr,and hurnal bernS(Jri? rt) Thf .odrdl LosLnos covcrI tdrged.e" of rFcb,and ano Nlend q trcm tevplrp to 27Um. Ther,oppsin r\e.o4! In!rrc rhc ,S cu,tumtarc. Le\rlabt) Dcrrrrc noiJleepbur lurhe. in'onJ thcre 'oq rrd 10 leJoe{dlion -re luntc-orcl Tt. rr lLn cucrb"tco rhc VLC flcpnafr bpgJni1\Jdrn8 \r,td8c, dnd (roptandr '10,8:. .o rs r^ nnurat ,:,i"9 o\r, o/0rn. rr,,hc.ourhFn re8,on. r-b.i, r gr.'JL.rttydrmrnisheJ A,rhouBh prorc tnc:ll'l: .o se\eratnc* cJ lodrtctro"lJnd\ dc n-rrc\ blt th. no n rod Areas $ch as Maduru pa.k no h- Oya Nationat (Np) and wcsr,rhey spreadoul ro torh ta.gc ptains. vv1\8onJw- \P wrrc frcreJ .b c prrl ot lhe Alucctureo rvranrvctr Dcretopmenrprogrrhmc. thcse rb).Tne are torated Inarnl) Upland.'cnge ber$ccn 270rn and t.0b0m dno.,.n. .l u the eastern sector ot rhe island. The or nrgnry only significant rr$ec{edpt.reru\ wrh n.,row.rrend,,.;rnfhi. Mrr Elct'hrfl (M111| rt Sn tark,t thcatrcs, and dodes.The averagcdope vrnes ftom td ro Thus thc.care lhree concenbi.allyarrangcd c.osion l5'r depe.di.g or thc underlyrngstru.rure. suri&esthat are sepdrarcd by irregutarscapsor breaksin rhe slopcar clevadonsol270m and1,060n. Adams(1929) and (c)Thc IJjghlandsconsist ofa comptcxofptareaux, mountain wadia(1942)rcier to rhesecrosion surfaccsas rhe thre chains.masils and basins,and exlendbelwccn 910 n and teraccsor pcneplains.These erosionsurib.e! werc tbrned 2,:120n Thcsclre sep:rarcdtiom rhe lower plaleauxby by thc uplifting oi the lddmas fromrhe seabcd in r.ec norrhcrlytiltcd scarps,Thc rwo disrincttrighland masses, rhe slages.The landmassoi Sd Larka daGsback ro rherimeof Knucklesma$il (2,035m) to lhe norLh-easrot rhe cenrral theGondwanaland. The secondand lhid peneptains(centlal massil.nd Rakwanamassii(1,490n) ro the souLh-wcs,are highland9rcrc blockrbuhedprobably du ne lhe pcmian separatcdhom rhe nain cemrathightand area by ttredeeply (280'225million years a-qo)and the Creraceous(t36-65 crodedinle.-fiontanc valleys rhar are carvcd out by rhchead_ million yers ago), rcspeclively(Coony, t984). sreamsof the Mahawcliand Kelani d!en. respcctivety. In ordcrtocxplain rhe Dovemeors of elephanNbctween Indiaand SriLanka, DeEniyagala ( t955) posrutared a pleisrocenc knd bridge.A loe€ringof rhesea tcvel by 100m du ig rhe lastglalial period(abour 15,000 20.000yeais ago) wouldhave establisheda land bddge l70km wide bctwen Sli Lankaand India ac.o$ rhe Mannarpeninsula. The seatevel may have beenlowered even Dore. Paftsof fie land bddge can srill bc seena! a seriesol islets This i! cauedthe AdaDs biidge. Theilands coastlinchas remained rct.r1lety stable lb. rheplst 3,000yea6 (Cooray, 1984).
Sri Lanka is situaredwirhin the equab.ial belt of calms.The intensiryand narow ampliodeofrhe insolarion rs an 'mportdt facrorconrolling fte ctimare.The Islandis influencedby two imporranlvind rcgimes,rhe south,wesr monsoonand Lhenonh-east monsoon (Table l). The raintatl doring the rwo inreFrnonsoonalperiods is mainty convec_ tional. There are only slighr seasonal variauons rn tebperaturc,air humidnyand day length.Thus lhe climatic conditionsdepend mai.l, on rhepaucm ofrainfalland crcvaron. The temperaturevadation is lcs lhan5dcin rnostplaces.
Dependingon lhe pa em ot prccipira||on.lwo major climaticzones can be re.o&ri,ed.The Dr) Zone recer\s a meanannual precipnaion ot lessthan 1,450mm seasonauy (frcm Octoberlo March)and is chamcre.isedby a distincr dry peiod. The Dry Zoneexlends over three{burthsof rhe islad and encompassesthe nonh-wesrern.noahern an.t eastemregions (Fig.2). The Wer Zone €ceives a dean annual precipitationoi over 2,400 mm in reo monsoonaland two inrer,monsoonalpe.iods. Therefore a moreev€nly disrribured precipitalionoccu6 throughoutthe year in rhe Wer Zone, whichinclldes the southwesl secrorand the cenrralmassif. An IntermediateZone, narcw in no$ parrsexccpt rn ne easternrcgion, can aho bc recognisedin berweenthe tyo najor zones.The Dry Zoneand rhe Inremediate ZorE eon{a,n mainly the mobsoonscrub forcsl, whercasrbe Wer Zonc conlnnsrhe rropical minforcs.. Three mator \egcrar.on zone, canbe recognisedin theWer Zohe(Fig.2). The low,anuarea (lowlandwerzone W,) exlendsup to an elevationol abour 900m,while lhe montanerain torcstor ctoudrbrest (montane Wet Zone W,) occursabove an elevarionol l,500m .rhe sub-montanerain foresr(sub monrane Wer Zone W,,)occurs from900m ro 1.500m.Thus. the moirane rorcn r\ mo,e or lessconnned ro the highenpeneplain, whereas rne sub, montaneforest and rheupper pan of lhe towlandraxr rorcs Iigure 1. The hain mDrpholo8icalegions oi Sn Lanka arcon ihe mounrainslopes and in basins,beNcen the second Table l The rainlau pauemof Sd Lanka
Easeh half of rhe island lsr Inrermonsooodperiod SourE n rd Nonh Wen
2nd lnrerjnonsoonalpcnod
Sinilarly, the InternediatcZonc can be subdivided into Lowlandand Upland Zones. In the north-westernand south-easrerncoaltal arcas ! Scmiadd Zone is soneLrmes rccogriscd.Thc Scmiarid Zonereceives less than l,200mm of .aintall,aboDr 75% of which comcsirom NE monsoonal rains(Octob$- March).ID somcyca6, thereisnorain frcm lunero A-susr.Thc airrempemru,e r. rn. 1,Borlrougl,oul rhc ycrr.rnd duirng he Ll_ySw monsoon.l(edsol ,r nay cxceed35'rC, thus giying rise lo a bigh rareof evaporation and low rclativehumidiry. The dericcatingsouth,westerly winds arc quile severefrom April to August.The Seni-arid Zone is characrerisedbl thornscrub vegeurio. Thc Dry Zone rnd Semiadd Zone conrain mosr of rhe elephd( populationsof Sri Lanka.
The tolal areaof all naruraltbrests, including spase andopen forest is esrihatedro be 20,466kmr(2I millionha) of about3l7o ol thc total land area(Legg &.tewell, 1995). Forcstplamarions occupy a further723 knr or l.l% ol the land arca.The areaof graslandsis ditficulr ro esrrharcas sode patchcsoccur intersperscdwnh the lbiesr and crcp plantations.A conservativeesridare ofrhc gra$landarea is abour1,500 kmr. Borhgrasslands and forcslsare imporranr habitatsof elephants.The vegerarionpatterns haee bcen relatedto climatic zones(Mucllcf Dombois,1968). Pifieen major plantcommunirics can bc lecoSnised(Fie.3, Table2) ol which mangrovc,seashore, sand-dunc and salr-narsh vegetarlonlypcs occup) very small mcas.
Figtrre2. Thenajor climaticzones ofSri Lanka.W,,lowled, Wj sub-montaneand Wr- oontaneWel Zonc. Mtr }:lerttrrt Cojllrtt ut Sr Ld,ka
t
bnl alrv|rgM L.6l rrcti.d -t dfy6 lr..l tS ,.i d.!..m {a.rt 5!b .crih ?fyr.n l!..t|
{ a (' {o
p: \1
a\:
.$
0l
.€
Figur.3. Distdbutionoi major plant comnrnities ot Sri Lanka lltttttNula de Sil\rl 'Iabl€ 2. Major vcgctNrionrypcs ol Sri Lrnka
2 Dry Evergiccn Forest
I Mo(r DecidrcnsForcr
4. Moisr Scmicvergrecr Forc!
5 Wer SeDicvcqrccn Forcn
7 TDpical Wcr EverAEenFotun Ditrztu.r\tr xarluli. t :.
3 Sub nronranc Evcrglien Forca
9 Monrde TempcmlcForcn Ekte.c.'pu s gLuturIi l t.
12 Mdngrove(salirrc hrbihl)
11. Sanddunc (cotsral hrbni0
l5 SallmrNh(coridl habno
salannahs arc chancleriscd by tlrir prominenl n!. Mon of rhe grasslandsof Sn Lankaare fte resuh ol lbre$ dearanccby man. Howcvcl, rhe largehcrbivores TheDr! ZoDcgraslaids occur marnly in rhenorrhcrn suchas elcphant,buffxlo, sanbar and spolcd decrmay havc and norrhcastern plains. They arc Ltrcmosr ex@nsiveand alsoconrnbutcd to thc develophentofgra$lands. lt is likely diveBeot rhc lowlandgrasslands. They cxpcriencea Daor lhat rhc degreeol hunan in(crl-crcncchas bccn morescveE diy periodtiomJune to Septembcrand a minor. tcsssevere iD lhc lowlandvrllcys andphinsthan inthe upland 'Ihree hitl sid.s. dry spellinFebruary. Much ollhc Dry Zonegra$tands appcd majorcaregories ol gm$land genemlty arc recognised to have bccn foresr and drorn s.rub bctorcman (ancd rn Sri Llnka (Pemadasa.1984): (l) Lowlandgrasldd bclow .let|rg.hcrnIo'hrratiotr.nr.-r.o'on. Ot t.c Dr)lor.F 500m elevation,(2) Savannahberwccn 300-500h E,cvluon. grasslandsin the Mahawelirivcr basin,lhe liltu grasstands and (l) Montanegrasland abovc500m elevalior. that occur in perenniallyhoisl dcprcssionsrn Poronnaruw! dislrjct arc especiallyimportanr lbr rhc elephanr.Thc viltu grasslandis a flo.isticallyand phytosocrotogicatlyuniquc The lowllnd graslandsoccu. in lhe !o h cenral, north-eastcrnand souLh-wcstcm.lowtands, Eachclimati. zonc Anothcrimportant scasonalsDurceofCms, is Lhc lakc (wer, IDrermediatc.and Dry), ol rhelowland has irs own type litlo.al of rheirrigation resetuois, whcre a largearc. ot rhe ol gm$ldnd and rheseare flo sricallydittcrcnr tioh each lrfioralis exposcddDring rhe drcughr WhenLhe scrub tbtiagc orherThc grasslandsinLhc Dry andSerni-a.id Zonesrre vcry beconesdry and parched,thc litorat gra$ js a goodsrlrcc inponanr tbr rhe Sri Lankanelephant. prescnr, Ar vcry tew ol lbod ibr elephantslnd orherlargchcrbivores. DuriDg rhc elephanrsoccur inrhe Wer Zonc, cspeciolty inrhe monune dry season,many elephdnlshave been obscNcu n Lne drcas. althoughrhey were prcsenlin ihcscarcas in rhc past. eleningsfeeding on such gra$. Mosr of rhe Lowland Wer zonc and InrermediatcZone occufunder co.onut -qraslmds cultivalion,bur !hc'e rs sone Thegrass co\cr roLnJ or' ,ca-,n rJnd) ano-LJo) naritimcgrass cover as wcu. Tlrcmonranc graslands arc the natsof tlc semi-aridnorth-weslem and souLh-casrern coa$s, mostcxtcnsrlc and occur in rhc sourh-centralhighlands. Ar mainlyinthe Mannar,Putalam and Hambanrotadi(ricrs, is lDreanediareelcvations in thc castcmpafl ol rhc hi8hldds, regarded,s Scmi-aridZone gra$lands.which a.c rnedflesr nonrlDc grassrandsmcrSe 'nlo savannrh leScrarion.The gra$laDdsin sri Lanka.Such gra$lands occur inremingted Mdn.l:1ct)hdrt Corllitt u Sti l.dnkt qi(h (hornscrub, which r\ rhc main nalulll veSetalionin the Scnrimid Zone. Duflng p.olongcddrough(, $c \oils bakc hrrd andcrack and (hc grasscsappcar pfched! bu( wnh the oD\crol rains,the grassesqrickly .cgcncFteand the ared becones lush andgrecn Al lcastsoDc ot thcscgrasslands ippcdr ro havc dcvclopcdln .re.s Lharwerc udcr paddy cultilarionduing drcdays (n thc hydrauliccivihadon. Such g sslardsarc lound in Blocks I and ll of rtreRuhuDa NarnrnrlPr.k (RNP).
Much ol lhc grasl.nds lbund no.th and easlol lhe LIvr Bmir (and i. rhc castcrnslopcs ol rhe .cnlrrl hills) bcrwccn100'500 h alritudc.may be regardedrs salannahs beciuseol rirer prominenrtree componcnl. Thcsc salannahs nru( havc ,csulrcdtom lhe den.ucrionof lhe dry mixed- cle.grecnlolcsl. the supposed.linax vcectationin lhe D.y Zone by ii,t {d. Rosayro,1950i Holmcs, 1951). The lrcqucnt occuiien.e of lirc toleranr rree spccics suppons thrs hyporhcsis.The lbresrconsisls ol nces such N apnrtialia btllitna, T..hebrla, Phtllan!h6 arblica. Cdte,-aabofta -lh. , rJ /),,?\,or '\rl-'tut\lrr mJrnCrdsl.rnd .pc .e' de Itrtetutu Lrhxlri.a and C\trbotogon nat.l\s. tn.cna\\ reas, savannahshc.gc rrto 'nontanegrasdands ar highq altnudes (>500h) and into dry 'nixcd evergrccnfore$ ar lower
Thc montane grasldnds arc the most exienslve coveringabour 650kh) in thc southcenbal bighlands. These o..ur abovc 500 m, in rhe soulhernDan of thc cenlral Figure4. Theclosd-canopy forest covcr of Si tlrka in 1992 hiehlandsand include divese habna$ lhat vary topogmphically, !ltitudinally,clinaticauy and cdaphicauy.The wlde varicty The iOrestcover in Sri Lanka, estidaredto be 8470 of monraneSrasslards may havehad diilercnl origins. It may oi rhe rotalland areain l88l declinedto707, by 1900(Fig. bc ihatin somc habitars,such as thosconslopes where soil 5). within rhis.enturylhe lbrestcoler hasdecreased ro 247. dflesout rapidly.rhe grass covcr establishcd itsell tbllowing olhe landarea or by over 30,000km':.There appcaN to be rhedcstructio! of formcrwoody vegetarion,wbercas inorhes, anincrcased late of foresllos iion 1880to 1900and again such as dre swampydeprcssions whcre woody planLsale tiom 1960 lo 1980 (Fig.5).Today the rareof foresr los unlikclyto llourish, rhc vcgcrarionmay neverhavcrcached appearsro havc slowcddown. This may be becauscor (a) rhewoody plant stage (Pemadasa. 1984). It is cctuin that long reductionol thc rcsourceand (b) increasedawdcne$ of rlE bclorc'nan, herbivorcssuch !s clcphant,bufialo, sambar imporlanceof the inbcl lorcsl by the govcrnmentand Lhe and spo(cd deerplayed a crilicalrolc, in thc ccological diflercntiaLionof naruralcommnnitics. Theirfeedingaclivities nay havc lacihatedthe esrablishmenLol graslcovcrat rhe Natural forcsts have beencaregonsed in diilc.ent cxpenscof woody planLconmunitics. ways by different aulhors. Tablc 2 givcs one way of classili.adonand Fig.6 showsthc percentageol rhe diterent lorest types. A broaderclassiiicallon uscd by thc Foresr Dcpa mcntis Bivenin Table3.There arcusually four nrara Thc satcllitcimagcry data of 1992indicales thar rhe of vegctationin asn Lankaoiorcst nanely,rhe canopy, sub toralarra of the closed-crnopylorest is l5.8?8km)(Legg & canopy. undcNtoreyGmall trees, shtubt and grcund Jewell.1995). This lorcstis Inainlydistributed inrhe Dry Zone vcgetar'on(erases and herbsl In additior there nay bc (Fig.1). The roralarea of Sri Lankais 66.I 66 kmr. Therefore, edergcntsrising above the canopy level, One or morcor these Lhcclo\cd-canopy natural iorcst occupied about 247. of the skala may be nissing dependingon the amounrol light l rd dca in 1992.The spa*e dnd oDcnfbrest occupied a pcnctlatingthrcugh the canopy and thc disorbance.rused tolal ol 4,638knr or 7ozof rhc llnd area,while a,, marure lo lhe tbresl The canopylelel, andsomedmes evcn thc sub- andwell enablishedlbresr planrations occupied a funhcr723 canopylevel, are usuallybeyond Lhe reach of rhe elephant km: (l.l %). Thcrcibrc.the toralareaoc.upied by all nalural The majo.sourcesof food aretbund in rhe undersLorcyand lbrcstsand lbrcsl plantations in Si Lankaamounh lo 21,189 at grcundlelel, although the elephantcan also reachrhe kmr (or abour 329. ol rhc ro1alland area). lower branchcsof lhe sub-.anopyIevel irees. 90 80 10 ?50 E 5s0 :10 ': 8I ':Lm
t860
Iigure 5. Tle reductionof ctosed-caropyforest coverfrom t880 to 1992
Table 3. Differenlcaresories of naturatforest. SourcerA,on. {198s) and L€gs & Jewell0995)
Tiopical wct Everg@n FoBr
Wei S.ni-evergcen For.st, r,500-2,500 Motul Semievqg@n Fo@sr& Moist D4idoous Fo6l
Sub-mo aoe Elerg@n Foqr 900t,500 1,300-2.500 Mo ane Tempcntc Forsi >l.5oo' I ,800->3,000 dcpendson thc elevarion <1,0@ <1,800 <1,800 Conifs, Eucalyprus,Tcal Man l:lerhuhrct'llid nr Sri L.nrd opcnrngsin the canop!.A thick undergrowrhoi shrubsand herbshas dclclopcdin thesearcas whcrc sunli-qhtreachcs thc ground. The Iolcst communny consisrs mainly ol cvc.grccns such xs DrtEle! scpiaia and Monitkata h,,anJ'- Tl.e m.,n 'r,'upr rptc.. \ D'114c\:.rt,tn whrch may grow Io aboul12 m, while ll1c hain cmcrgcnl spe.iesis Marilkatu &2u,./,?, which may reach20n. 157, [,lorr DEcrDUousFoREsr Moisl deciduousforesr is fio|lt.ie A Sub 1V" a mediumlo high staturc lnrcstwith emeryenrsinwhich rhe canopy is abour20m high. syr A largc a'ea ol rhe Dry Zone is covcrcdwirh this rype of lbEst The emcrgcnts,which irse to about3,5 d duvc ure c6nopylcvel, conslsr.otdcciduous spccics such as C/r/,,?i /or s\|ielenia. viet oltissnba. Gftwid rctltii, Haldtla cakLiJbtia Schlcichtm oleosa,Pietuspeti"o,l strbetfohu, and ew( grccnssu.h as Monilkan he@ tu, Stzr9i t aqueih and Alseodaphn. senecarpifalid The canopy consists ol evergreenspecies of which D^?drer sepktria,Diospvos avaliJolia^nd A.adn1chta nlrlica c the most abundant.On theba.ks ot thc nversand srrcams, a ibrcstwirh intcrtocking 10v. trcc$owns and. preponderanceol cvcrgrccns is ibund.This 's rclened to as the npariangalle.y ibrcst.There rs tiutc lndcrgroMh rnd the groundis coveredwrrh a thick taycrof leal llrrer Forcst*crub(i. c. a mosaicor sDatt,closed foresk and a scrubnarrix) is also widely distributedwirhin lhe l4oisl Deciduoustbrest. Becausc ol hetter pcnelrarionof sunlighrrhe gencrally Figu.e6. The po.enragc occufencc of difterenrLypes or shrublayer is well developedwhcre lhe ibrcst hasbecn dbturbcd.Most sDchshrub spec,es are deciduous.They aremainly rhomy and rhelbrcst is difilcuh Io pcnetrate3t times. Ol thc ninc major ibrcst types cncountereotn me Mo$ SEM] EITRCREENFoRBr nland(Table 2), rhc nst lour dcscribedbelow, forn the inponant habiratsof rhe elephanr. Moist semicverereen tbrcst is aho a mediw tohigh stalureloreslwirh energenrs. h rhishabilar, rhere is eerylittle TRoPrcAr THoRNFoREST lndcryrowth,but a thick layd of leat lirter is presenron the 8ro!nd.The crowns olen incrlock with eachorher our ncre Tropicallhorn lbrcst is a low stature,open, thorny areako manyopen plices. The dominanr tree spccies include scrubrith isolatedrrees and parchcsof trees.The common Attocatrys nobilx, virct ahissnM, Fitici r .teciriens and spcclesare ,4.a.ia l.k.ophlo.a,Carissa spinantfl, Zi.tphus Ple rcstE n utn stuc rifot i uht. a.naplia, Dichtosldch,-s cnlerea and CatunarcEan spnosa. The lhorny scrubdoes not grcw ro a heightol more than 5 m. The rsolatedtrees andpatches of treesde composcdot Salwdon peBica, Crarew tulatsoniLLinonia acidissituo, wlr SEMtsEVERGREDNFoR6r Rauhntia Mceuasa, Drrpetes sepiatia and Maaitkdta hetun.lta,which usuallygrow ro a heighrof abour 12m. Foresrof thisrypi is found inthe Kutunegataarea Rcccnrlydinuded arcasotien conrainthe aggrcsiveshrub of lhe I erncdiateZone. Therc are onty a few parchesof tanrand cakbn. Thcre are retarively large patchesof this kind of lbresr lefr. These rcscmblethe wet Seni, Srasslandcontaining sho.r grass intcrspcrsed with the tbom evergreen'orcsr and conrainthe sahc dominantspccics, bur tolcst especiallyin rhe coastalNe^. Cassiotora, Cdsia someof rhc typicalspecics ot'rhe Dry Evererecntbren arc a..t.lenhlh and TephnsiapuArna lhis arca.lhis lorcst lype is tbund in rhcSemi,and Zone rRotscALsalANNA! tuRsr (Secpagc 7) TRoPrcAr.WEr EIERGiEENFoREsr Thedr!-cvergreen ibre( is a mcdium-srarurcforesr uth energents.Thc grounddoes noL receive much sunlighl Tropicalwet evc.greenlbrest is rhectimax vegeration whcrelhe canopy isdensc and interlocking but rhere aE nany in the wct Zonebelo* 900m ctcvation.Onty afe* arcN oi to Mtu.tNdta le siJyl suchibrest are Ieli, The lb.csr consistsot a canopy abour elcphantas thenaruralvegetalion. The intandwater .esourccs 25n high andscattered cmergenh rising to about45 rn. Forcst of SrilaDka are considerabtcand are made up ofrive. ol Lhiskindin pristinecondirion is tbundin Sinharaja. The sysremsjman nade pcrcnnraland seasorat reservoxs anu lre charactc.istic trecs ilclrdc DipterocdrpB .erlanicus, Shoted mauhes(Table 4). To this nray be addcd,alrholgh nol obtonstfolia, and CanpnosP.rta zeJlaiicuDt. 'mpo(ant [of the elephanr,the brackilh warer rEsour@s comprisinglagoons, estuaries and sah marshes. Ho*cver onty SuovoNr^NEEVERCR..N r.ok*r a lcw natural freshwatcrlentic waler bodicsae prcsenlin Sri Lanka.TlEse arc rbe 0oodptain takcsin rhc csruaryof Submontanecvergrccn forcsr occursin thc Wer Zone the MahawcliRiverand somc shaUowwar6 bodiesiirhc berwcen900 and 1,300m.Ir is intermediarcbctweenthe Wer nortnwesrern rcgion (c. g. waterbodies in thc witpauu Np). Evergrecnand Monrde rypesand is rbund inrhe Sripada rangc. The common speciesinclude CettiscinMfuaned, Inthe Dry Zone, thorc are ovcr 10,000man-hade Catallia cat|ci1o ^nt Catofu\,thn cataba. rrigalion rcservoirsraneing in size ftom tessthan 2ha ro over 2.000 ha. Thesereservons conslirured a sophisricared Mofl A!! TFMPDR^|! FoREsf irrigationsystcm ibr rice culrivalionin ancienrrimes. The 'naJorrive6 arise inthe cenfal hiehlands locarcdmore Foresrof this rype is lbund abovean clevauor or towardsrlre southem pan of rhe country,and flownrorcor 1,500m.lr is of low srarurcand rhecanopy rcaches only up less in a radial Iashionthrough tbe lo* colnry (Frg.7) ro abourlr m The .ndcrSru{lh,r Jclsc. The mJrn(ree Houc\cr.\omc ri\e^ lh |low louardsLhenontr o ierlslc speres includeElaeocarpts Etanlutiler, Mastuia tetandrc, inthe foorhillsorin fte lowlandilselt. Somerivcs produce Mkllelia nildgnica,Adina ,n lasiopetaloand S.tnecoryus shallownood plains in rheirlo*er reaches.The laruraltakcs canocea.Thc fores! is iound inrerspeBedrth nonnne in th€ flood plainsmay be shonlived,exisring onty duLing graslandsin Horton PlainsNP and its envi.ons. the iloodsor they may be moreor tesspcrmanenr as rn rlrc lowerreacles ol the Mahawelinvcr. Mosrofrhe slrcamsand Freshwater resources nveB in rheDry Zoneare feduced to a serlesofpools during Freshwaterresou.ces arc jusr as impoftanrfor rhe Table 4. The esLimaredsurface area of ten c watcr bodiesof S.i Lanka (fsl,full supplylevet) Majo! irisarioi reseivons(mosrry ancienl) 70,850 Mediumscale €scrvons (mosrty ancicn0 10,300 17,000 Minor iftig.tion Escrvoi6 (rnosttyncie.r) 39,210 Flood pldn lakes(n.tunt) Upl.nd hydclccrric esedons (ecent) 8,100 Maha*cli multipurposerescivoiB (recent) (6) 14,050 t7.000 r7032o 8,000 Paddy (s.sonal ficus ) 850,OO0 Lentic frBh{arcm (rpp.ox.) 1,028,320 Llgoons, cstuaies,nd s.linc hmhes t22.t$4 rotal (inland tenlic v!re6) I,150,320 Man Ekpha,t Qnllitt ,t Srt llnka JAFFM tN b I Q ?0.$.60kn I.IANNA Rt C0MAUT r(AtFll PUTIA! !l[60t4 c0L0l'l Iigure 7. Inland lentic water esourcesol S Lanka The r@cntirigation schenesinvolved damming lbu! as powergenerationi fisheries and .eoeation.The nriSarion major ve6 (rhe Knindi Oya, the WalaweCanga, the cal reservoirsin lhe Dry Zone a.eimpodanl for elephanLsas a Oya and lhe MahaweliCanga) to creatcseveralmajor and mediunscale, mullipu.posc reservoirs for iftigalion aswell porruguese ELEPHANT ANID ITS HABITATS IN SRI LANKA The Dutchcaptured lhe areasof oc.upa lion in 1658.They continuedand increasedrhe caprureof Elephaut in pr€-historictim€s elephantsand bad a flourishingexporr rrade Thc capLurcd anlnalswere sold ro difibrentbuye6 and cxpofied via Mannar ElcphanB arc tbmiljar ro S.i Llnkans tuom of froma northernpon. Accordingro the historicarrccoros, prehistoricrimcs. Deraniyagala(1955)tound a few fossil 150200 elephanhwere captured by the Durch each yea, (Jayewa.dene, boneliagmentsolelephants in thc cavesoccupied by ttre 1994b). sroneAgeman. and aho dcscibedsome rock paintings of elcphantsby prehistoricman in Sri Lanka.These rock TheBritish took over the coasrat afeas iiom theDurch pannrngsrerc found in widely separaredlocarions rnure in l?96 and ruled the en1ircisland with rhc caprureol the sourh-ealr!nonh,west and cenLral pans of theisland. This KandyanKinSdom in l8l5 tuomrhe tasrS LankanKing. lndlcaresthat man and elephantwere wjdespreadin Sri Theperiodol ariush colol,al rule $". pcftap",hc quh. ,,me Lankaduring pre-hisroncrimes. for the elephant.The Aridshcontinued the caprure rnd export ol elcphanlsbut moredamagingty, skned lo hunt rhemtbr Elephantin bisioric times sport.They clcared Lhe forest in lhc Wet Zonefor targcscale plantations.Upland fores$ were clearedforrubbcr and colicc and Dcmn.JagalJ,la<<, gr\c.'he r; owrnBrereren. es highlandGub,bontane and montane)tbrests forrea. The lo the Sri Lankan elephantduring historic timcs: (a) worsratrocity was commitred by one Major Rogers,who rs Onesicntus,an oilicer of Alexandcrthe Crcar(3i ccrrury riputed tohave slaughleredover I,500 etephants.He vas BC) reco.dedrhat the Sri Lankanelephmts w€re targer slruck and killed by lighrningwhen he was 4l )ears oro (Tennent. andmorepugnacious than those ol IDdia,(b)Megasthanq 1859)perhaps ajust rckiburion.His gravewas atso (c.300BC) refededto lhem in thesame tems, (c) Aelian strucktwice by lighrning(Jayewanlene,r994b)..lhcre were (,r4 AD) mentionedthese quahies and the fact rnarrne othersat thetime who hunreddown many elephanK. atthough elephantswcre exporrd to Kaljnga(a provinceof India) no one reachedRo8e6 figures. tiom Srilanka in specialboats from dbour200 BC, (d) Ptolcmy( I 50 AD) idenlificdon his mapof Sn Ldka, rhe Clearing of the lbrest for la.gejcate ptanrations leedinggrcunds of clephantsin the Ruhunadistrict and necessitaredthe desrtucrionof elephanrs.Mosr were hunred wrotetharModourtou, the prcsentMantaiof Mannar,was down and othersfled ro rhe Dry Zonc, whichwascovcrcd the main port tbr rhe exponof elephanls.In fte Maha by fo.estlbllowing rhe cotlapse of rhehydraulic civjlisaron. Wansa, rhe firsr referenceto the Sii Lankandomestic Tle uplandsand highldds were rid of elephanhand elephanlwas during the rimeof King DevanampiyaTi$a subsequendy,elephanlswere exrirpared froh lhe towtandWer (c. 300 BC). It refe.s to a cbief elephanrof the Kns\ Zone as well. The B.itish recordsshow that trcd t853 ro stable.Thercfore even earlierkings musl hovepossessed l894,sone 3,253elephants were exponedfrom Sri Lanka, domesricatedelephanrs_ In India, the epic Maha and iiom 1845to1859, somc 5,194 etephanrsweE killcd. Bha.alhayi nakes many rcferencesro war elephants. Sincerhere werc communicarionsberween Sri Lartraano Elephent in present times India at all rimcs, it h quire likelyrhat elephanrswere domesticaredin S.i Lankaroo tiom the veryearly times. No wild elephantcan be capruredal presen,excep! Durng rhe d.rcnr me(. rhere qeR erchangerol by rheDepetment of WildlifeConservation, and that roo onry elcphantsberw€en Sri LaDkaand rDdia (md othercountries when it beconesa gave danSerro the liband prcpenyor people. 'n the region)as giits and in rmde.Thefe hadbeen laree Thecapturedelephantsare rcleased in adisranrwildlite numbc.soi warelephanlsand othersin the posessionof reserve,usually aNational Park. Crusz(1973) sunmarised the rhckings up to abourrhe penod ofjnvasion by thecolonial sLepstaken by the covernmenrrowards rhe protecrionol. forces(1505 AD onwards)who broughlwirh them lhe cannondndthe musket, aeainst which elephanLswe.e no Elephantitr more recert rimes Elephantshavebeen caprured and domesricated lrod ancienrdmes in Sri Lanka.Many elephanrswere capturcd The Portuguesejnvaded Sri Lankain 1505AD and andhained lbr w{fare. ln thepasr, all domeslicatederepnanB conqueredtlre coanal deas and nade Colombotner belongedro ihe King exceplwhen he presenredlhem to thc capitaland main seaporr.They werc not only inreresred templq, chiefrainsdd othes. A6cordingto rhe Maha I Wansa the earliestrefeience n thetrade of kopicalcondimcnts (e.g. pepper) rhaL srew to domesticelephanh insi in Sn Lanka, but atso in rhe expolr of €tcphanrsand Lankaappears to be (o rhc elephantsbroughr to S.i Lanka tinber. Thusexrracrionot timberfrom fte forestbceane by an IndianPrincess in c. 540 BC as a pad of hcr dowry a systenaricbusiness during this rihc, portuguesefirst whenshe came ro marryPnnce Vijayd, the itrsr kingofSd acquiredclcphanls fron the Sinhalachieitains as tnDures Lanka. Sincerhen, $elocal elephanBwere captuno ano or for payment,but soon ser up lhei. own captufiDg dornesticaiedas a pet ofrhe king'swealrh and for lhc qel;re lurpuse p.oSramnes,especially in rheMarara district in rhesourh, of The ancrenlmethod\ot capture were noosrngor Iayewardene(1994b) providesa good accounl of the lettng the animalsfall into dug-uppirs.Onty oneor a rew rmpacrof lhe colonialrule on etephants. mimds could be caughl at a time by lhese menoos. Mu Etephurt Con|li.t nr Sti Lrnkd l3 Ponugueseintloduccd the Indian masscapure merhod oi fte localanimals, which belong to a ditierent subspecies ,t,?a/ti8 in which a group of elcphanl$was driveninto a Thailandis sdd to conrainonlyabout 1,500wild elephanrs srockade.Domesricarion was a dlawnout proces,involving (Santiapillai& Jackson,1990). sLarvationof thccapti!c clcphant and rortDreusing domesric clcphants.A good descriptionol lhe lr4al and the Elephanl habitab and inlerfer€nceby mar donesricarionproccss is givcn by Deraniyagala(1955)and summarisedby Jayewardene(1994 b). Both thc huntcrgathercr Grone-age man) and rhe clephantwere foresrdwelles. when man sranedculrilarion In 1946 therewere ?36elephantsincaptivity in Sri of cropsand domcstication ol animah,he clearedrhejungles Lank.. Deraniyagala( 1955) rclcrs to a domesticpopularjon for his own Dse.However, initially thero would nor have been o1 670 animals.However at presentrhererppeaB to be les much inpact on clcphanthabitar. The inrerferencerrcrcased lhan400 domesricelephanB. li 1994, thc Deparrmentof as lhc humanpopulation size and irsneedfor landrncreased. Wildlile Conse ation startcd a rcgister lor domeslic elcphants.but many elephanrowners did not registertheir clephairs,.lrhough thcywere requned ro doso bylaw. To datcthc registerremains ln.onpletc and only 136elephants The primaryhabitat of the S.i Lantanelephant is rhe hale beenreristercd so far. A su.veyin 1995by Chincr dl loresr.Although elephers iacd on gra$lands,they alvays (1998)recoidcd 316 domcstic clcphanrsin fte Wesrern,North lclreal iDto thc foren once lleding is over However,the wcsrcmand sabafagamuw,provinccs. tall,closed,canopylorcst with Iirtleundergrowrh. Iound rn thc Wct Zonc, is not very congenialto thc clephantnainly Domcsticstocks oi elephantswiU obviouslydecl,ne bccauseoirhe dilficulty in obtainingbod. Bur evcn such if lhey are nor replenishedtiom time to rime Lonlhe wild rbrcslis nol unifonnand manyopen gaps occurbecause of The olher alternativeis to havc a soundcaptile-brccding lrcc falls. Thesegaps cootain sh.ubs md smalltees, which programme,which can b€ succc$fulonly ifthere areccntrcs lheelephants prefe!. But the elephanrpopulation such a forest wilh suflicicnrnumbers ol elephlrnis.In Sd Lanka, nonof could sustaincannorbe very large,Ar present,rhe closed rhedomcstic clcphants belong ro vanousindividuals, temples canopyWel Zone lbrest in Sinharajasuppo(s onlya tbw and other organisationsand many of thcn have jusr an elephanrs.The PeakWildernes (nontdncand subnrnLare clcphanlor lwo The ElephantOQhanagc al Pinnawalahas lbrcstt and Honon Plains(moDtanc lbrcst) are sa,o ro lavc 62 elcphants.There is alsoan ElcphanrTnnsit Homerr Uda suppo'1cda largenunbcr ofelephanrs, which wcrc cxtirpared waiawe NP. The PiinawalaElcphant Oryhanage is a good only rcccndy.These areas,cspccially dre Honon Plains, ccnlrcforc.trying out r seriouscaptivc brccding progmnme. In containsiSnillcanr patches of monranegra$lrnd. In rhepast. 1980such a prognmne was initiatedthere to inprovc rhe almosl lhe entire oounlry, (cxcepl perhapsrhc semi-arid brecdingpedom.nce of the capliveelephank and to date 14 zonet, mdy have beencovered with closedcanopy ibresr. calveshad been bon of which 13 sunive (N. Arapatu,pcrs. Nevenhclcssthere would hale becnditTerenr kinds of ioresr com.).Unionunately the emphasishcrc is nore on rourist at lcast in the Wer-andDry Zones.The wer Zone foresrs enteaaindenlrhan on caplive-brecding. are rall wilh Iirrlc sunlighr penerraLionand hence.l(0e undcrgrowth.The monraneand sub monrane roresrs nay nor growto Mosr ot thc domesticclcphants are usedfo.hauling suchheighr andwould haveprolided bettq habilats timbcr andorher heavy work Althoughrhe raeLo. and othcr hcaly machineD'havc rcplacedrhe elephantinmanyareas. InterJqet.e dunng histori.al rhc elephantstill renains thc suprcmebcasr ol burdcr in ti,aes mountarnousrerrains. Elephantsarc used in rcligious Duringthe bydrauliccililisation when non ccrcmonics,oi which rhe rnosr important is rhe Esala of the DryZonewas deleloped tbr aSriculture,there would not nave Peraheraor the processionol drc sacredroorh relic or Lord been nuch spacc lor rhe elephants.Therelbre, whateler Buddhain Kandy,inwhi.h ncarly 100 elephdrs rakepa!|. numberof elephantsthat cxisred inrhe Dry zonc, wouldhave The NavamPeraheraot theGangaramaya Lemple in Colonbo remainedinpockcred asiluarionsome*har sifrrlar to pamdcslhe highennumbc. of elephanrs.ncady 200. There lroups. that which exists the.e today. However. mosr of lhe arcothcr imponanr processions in Kelaniyaand Kalaragama, IntermedialeZonc and almost rhe entile Wcl Zone, were which also fearurea laree numbcrof elcphanrs. sparselyinhabited by man andthcrcforc during the hydraulic civilisation,mosL olrhcelcphanrs would have becn dhrribured Todayan elephantis worthover Rs. 1,000,000(abour in thesetwo zoncs,particularly in thclntertnediare Zone. Wirtr US$ 15,000).Howcvcr il is difficult ro obtainonc evenibr the couapseol lhc hyd.auliccivilisarion aod the migatun (hrsamount, since capture from rhewild is prohibited.A few of peopleto the Wel Zone.rhe seco.darylbrcst rook ovcr aDimalsare takcn from the Pinnawala Orphanageand the Dry Zonc andthc elephantfound tt a! cxcellenlhabirlt. presenredlo othcrcountries or donsredto impoitanliedples. In March 1998,rhere was a suggcstionby sone govcmmenr h etercnce lututq .oloni4l tines scctos to impon about 500 elephanrsliom Thailandlo augmentrhc doinestic clcpbanr popularion inSd Lanka.Evcn With rheddvcnl of intonarionalrrade, especially wnh rr only a llv clcphanrsare impodedinro Sri La!(a, $ncr EuropeancoLrntrics, the lowland Wct Zone assuncdmorc be rakcnroprevenr any inrc.breeding wirh xnporrMce,and rhcsetrlenenrsshilied more lo fie wcl zone ,\'tu!!g!!! de Sitva Bur the uplands(300-t000 m elevation) and the highlands The degradationand denudarionof to.ess ,n rnc (>1000m elcvarion)Emained rctaLively undisturbedunrit coastalareas increased with the Briish takinSolef rhe abourthe carlyl9",ccntury. During rhc tarter hali ot the t9n thateere under Dutchrule in 1796and ttris cenrur' rnd unlil aboul the mrddteot preserr rhe cenrury, lrendconrinued lnril lhe enrirecountry cane under Brjrish largescale deforestarjon was canied out in lhe uptandsand rule in 1815. During ltre earty Bririlh period, there was highl.ndsinorder ro esrabtishplanrarionsofcoftee, tea and widespreadrimber exrraclion from thcforeslstbr exporr,and rubber.Thereibre, elephants in lhe Wcr Zonc (especially later torcstswere clearedon a lasr scale tbr elrablishing those at highcr elevationt, were nor disru.bed to any aS.iculturalplanhtions. The British Colonial covcrnmcnr slgnificanrexrenr until aboul 150 yeas agd; they nayhave appearedro haveliflle controlover lhc agenciesrhar staned exrsledin considerablenunbcs in the uplands andhightands the la'ae-scaleclearing of forcsrs,espccia y iD rhe nonrane as lhero was a plenritut supply ot tbod and warer. The andslb-montane rcgions. With rhcclearanccofibrests in rhcse monraneand sub-montane lorests a.e not very ta ano conrarn regrons,rimber exrractionfrom lowtandib.esrs became a welldevclopedundersrofcy consisting ot shrub such as la.ge-scalebusine$. Unplanned chena or shiftingcutrivarion Sttobitanthesspp. Such speciesappeaB lo spreadin thesc in theDryZone also rapidly sp.ead during the colonialrimes, ioresrsar presenland ir is temprinS lo suSgestrhal one of therebt funher decreasin8rhe torest covcr. the reasonsrbr this sp.eadmay be rheabsence ofercpnanB. Table 5. Some imponanL characrerisricsof various elephantpopulalions in S.i Lanka. (CNP Cal oy! NPi KGw - Kaluwamsswewatrca: (psA palletcle Kahalla sancluey:LKNP _ Ldtrgala - KnuranaNpt LNp - Lunusanvehela NPi MNP- MaduruOya NPi MvC- Mr,tDlitachchiyatrcaj NcH,Nachchduwdmlr RNp-Ruhuno Np(Bter D: RNp* RuhunaNp(Block I & I l)i UNP,Udi,wataweNpi WNp witpatruN.p.j wsNp-wdaomuwa - Np..TMN Thandkldlwa a€ai ypc-yara prorccledArca complex). Gex ratio=rdulr mrkr'fematcrdio i CFmrio= cllt dull femte mio) CNP 3t0 0.19 0.38 '67-69 7.9 0.l4 CM 230 '11 ''15!16 12.0 o.26 NII 2l 031 96 91 MS4 464 '96:97 23 23 o.25 MS4 LKNP r50 0.,o '67:69 o.2l CM LNP 0.7s '96 2l 0.21 91 MS4 MNP 045 15.0 65 0.18 "96 97 SD MVC 0.65 '96!91 35 0.I9 MS4 NCH '96-91 4.22 MS4 '60 3.9 21 9t HK 39 0.65 22 0.50 65 r06 '73-30 22 0.13 CS 0.52 '9t-93 36 0.l9 MSI 2.2 0.36 . 9r-94 MS2 35 0.6t 4.24 021 150 063 '61-'69 0.36 1.4 0.21 cM TMN 213 0.t6 0.58 t4.1 0.23 0.13 '96-91 3.6 t8 0 t3 MS,l a.t2 0.50 '68 5.5 t1 0.20 69 JE 66 0.53 '80 0.60 82 Nt2 o.14 '95-91 2.1 22 0.25 MS3 AN Nethsi.ghe( r 9?3):cs- sdti.pillai .! dl(1984): FK Kun(t974);cM,McKay(t971)r HK Katugah!.?(t. (in pEsri &Lockhad(19?2)i . .,E,Eisenberg MSI de Sitva,erdt(r995)iMS2-de Sitvo ?r at (t99?)iMS3_dc Silva(t99S)i;S4-M.desrtva (urpubtished dEL,)l NIl.lshwlmn(1981)iNI2 - kh{arln (t993); SD-Dissan.yakedrat. (t998):Wg Hendalith@a,r al. (t99.1J; Ma*El.rhdht Coalhtt iisti Lo*a l5 Table 6. The nunber of elephanrsin SrilaDka as eslmared Thc .ecentinterlircncc with elephanrhabitars by nan. rs mainlydue to attemptstoimprove agriculture and bring new fueasund6 culrivalionrnd cstablishnew vi agesand housingschcmes in elephantareas. Thcrc are tbur rcccnr r.500 najor rrogationschcmes $al dflccrcdrhe elepbanthabirats. t,600- 2,200 Thcsedrc (a) thc GalOyascheme hthe east,(b) theWalawc 2,500 2.?2ll- 3.t25 c.rnsaand(c)rhe Knindi Oya schcncsinrhe soulhand (d) 2.800.3,200 santirpillai& Jackson( 1990) rhcMrhaweli Ganga schcme inrhe no(h,wesra.d norrh,easl. Of thc ibur schcmes,the largcsrandlhe mostambirious is rhe MahawcliGanSa r.hcmc which involvcdthe inrerbasin 4,000 4500 de Sillr & Atapatru(199?) drvcrsionol rhe Mahawcli warersro rhe north-wcstand the nofiheast rhroughexisting ifigxrion systems.In facl, rhc 6,000 rccem hunanclcphant conllict inrhe nonh-wesranu non! can rs dircctly due ro this schenle.Theschemes involved Noris (1959)was rhetn$ ro esrimate$e numoeror open'ngupol new lbrcsrarcas lbr selrledagriculturc. Therc elephantsinsd Ldka. He arived ar rhe figureoi l,500 for havcbccn scveral drivcs of elephantgroupsfron rhc ailecled the cntirc island,but how he reachedthis figure was nor arcas1n rhe norrh west and norrh-eastto the ProtcctedAreas explained.He apparentlydsuined that there were long,range (PAt, buLrlrc clcphanrs norc ofienihan nor, returnedLo rhcir elephanlnigrations from rcgion to region. Accordingto onginal a'eas. Furthcrmore,wirh the increasinghumd McKay (1973),his estimareof 1,600 2,200elephanrs was populationand csrablishmentof newsertlemenh, hore rano basedon his delailedslLldy ofclephanrs in the Caloya a.ea. was rcquiredfoL dgriculturc.People started clearing foresrs his obseryationsio the RuhunaNP, the obserlatronsor illegally,sometimes even rhosewithin PAs. New arearare Eisenberg& Lockhart (1972) in the wilpanu Np, aDd clearedhai.ly lor slash-and-burnor chenaculrivation. intormationrcceived trom Dr. A. p.w. Nefiasingheon the elephantsofThamankaduwa area. Ttc cstimalestor lre orner Elephantpopulation ot Sri Lanka or less educatedgusses. Sanriapillai& Jackson's(1990) cslimare of 2,800,3,250, was basedon There has been no rigorous scientific slldy to infornaLiooreceived hom Mr. A. B. Fernando,tbrmer irscertaiDthe sizeol thc elephantpopulation in anypaftofs.i Assistant DirecLor of DWC rcsponsibleibr etephant LankaexceF by visualobseivalion. Such vislal srudies have been conserv.rion.They give a detailedbreakdown otrh€ nuDbes cadedour by sevemlwo*{s in variousareas(Table5). Based on ir dirlircn..tre"\ S.hulrz,l984, quoredrhe cppro\rmare Lhescnudies and other pcison al inlornario ns, estimrions of thesize numberolwild elephanrsin Sri Lankaas 2,500,apparently of thelotal elephant population oi sri hnka differ(Tabte 6) basedon theinibrmation hc rcceiledfrom Dr. N.tshwaran, whosrudiedelephams in the Wasgomuwaand calOya arN McKa! (1973) esrimaredfie si2r of the elephant duringthc 1980s.Olivicr (1978) suggested lhar rhe Sri Larjkan populatio. insri Lanka ar rheturnof rhe t9i century ro elephantpopularion nunbercd bctwecn3,000 and .{,000 bc aboul 12,000,and that thetime ofhis srudy(196?,1969), animals.Hotfmann's (1975 & 1978)estimare ot 5,000 ro to bebelwee.1,600 and2,200. He thenconcludedthat there 6,000animah was basedon his peBonalexperience oi Sri hadbecn a declineof 85% during lhc interveningperiod. Lankanwildlile over nany yca6, which is similarro rnaLor Ho{cvcr, both his cstimareswcrc basedon questionabtc Mr. A. B. Femando.Thus thereappcas ro be two schools assu'rptions.Hc cstimaredLhe sizc ofthe l9,icenturyelephanr of lhoughtr(i) A. B. Fernandoer 41.cstinarrng the number popularionby assumingrhat the emirc islandwrs populated to bc les than4,000 and (ii) Hoffmanneslimating ir tobe atthe averagedensityof one elephanrper two squaremilcs! over 5,000.The esrimateby the prescntaurhor of 4,000, a valuerhar he workedout ibr his penodof study.tjowcver, 4,500 clcphanrslbr the enlire countryis atso an eoucaled Ihereis no evidencerosuggeslthar rheentire country conlaincd suss, basedhoweler on (a) his pe$onal experienceoi clcphan$in rhenineteenth ccnlury. Furrhcrmorc, his avcragc elephantpopulaions in rhe southefl region(yata protected wA workcdout only iof a smallsrudy area in the Cal Oya Arca complex,Uda WalawaNP, LunugamvehemNp and rceionand theretbrc, probably .ot valid for theentire island. Handapanagalaarea), nofth-wesrern rcgion (aleas of Kahalla Thc habirarin the l9'h .enrury would also have bco v€,y PallekeleSA, Karuwalagaswewa-Thabbowa,Nachchaduwa, dilerenl. Ncvc0eles, ir was the besrcstimate anyone na! ThimppaneandManavilachcchiya) and the MahawctireBion madeuntil that rine, and McKay(1973)was quite corect (WasgomuwaNP andenlirons), (b)!he sufley cariedoul in In as$m'ng that thefe had bcen a dnstic declineof lhe 1993b) the DWC, (c) the infornationrecejved iiom,.Dr. elephantpopulation duringrhe laucr pan of he l9,hand rhe early N. Alapattu( the presenrDwc.Depury Diredor responsible panol $c 20'iccnruries.The main factoB lhat conrribured rorhis ior rhe welfareand conservarionof the wild elepheo who declinewerc huntidS, poaching, detorcshrion and rhe eiclorchnenr has had much expe.ienccwnh clcphanrsin almost all oi (hchuman popuhtion inlo clephanr habirat. Today, between 4,000 elephantareas while artcnding ro rhesick and injurcd anrna6, and4,500 dephants may occur inrhe wild, alrhough earlier estimares WttorminE postr@ ens on clephanrs.lranquiltising and p lhe numberro be berwccn2,000 and 3,000 (McKay, 1973; lranslocalingelcphants and driving elephanis €r aa$e, md (d) SuLiapilhi& Jackson,1990). Only Hofimann(1975, t978) theinfo.mation Meived from DWC offi.ersat varioDsRange cstrmatedthat thcrc could b€ anyhingbelwcen 5,000 and 6,000 andBcar starions and peopletiving in va.iouselephet areas. l6 M!U!!! ae Sitra HUMAN POPUI,A'IION AND SOCIO-ECONOMICS IN ELEPHANI' AREAS Elephantscannor be corsdved nor can $e man_ clcphanrconflictbcatlcviated. intheabsenceot aDunuere.ano- Ine ol thc people,rheir qays and aspirarions,and their i!11 co-opcrarionThus, ir is jusr ds inponant ro undu$anorne oi rhe peoptcin rhc ctephanra.er: as n L lo undclstandrhc ecotogy and soctat behdviouror rlc The peopleiiving in ttrcetephanr .Leas arc gcncrally . 1rll rdc,-a,mF,cj \1. rgr.c.Nt.crdldreeerab.e".Jna rhe)u\uolly brlong ro.hc lower Incohrgroup Onty a.n-.1 perccntageownsland through inheda.cc, bur rhcgolernmenl hasdrsrriblted land ro lhoscwho wcreseltted unocr trrc new iftigrtion schcmcs.Mosr ot lhcn livc under vcry diiflcult condrtronswith no propereducarional and hcatthfaciliries, Thly dcpendia,1ty 01 rainurcr ro, high-ground.rop -ay culrvruon.Inrtaton sater not roch \ome ur lhcm. Gooddnnking wareris aho a p.oblemas the groundwater containshigh amountsof ftuondcas aresutt oi which ahigh prrccnrageofrhe peoplcsurfe. from Loottdiseases Thc crop pcsN are also a major prcblem and nrosr fa,lErs usc penicidcs,oiten indis.iminatetyand in high conccntrartons. As thcy depcndon rheagricultu.al crops ibrrheirlivelihood, 'nd..nceIn \omercas Inc)can ,utlivareonty during one scason,rhcy dread thc invasionof cropsby etephank,which can wipc our lheir work oi severatmonths in a singtenighr. MosrInnners depend on loanstiom banksor money-,erue.s Thus evcn when rhe crop is derrroyed.rhcy sril navc to payback the loans.Ar prcscnrsevcml govcmm.nrat and .on Jo\crn1...alorSdnr\-lron5 soh to cducaelhc rr.mcr\rn norc modemmelhods of laroing, lhe useof pqricroes,and prolat'on of cropslrom rcsts,invading etephanh and oLhcr History and cultural herilage Accordingro theMaha Wabsa,2,542 yea6 ago(544 BC) a prirce an{i his lbllowcB lrom tndia setrleddown in lhe norlhwe$ of S.i tanka andtook ovcrthecoDtrot ol the .ountry lrom the pcoptewho inhabiredthe istand.At rhar rme rhcpopulation was disrributcdmainly in rheDry Zone, espcqallyin the no(h wesr and sourtr.For the nexr1,500 Je1rs.a ercaragrLutru r crvilrnion culrilarion,developed in rhe Dry Zone. This civitisarjon, whichis olicn rcfered ro as lhc Dry Zonecivilisarronor rhe hydrauliccivilisation, crealcd nore than 10.000 trganon rcrcNotrs.both la.ge (>300ha)and smal( The no h wesrcrnregion was the firsr to deveroprs agncultureand Anlradhapura*as rhefir$ merropolisofrhe country.Thc ancient geographerptolemy caued il Anu.o_ srammi. Accordingto legcnd,it was iounded by Anuraona, Figure8. Distriburionof humanseltlements during ancienr a aouoler of King Vij.ya (rhe prince Indian who invaded lines (3dcentury Bc) Sourcs Anon. (1988) MaD Elerhant C.nflitt i Sti Lanka 17 sri l-anka)rho reignedin rhe 6,hcentury BC. Ir was nadc (includineprcscnt Bangladesh) nay have nigrarcd lo S Thc capiralby King Pandukabhayaaboul 180 BC, and is Lankathrough the easterncoasr. t rd Buddha(624-544 BC) evenoldcr than Romc. An.ienl kingswho madeit a splendid wassaid to havevisited Nagadeepa in rheDod-wesrcrn coa$ city.rulcd S.i Lankairon Anuradhapurauntit rhc 1Oftcentury to setllea disputein thercyal family rhatgovemed he regron, AD Ihc south and sourh-eastcrnregions, especially the elen belbreP.ince Vijaya a.rivedon rhe island Thus, rhis rcg'on conLaining prcsem lhe YataProrecled arca complex rcgion too would have had a wcUdevetopedsysrcm (YPC), of also havea rccordedhislory ot abour2,500 yean. agricrlturef.on ancienrrihes. Accordingrorhe Maha Wansa,in 507 BC, thesouthern parr ol rheYPC areabecame a scltlenentunde. a princeby rhe Human populalion and administrarion nanc ol l{ohana.In 307 BC, rhisa.ca and rhc adjacent ares wcrc madeloro an independcnL kiDgdoh by pnncc (later The huhan popularionins.i Lankaar prcsen{1s ovcl king) Mahanaga.Thc arearemained independent umr aDour 18 million.The iDoeaseoi rhehuman popularjon r60Bc. irom t87l tol98l is shownin Fig.9 andrhar frcm 1984ro 1994is shownin Fi8. 10. Thc counrryis dividcd inro9 prounccs Thcre is iirtle nenrionol rhc norrh-easremrcgron rn and 25 dislri.ts for administratilepurposes (Fig. ll). The lhc hisroricalchroniclcs, destire irs cxcellentharbour al areas*here elephanrsoccur, cover all provincesexcepr Lhc Trincomalcc.It is likety rhar peopreircm easternIndia Wcslen P.ovince,and l7 of rhe 25 districh. Figure9. Humd populationincrease l87l to l98l Fisure 10. Humanpopulatronlrcrease in sd Lanla from 1984ro 1994 KururEgrla Katutara Figurell. AdminisrmrivedisricB of Sri Lanka Mrn l:lcrhant c.nflict insti l..nka Table 7. Populationdala by districts.(The distrids in whichclcphanrs occur are darked wnh(*); thosc*ith signjr'icrni eleph.m populrttunsarc nrarkedwnh (**). Kilinochchidisrrict was dcdarcaLedaftcr t98l). 651 389 2t4 r.39 t593 98r 12.J 086 703 t6.1 6?5 22.1 218 2l.6 t72l -10.4 1636 20.6 35 t283 631 25.3 65 2519 208 10 933 t.8 1985 11 321 2.01 25.3 L62 25t1 39 21.3 t636 165 34.2 2tf ,1313 It9 t24 21.1 t16 308 222 30r3 208 21.0 t.72 tal 21.6 t15 3221 242 t19 2301 262 O.9IJ 5546 31.9 2.ll 3255 299 224 t43 I69l 45t t235 217 20.3 134 Ilutnu poptlation disfibutio, dttl .lensit! Age dhtribulion and educrtion leyels The dislributionol rhe hunran poputarionin vadous The a8e strucore of the humanpopulation of sri disrricrsis shown inTablc ? lr is seenrhat disr.ich rhar Lankais givenin Fig.12. h orderLo srudy rhe socio-economy lncludcclcphrnt arcas arc relativelylcs denselypoputated of the peopleof the Dry Zone. rhc prcsenrauttror caried 'l-his is r{rbc cxpectedas rhesc disrfids srill conrainsignificanl out surveys in 1996-97 drough quesrionnairesan.t by interviewingLhe pcople in fuala.easrhat have a highdegr@ of MEC. Theseinclude the areasin the vicinnyot the ypc ,Bu.ralJ.Olftmprri)a. Hanoapanagala, In'he,ou(hern region. the areas o{ KalawewaThirappane, Kahalla Pallekete and Karuwalagrsw€wain the noah-wesrcrnreSion a.d theElahea andGnandurukotte areas inthe Mahawetircgion These Lhrcc resionsadjoin protccted areas and other foresr areas, where mostor the elephantpDpulationsare lound today.Atrhough rhe easternreSion also has a signiijcantclepham populntion. lh's areacould Dot be suocyed becauscorrhe prevaitin8 leronst acLiviticsand security,opc.atiDns rherc. Tne nonn weslemrcgion has the highest incidenceot conitifi wiLh clcpha.ls and rhe sourhem regio has relarivety low rncidence.Therelbre, the socio-economyof Lhe psple in lhesetwo regionsis comparedir rhcfollowing accoum. Thc arcassurveyed are shown in Fig.I 3 Duri.g thc surleys,I 80 houseboldsin thesourhern rlgion rnd t98 householdsin rhe Figure12. Thc agc srruc(urcot thehuman population ol' nonh-wcstemregion were visircdand lhc chicf occupanr Sd Lankain 1994.Sourcel Dept.of Census& Srarisrics 20 NORTH.V.IESTERN 0 t 29k! SOUTHERN Fisu.€ tl. The arcas rhar wcre surveyed.(st.iped) (KpSA-Kaha a pauekeleSA, LNp,LunuganrvehcraNp, ypc-yata ProtededArea Complcx,WNP-Wilpattu NP). Mnr Ll.thnnr Ctulh.t ri Stt I'at! 2\ lhar of males.The reason,br rhis nay be that the halcs The lge s{rucrurcol rhe populationot rhc areas l@k lbr employmenrat an earlieragc. Onty a very stru,l survcycd in rhe southcrnand nonh westemrcgiors is given percentage(1.2% ol malesand 1.5%of fenalet inthe 16 in FIB 14.Thc surleysindicare that Lhe male to ien,arcrauo 50 yeff agegroup, has $died belond C.C.E.(A/L). In in rhe southernregion is 1,00611,000.InLhe northwesrcrn generallhe per.enrageof the populationthal had not bccn regron lhis rario is 894 matcsto 1,000 icmales.Of the to schooldecreased tion lhe higherage groups ro rhetower popularionin rhesourheft rcgion,5l.l % is in rhc agegroup (e.g 6.07.in the2l-35 age-qroup, 8.1%in rhcl6 50 age ol up ro ?0 ycas,4l.l % is in the group agc ol 2t 50 yea6 groupand 22.9% in the 5l-65 ageSroup). This showsrhar and only 7.8% is above50 yean of age.Inthe norrh-wesern the percentageof schoolartendance has increased ovcr the rcgions, p.oponions rhese arc 4l.lEa,45.3% and 13.6%, yea6. The schoola(endance was almos(100/. up to rhe .cspeclively.This showsrhatrhe population is cxpanding. age oi l0 yeais (primatyeducaion). Theprescntsurveys of therurnlsectors of thesoulhcrn SimilarobservarioDswerc nade in thesouthe,r tuB,or dnd no(h wcsrern rc8'ons, atttrouShliinircd in exlcnr, too(Fi8. l5). ADong menand woneDof thc .gc group2l lndicatclhar rhe cducarionsrandards ol the populationsin 35 yeals,the proportion rhaLhad only the primaryschool rhcsenreas havcrisen narkedlysinccl98l (heycar oi rhe educationwas about onerhird{35.2 7, malesand 323% lasrgcnc&rl ccnsut. Thc schoola(endance was atmosr r002. aenrales).Only 8.670malesand 6.080 ttmales had nor been up Io an ageor l0 ycaB(pdmary cducation)The rracoon to school.while6.?% dales and l2% Iematesconrinuco rneu ol rhe popularion conriruing educarionup ro c.c.E (o/L) educadonyp to c.c.E. (A/L). only 1.4%ot matesand t.2% hd' dl,o marlcdly Increa(J ln ,he nonh.sercn,rcgrnn. or tlnales in rhe age g.oup 36-50 yea6 srudicdbeyond amongmcn andvomen ofrhe age group 2l-35 yeas,5l.3% G.C.E.(A/L).As in rhenorth - wesrcmregion, rhe percentage and19 1% respcctively hadstudied up to c.C.E.(O/L) (Fig. ofthe populationrhat had nor bcen to school,dedcaseu rrom l5) Thcpr"pon,on o'rl,e DopulJr'onrt,.,r had oniy p,rmcry thc higher agc groupsro the lower. In rhe nonh,we$em schoolcducarion is abour (35.3 oncttrid % malesand 37.1% rcglon,the numberof childrcnpo timily vanedton 0 ro female9. Only 2.5% nllcs and 5.1% icnalcshad nor bcen 7, themosL frequenr being 3 or 4 children.Thc meannumber ro school A snall proporrion\9.2% mates anl 15.2.7a ol childrcnper fahily was 3.0 jndicalinga posirivcgrowrh lamalet .ontinucd rheir cducarionup to c. C.E.(A7L). rale,In lhe southc.nrcgion,the numbe. otchildren per tanrly Incidentally, this shows thar rhe proponionof females va.iedf.om 0 to 10,rhc mosr liequcnt being 2 ro 4 chitdrcn. conlinuingrheircducation up to c.C.E(A/L) is alinostdoubte The meannumbe. oi childrcnper hnity was 3.0. Sdrthcrt ,&rth- rrrt{rn IT 1.6 t0 ,.-20 I ^"lE r.t'-g E "p x !1r g 915 e c t *10 0'! E 0*? - E 0,{ 0 t0 1150 0t 90 0-10 {1'r0 6r-!0 ,0a |tr!r'| A$ (rtinl Figure l4.The ig. \rru!ture ol rhc populdlron rnLl lhe male to female.ario (M/F rario) in rhe south d.d the no(h west 22 Ma^pala de Sitvo l$llffir^ E HClrf tlg| 6CEAtt lilr[Hi,, Sqtf*flt lltrlil-Ucr terfl ?}}5 3c50 5f{6 >65 frnqh 4dFiill Figurels. Educationlcvel of samptcdtamjties employcd Employment,income and fsmily e.onomics in rescrvonfisherics andanimat husbandry (narnry burhlo and carrlefor nilk). 'l ablcE slo*s thedialbrenl carcgories ofemployment rLc ecolomrcrlt) ol lhc working pcople.tt is secn rhar thc propofiionin ",r,\. torlionoi .rrcpo1u.r,"n srtrffrecent\ (omprNc,7^,1% gove.nmenrenptoymenr rs quatctow. Inthc ruratareas,oDly mltc\ano4Jteotilrctr. rn rnc no(h wesren region, d small perccnrag€of the pcoptcappca. Lo have monrhry- conprised 69.9% malesald 21.0%females in 198t. peak paid employmcnr(Tabte8). Mosr peopleare setf:cmployed, The activeage periods in l98l Ior malcsand fernales wcre 30-49years(96.1%) j4 i c. rhcy rarn ther land oritlega y clededcrcwnrdo. run and 25 yea6(30.3Jr)respectivcly. snxll busincsses,ctc. The self-enrptoyedcaregory accounrs Thesefigures rehain unchanged 'J today The unedployDent 80.1%ut rhekorting ratc\ In lhcno,rh weqcrn rcg,on. rate,which was6.lE in l98l in the nodh,wesrernregion, has This is somcwhat lcss in the sourhem rcgion. The increasedro I I 7Zoa, prcscnL. Tfc uDemflo\menrlBU.c .hr unenploynenramong females is hieh. 76 5% in conua$ro ior .q{0gi\enb) Drvr.,.nal SerRar'31r. 35.o8r,uh.h 84q dmMg mJ.c. in Inc norttr*e,tcrnregron Mu.r r\ -tout In"i oi.he wur orc and4.17d of rhetotal poputarion. lcr I F\ a,chou\ewi\e\ rho hctpw h rhewo.k .n lhetrcld. I[ ras highe!by abourt.6 llmes in lhc urbansector A najor portionolrhc matesin parrtimeenployment work than i! the runl sector(1981 ascasuallaboures. A small liaction oi lhe poputarionis M(n-Elephant Corllitt insii Lahka 23 labl€ 6. Diilerenrrypes of cmploytnenramong people>2oyears ol age in rhe samptedfamiljes (higher=>Rs100,000 per annumrlowd=< Rs50.000 p.a.) Covennncntcnlployee (hish€t t.50 |.32 Covennne.rchtloye (middle) 3.00 218 48? G.vernnrcm€nrployce (lowet t212 36.50 30.1l 2161 19.10 l3 00 1703 22.41 10.81 750 1.a6 IL34 8.99 Pnvateentcprkc e'nrloyee 2.@ t.3l 4.82 2.25 3.50 0 0?5 3.50 35l t211 5.00 2195 4.39 as part-limelabourcrs and ldc vzrr4i All lrhilics sampledappcar to eam morc thanRs. this is becalsepeople are involvedwith farmingo.ly duringsone lii.mO pcr ycar(Table 9). Howeveraccording ro otficial monrhsot rtrc year. The chena(shiliing) culrivation lig.rc iv'rl,ble, l\c D.vi.ron' 5c.rckirJt\,t.e rncome in rhcareais diflcrcnl from lhe traditionalchena clkivation. ol somc laDiliesis much lowcr. The difieLcnceis b€cause The chenacultivarors havemoreorle$ permancnlplotsot Iheincome from oddjobs,sale ofsonc homegarden produce land, usualty 0.5 2.0 acres(0.2 - 0.8ha) (Table l0). suchas bdnana.ctc. is nor lake! into accounrby rhehouse- Most fa.nc6 havc a high groundplor oflandon which holdcrswhen dcclaringrheir monrhly income ofttcia!y. thcyhave lhci. houseano noDe garden,which is also Fufthe.morc.mosr peoplc under declare rtrcir income ino!de! cultivared. ,u qlrl rr ior fo\crrrncnrxrJ prd8rJmrncJlt-c -(omc i\ Table10. Ldnd owncuhip ,n lery nuch unevenlydistribured wirhin rhe year sincemosr sampledfanities of rhc Iamilicsarc tamers a.d depen.lon the harvesrrhal nay comc onceor tw'cc a yed dcpendingon rhe ninfall lnd.!ailability of inigationwatcr. propo.tion The rhatearns u\r.tturd HtSht tud ClEnt Ln\-ptnrl Hill4krnttl Chent Rs30.000or lessper annumcan be consideredto be below thc polefly line. Accordingro tle suneys, 40% of the larnrliesinthe southernregioD and ?37. lamiliesin thenorth- t2.22 156 t213 54.55 505 wesLernrcgron, de in rhiscaregory. Thc middle-clarsfanilies 0.01-025 0 30.56 5.05 2il 0 0.26-0.50 .| ihat earn more than Rs 100,000pef year lormonly a very 18.31 r1 3.03 0.51,r.00 smlll portionof thc populatioD. : . t778 5l.tl t9.19 t.0t- 2.m 2500 500 \722 t616 2617 15.15 2.0t,5.00 10.00 0 2.51 606 5.0t- to.m 3.13 0 | 0l 0.5 Table 9. Frequency(7d) of sanpled familiesin different Houslng The surveyscaried out in rhe rurat seclorot rhe southernregion and nonh-wesrcm tugion showed rhat, of lhc t889 3?.39 ex's1in8housing unirs in theseareas. abouL 20% had becn 21.t1 35 35 consrructedduring the lastren yca6. In the sourhenregion, 21.22 t463 44.47,ofthe housingunils are peflnane.t strucrurcs (plasrered t339 5.05 b.ick or mud houseswith asbenosor ritcdrool!) anorne resr 1222 (21.2%)areeilher semi-pemanent (mud houses wirh rhatchcd 500 2.42 roofs)or lemporarystructures (34.4%). Thc statisticsar the 167 L0l DivisionalSedetadat ol thc AnuradhapuradisLricr i.dicatc that4,716 housing units wereconstrucLed by goveLnmenl- aslsredprojecrs.25.0% ofrhc ]rousingunits pennanent Accordrngro rhe prcsenrsurvcys, the rural secror are structuresand lhe resl arc eitheL scmi pemancnr or temponry spendsa majorponion of ik inconeon iood(Fig.l6),despite skuctures.Drinking *ater is a majo. probtemlbr thc area being predoninantlyagdcuhural A subsranial no$ or the villages.Fig l? showsrhe percentageot amounrdl thc incofre is spenron mitk ibod andaninal diife.enrrypcs ol watersources available. Il mlsr bc noiedthar alrhough pipe prorcin.Thc amountspcnr on illjcit liquorby aduh maless bornewater is availableto somcvillages, oainly alsoqurre significani The fames coutdbe categorizcdinro atongthe nraJorroads, in manyareas rhe wareris availabte nce culavatorsaod chenaculli!aro6, dependingon whether only lb! a fewhouG. Insome inslances, villagcs fron disranrarcas ary havemore rice landor chenaland. Blt moreolien than warl( or bicyclcto obrainwater lrom a lap by rhc roadsjdc nol,thcy engage in bothLypes of activiry.Some fa.rners rork or lion an urgation rescNoir,siruarcd more rhan d kilometeraway 2a y!t!s!t!!-!!!!l!! Olhcr SOU'HERN l9.Drr. Savin!! 1.13.t. Tobbra(ofliquor 1.73% Furl ,a8s,. Social lrrrcrkns s3t% TrarEporl Food 5.?3tL 35.85.i! Edlaation 7.21% Clothir{ & cosfilatitt 9.7C1. NORTH-WESTEftN Savi'€e 9.09% lobbaccolliquor 253?. Fjel 0.29% Food S.ciel tlrrcrar|3 29,7t.r. 6.46% lrarEporl 6'12.t. 7.t6.t Clothing& \.2t t. liigure 16. The expcnditureol rhe rural seclor lhe main modeol convcyanceof the peopleis Lhe coachcsor lories, Many peopleof the villageshavc to wltk bus(publicand pn!aLe), bur rhisis hnitcd to rhenain roads. to their work placeso. hdvc to *alk up to the 'nain road Most peoplehavc some kind oi vchiclc, moslty bicyctes and bodrda bus. Electriciryis supplicdro rownships,bur (fablc 1l).A fcw tamitieshave a bicyclcas weu as a not to all housesin the rural arcas.Cooking is doN using motorcycle.None ol the familiessurvcyed bad morof cars, ftewood and kercsenelamps providc lighring0rbtc l2). Ma^ Elephatt Cofljrt ihsli Ldnka 25 Japaneseencephahis, a dangercDsviral .lisease shichc"J:cs rhe innrmmauon ot rhcbrtun, al\o oc(us .r tne northweslem region. Thh djseaseis spreadby rbc nosquitospecies C!/ei 8€ldls andC. ,ildenior*\no6 atu is morc prcvalentdudng rhe rainy season (bctober ro ranuapr.The domesficpie .\rs ., ,hr prim.,) andre\e or hostor lhe disease,and the piggcdesin the Anu,aunapura 3n d.sri.r.such a: rhoy rnEppJseta..c J.nlyhetp ,urdu rnr dr.e1se.lr is pos( Eb bte.bur rot ,ot I dcmon.trdreJ,thdr lhe cild pre may Jcr as a rescooirnost. gll ln rT \olrncrnregrun. thcother serious diseases are leprospirosisand teprosy,bul their incidence is exrrcmelylow. Usuauy 0,5 casesol lepro.yand le$ rtun l0 ca,crot teDrospo\i( f!r )-rr .fe rlorded, For medicaltrearmenr. peopte eo e,rhe.to rr. rurat clrnicsor thegovernmenr hospirah. Fof ninor ailnenb, fud peoplescek rhe helpof LheAyu.vedic phlsician or rheiocai Irleraction with witdtife Fienrer7. AvailabiliryofdilblcDr rypesof warersuurcc In rhe rcgionssrudied, man_elephant conltict (I_1EC) Tabl€ll. Frequencyof samplcdfamitics possc$ing differcnt . 's me major probtem!alrhouSh olher wild aninatssuch as spoueJdecr JnJ {ild prgsrt,ocause Jamape ro crop\ Some wlornespecre\ rh cnlervillage\ 8ndcJu\edcm.re to ..ops ano Propeft)arc siven in Tabte ll. 57.?8 5l.0t Tsble 13. Thef.action otthe iarmeBwhosecultivariu,N were r6.t6 atfectedby wildufe other than elephanr. rtl 303 r.tI 5.55 3t 89 Sortheut N.ih rea?flr _ Ftequ.n.rt%) 'lable '161l 12. Sourceof lucl usedfo. cookingand hgnong 61.t1 30.56 30.8r 1218 _a!!4!r Lr!,llJL-!!!i)!,!!Lt!s!ti!a_ 5t0t 83.84 13.33 0 |.62 3919 Leopad 10.56 4.55 20.56 0 t06l t.61 Dunngthe hydrauliccivilisation, rhe narural ecosys- Public Heallh lemsin'he Dry Zone sere l6n(tormeJ Inlo.Cro-ec!*.eTs wer.nos In rhe vJIelJ rnd uooJ ptdh. becanence frctd\ ano clear'ngs on highcr ground In the no h wesrcrnat sou.hcrnirerons. Inc mo _ becane high-ground Joplandsdd homeqradg"'drns. Thr (;rnI) ocv-?nrd.rrr b malafir.Oi rhefamrtre\ surve)ed. 82 2% ldge toq Dry zone piarn! *ee e'rher n r"enonh-wcstem rcgion rnd 74ooo In hc,ourhernrrgion scrub torer or na,dD thereforeit would not have "rE6, had .on|lacred matJria s hrn the trve yed penod trcm beendifticult lo convenrhem ,o paddyfieids. Hosever. \rnce rhe laol o I09r Borhbcnign lcfl,.n mrtd,a cdusedb) rhe Dry Zonere(cive, r"ins onlyscdonally, it wasessentialto blaod p^r^sire Pl6t4odiatn vlrd, and de malienant r€rtian relainwate. torcrlrivarion. Bl 800AD. rheree\isred Dalariacaused by P. Iatciparutj, occur, rhe tiner orsease an e\rrcmelyset organr.ed trngJlron5y(tcm.ncludrne beingmore dege.ous as it afltcls rhe bnin and norvous r lirgenumberor rese^orrs, rhe sizeofwhich.anged rrom<10 syslem.However, malignanr tertian mata.iais nuun r€$ hato> 2,000ha.Thc seasonal dryingup of the rice frelds common(usualty not morethan 20% of rhorotal infecrion). andsmalrcsedons causeo nce cultivationrobelihited to one Inle.lionbJ borhpaiJ(fc, sr, obsc^edoni}, rn.e.5 uran seasonin mosrareas Whe. woterwas avaitabte, il vould not lc; oj rhFolood sner^ e\JmriedThc rumtpoput,i.on h havebeen too difficulr !o conveneven lowtying arcas aficcredhore by the discaseas ir ca.not afiord De cosr oi scrubtbrest ro paddyfields. Thus tbe earlyhuman seltlements ul lhcprc\cnri\. mea\urc\ 5u. h d. mo\quitoneG. mosqurro becabe (orlr.drug,. lhe D.y Zone(Fig.8)lnd$e inlerterence cr( \4rl 'nJ wa, pcrhrt.onc or themajor taclors ofman witn naurat habilatsal that hl lcd ro rhedosnfttt ot rhenrdruutrc .rqlisr.ron rime increasedthe extent ot lerue ano 26 (hane abaldonad a-----::----- :--' ...H !q CrcpGrovth pEnfinq pattarif'0n SOOJF AS Inhr t{E lnlEr ||l0tE00n lLia season Yala saason Figrrc r8. Thc rclationshipberwecD cultiladon Deriodsand raintau, Varioushslorical chroniclcsindicare that therewas Sinhalaword lz,a $at rclcrs to a plot of land whererhc r cLoscinrerrelationship bcrween man and forcsrdunng lhe fore$ is crt down and blrnt and nixed crops are grown rncieir rines. Accoding ro rhe Mrha Wansa,tutes for the prolcctionof tbresr legerationand for lhe usc ot forest productshad been drawn up by lhelimc oiKing Durugemunu (who ruledduring thc periodl6l-1378C). Thereis atso evidencethat by that period,rhcrc wcre lbresLplanrations Th; hnd use paflem, cspccially che.a and nce o. nranmadc loresrs fro4 which rimber*ds ext.acrerltor cultivalior,andrhenajor agriclltural delelopncnrschemes brjlding purposes.Thc BrazenPala.e, d 9{torey building are intimatelyrelated to rhe conilicr betweenman and builr by King Dutugemunu,wasmainly a woodcnsrrucrurc. elcphanr.The ru.al area being predominantlydgricuttuml. Forcstsalso suppliedirewood. ovcr 90% oi rhe populationis employedin occuparions direcny or indirectlyrclaled to agriculrure.tr appearsrhar Today MEC isintcnsc in rhe areaswhere thc lse 72aoofrhe poNlarion obrln( 'h. moor paflot ,r\ ,rcomc ol land andoLhcr rcsources are direcred mainly towards rhc from sublistencelevel ag.iculture,althoogh a substanrial dcvelopmcntof agriculrub.The main agricuhL,ratcrcp is proporlronol rhepopJldrion puruf\ or'fl J.lupa un5d. .icc, which is culrivdrcdin rwo seasons.l-ne majo! or ihe *ell (Tlble 8). Burmostof thesepeoplc also possesstand M.rrd season,coincidcs with therains and lNtsfrcm Odober which rhey cultivateby thenselvcsor using hned tabour. to April (Fig. l8). 11depends onrhc convectilerains ol the The chenacultivarion in rhe arca is diflercnr 'rorr rne lnreFmonsoonalpcriod and rheadveclive rairs ol the north tradilionalpmctice. h trad'tionalchena culrivarion, rticr l- casl monsoon.During this period, rice is culrivareoas 5 yearsof cultivationof the sameplot ol land, rhe land sutlrcientwatcr is a!ai1ab1e.The othcr cuhivalionperiod becomcsuneconomical to cultivale,so lhc larnrcrthcn clears vald. tblls wirhin rhe dry scasondnd iasrs tiom May ro a ircshplor ol forcstlnd srarrsa ncw chena.He will reru l SepteDrber.and dcpcnds nainly on idgation warerliom rtre ro rheilrn plot ol land atierabour 20 years,by whlch lrmc rcservotrs.Becausc ol drereduced lvailabitiry orwarcr, orher lhc plot would be reaorestcd,providing enough fenilizer lbr l,eld cropssuch as soybean,green gmm and chilli, th.r do another3-5 yearsof cultivation Hencethis is rcferrcdLo yala not nccdnuch waler arecultivatedduing rhc season. as shiil,ng cultivation.B!L rhercis littlc shitiingrnvotved The hiDfall dling lhe Mald scason.isf.rnore vaiabte roday,ds rhc laancB have laid down claims lo plorsot chenr. (han that du ng fte fala seasonbecause ol thc iDherenL Thc chenaculrivatoB halemore or lcsspcrmanenr ptots ot weaknc$ ot rhe north-eastmonsoon andftc iftegulanryoi land,usually 0.5,2 acres(0.2 0.8 ha) lTablcl0). They iropicaldcprcssions andcyclones This aho aiiec$ cutrrla cultivatethese plots year ailer year dainly bccauseoi rtre very low availabilityofnew rbrcsttbr cleadng.Thc dangeL The slash-andbum or shiltingcultivarion (or chena of.leaing the onaining lbrcstcones mrinly liom rtrenew culrivahon),which dependson rainfall,is practiscdas a ianiUcswho nol having inheLiradchcna land trotn urerr '(J nJ.ounc oi .nfohcbv mrn) ncetJrmer,. ln non-r.e parcnrs,hale to starrnew chcnas by clcdringrtrc lbrcsr. grow'n8a.eas.lame6dcpend mainly on chendculrivalion, The newscttle.s emigraring ftom orherareas louldahohavc especiallyinthe arcasin whjch Mahawehorolhff irrigation to starlnew chenas. Because of thc presureonthc cullivabte warcris not availablc.(The word chcnais derivediiom rhe Lnl. pcoplebcsr r! rlcdr cvcn,tc iilona, m,L-ror) Mut Elethont Crrqit nrsi l,rrllt 27 oulcs of lhc clcphants. Chcna larmcrs havc bcgur 10 usc attcntion.Thc erowthperiod is gcncrdlytwo Lorhrce monrhs chenncxl lirrilizeB and pcnicidcs as rhc land bcconrcs no In ordcf to pfotccthis chcnairom wikl enimals(wild !!g. loogcr prolilablc o culti!ale in rhe presentsludy areas,d11 porcupine,sporled deer. sarnbarand elephanl).rhe hnner ice hme6 usc chcnrical lcrtilizcrs (nainly urca) and strys in his chcnaawayfion his dwcllirg housc0t night.In '/, fcsrrcrdc\ Among chenr cullilalos,38.1 use che'n1cal elcph^mareas a temporaryhut is usuauyconsrtucled on d rcrrilizcrsord 407. usc pcslicidcs.Ilo\rcvcr.larmea arc now hcc. Harveslingis done lio'n Jonuaryto March,depcndins hcgirnin! ro use nrorc and morc orgaric marure. Mosl on drccrop. !fler whichrhe land is leit hUowurril the nerl Linncrs halc r hilh-g.ound plot ol ldnd (Table lO) rn whrch rr.! |a!c lhcir houscsand homc g.rdcns Thcscplols lrc il!, !scd lor d'lrivarion Thc comnon cropssrown in thc Dry Zoncarcg'!cn nr Tiblc 14. Thc licqucncy ol lamcs lrflous 'lhe Brcwlne LescNol6begii ro lill wnh rhconse( oi rhcr.ins impo(.nlcash crops is shownin Fi_el9.Wilh the.x.cprbn in Scplcfrb$ or Qcrobd, dd by lhr .nd ol thc rainy penod ol nce,olhcrs are highlandc.ops. grown inainly rn lhc chcnas in llnu.ry. drey art li'll and soDrerinresovcfllowing Warer during Mdl,a seasonor inthc ice tieldsduri'rg rhe vdl., is ,clcdscd liom Ocrobcr ro Ftbtu.ry Ibr lhe Mdla sea$. season.Mrnio. andonron are also gro*nin suchnce liclds rnd lFn, N4ayto July lor they.'/4serson The lowcst trarer The olheL caslr trops indudc papaya, linr. lCt,,r lcvcl ii rcscrvons is obscNcd in Scptember pior ro rhc auahtifolia). betetpeppetlPiper belle), nangn\Manrrleru bcgrn.rng ol lhc ddjor rainy serynr. Chcna cllliva(ion. t/n!r. cocorur(Cr.ds nuciletu).cash.\| tlrt(Atuc.fttn which is a iorm ol thc mixcdcroppingsyslcin. is cdnicd ac. enklc). nuung (Motnisa olukkt) and pomcgramrc our only du fg onc sc.son of rhc yclL The chenas ire (Prni.d szdr,,), which drehore or lesspdnur.nr .tup\. u\udllt bc.red Nvry liom Lhc lil[gcs rn whi.h lhc lrhlcrs grown on highglound plots, nron of rvhicharcinh.r Lilc Thc lbrcsr o! scrutr is cut do{'n rDd bufln prjor ro the .xtendedhome gardens. Sugar cde is grcwnond nrnor scxlc ,ilDs. nr Augusr or Seplc'nbcL ladirrs rrc cxpccred rlif inlhc norlh-westcrnrcgion and on a nrajor scllc 'n Lhc Scplenbe.. Wnh the onset 01 thc raiDs, the ground rs southcrnrcgion ncar rhc Scvanagala(nr lhc Udawal.we.,!.) ploughcd- aod sccds ol a varicty of cercals, pulscs and and Pehv.ua(i" rhc YPC dcr) sus.r i,icrorics vcecrablcs so\r .nd lcl ro grow olrcn wirhour Iurrher E t6 t Figure19. Frcquen.yof li.ncrs growjng vario$ importantcash ciops. Table 14.1he commontraditional cash crops grovn in the D.y Zone chiti Lybte\icon .kule^tum Ab.lmos.hurexcuLnn\ Mrt [.lerhnt Cr,tllt.t hsn t. ttr 29 MAN,EI,EPHANT IN'IERACI'IONS AND CONI'LICT people were careful not to inierferc wirh rhc t.aditional Digraroryroutcs of the clephanrin selcclinSforcst areN Hislory of Man-Elephani Cotrtlict for cbenacultivadon. Hence rhcrc woutd havc been substaDtialareas ot forest ior elephantsto roam.Afrer Sincc an.ienl rimes. accordinglo lhe hisrorical baNestinS,the chena is lcfr to naturc untir $e nexr chrcniclcMah, Wansa, wild clcphanrand nanhave cxNrcd cultivationscason. hmediitel! atter harvesringlhere is ror a long tinc withour nuch conflicrin rhe island.Somc some srock leil in the chenawhichtlle clcphanrsprefcr conlli.r wouldhavebeen inevirablcbur tharcoutd rave Deen and in which the farmer has lirrle interest. Etep&nrs rn eas,lyrcsol!ed. During {he ancicnrdays, Lhe Dry Zo.e was thef movcmcnlsoursidc rhe uslal homenngc may .ome wclLpopulared jn comparison to rhe wetzone(F1g 8) and acrosschena .ulrivarions, rnd once rhe good ibo.t source rhc ancrentscttlements wc.c densetydistributed across n, rs localed,rhcy will repcaredty!isit rhem. Evcn loday_ . |,,he nunhue\r1n \ourbcrn n.rilliv rnd re8r.r5 elcphants(and orher herbivorct tind nourishiDgtood in rherc\idue5 or rhccul \JrionrnJ In In! rJprdt)prcwrn! Thc intenseftan clephanrconflicr(MEC) tharexilts wccdsand bushesot lhc abandoncdchenr.Therewoorrl be rodayis of recemo gin, as a resutt growing ofthe deoand litrle MEC afler rhc harlesl is collecredas long as rhe lw l.'nd urhcrrcqu, emcnrs or "1J r tlpidty In('fls,nt elcphantsdo Dor invaderhe viuagcs. This sysleh was humanpopulation. Ir is rhe larSerivcr diveGionsano oher advantagcousto bolh the lb.mer and rhc elephanr.Thc irngaLtunschemes, dcsigned ro dcvelop hugc tueaslbr elcphanthadenough ro eat and d.iDk in lhc tbrestdudre dgricullurc in thc Iast 3-4 decrdes, and imptemcn€d lhe r.'in) \eson Jnd In rhcpcriod imrncdi.rtety ro ow n : wrlhorr .egard to rhe habiralrequi.emenrs ot thc elephant rl. qnJ llrerewr. no necdlo cntcr ltrcJhFn,, du\ rnu lhrL havc increasedrhe sevcrjryot MEC. For insr.nce, tne harvestingwas done. Ailer hanening, it colld stay in In the north weste.n and Mahaweli regions, MEC 1IE chennarea unril the nexr cuttivarionseason, withoul inrcn!ilicdonly a tawyer6 back(10-15 yca6) subsequenr any drturbanceliom the tarhcr. The probtcmibrelepnanrs b thei mplemcntalionot rhclargeag.icutrural dcvetopment wolld have been the lack ol warcr during lhe droughr \h\m!.rl-c Arcclei.redM.'h.'wct. Dcvct^tmcnr p,.JeJr Usurlly wirhthe adventof rhc d.y scason.c[phanh woltd move ro locationslvhcre w cr is avaitablc(e.g. closer 10 i.rigation reseNoi.s Thc early hydrauli. civilizationof Sri Lanka was wbere they would also find Dew gt?ss on drc exposcd,fo.mer bascdon rhe water tuanage'nenrin thc Dry Zone. An littoral arcas). extensrvesystem of irigation cscrvoirs, canals,feedcr wben fo.est was clearcdby nan oD a lar8c scale, canals,cic. was wcll developedby Lhe5," ccnrLry A.D. 'Ihe etephantswould have found rhe bod and wareravailable hydmulic civilisalion srartedLo declinein rhe l3Lh within drcldest ro bc inadquac This lbrced lhenl Lo Dole cenlury duc to several complcx .easons.sucb l|s rhe our ol rhc their ran8e.in rhc proccssof which Lhu, wouro sp.cad or mala.id,desrocrion oiihe largeir.igarion works comcac.o$ chenlN.or, as mo.e andmorc foresrwas oerng b) rhc forc,tn in\rde,\. inremrt wJr.. In-rcr.ing claimed lbr cultivaLion,the chcnaswere Drepa.edwirhin in'cdilir)ot rhc.oil\.. I rc.ulro, cro\.on,nd increr.ing the annualhohe .angeof 0re etephanrs.Wturcver rhe salinily(Nicholls, l92l: Cordingron,1960r Murphy, t957; rcason,clcphanrs srarted invading rtrc cuttivarionseven Lryanagamage,1968: Indrapala, 1965; Roberls, I9?l). during thc rainy season and found a more appetising. Whateverthc reasonsfor the dcctine may be, i1 nppears nourishihg and an easity obrainable source of aood. According(o lhrr by thc end of rhe l3'h ccnrury,tunny peoplemoved Sukumar (1989)tbe narrat prelerenceof elephanbis for plants poaceae out of the Dry Zone.Therese oirs went inro djsuscand of(he tamilies (c.amineie). Fabaccae(Leguminosre) and Arecaccae(palmaer, d's.epair,rhc smallerrcse.voi.s sitrcd over. ttre ir.ignrioD ano these(exccpt Arecaceae) arc found in systemscouapsed, even ihe citics with imporranr the .ice ltctds rnd Lemples chcnacultivations. Once the ctcpbrnlsger wcrc abandoncd,and rhejunele gradually usedio raiding reclaimedlbis ciop..il s.uld bc Jilir(ulr ro Jop rhcm..hJ: rhe\4Ea once prosperousdca. The failu.e of the hydraulic civilisationof rhe D.y Zonc would have beena blesing lo the wild animals.Witb rhe .crurn otLhc jungle, witd Altcmpls ro increasethc aSriculruralarea caused .nlnals flounshcd.The newly devclopedforesl being a dcforesLation.Tbis in rurn led to conflicr with eleDhanls. scrub forest, favoured ttrc elepbant.The scrub forcst whcn rhey srartedinvading viUngcs and croplands;sihen provided food and the irrigation reservoirs(nose rnar .angecontracled. Althongh with tbe developfrentof rtre rcma'nedlunctional wilhin the toresr)andthe ou( poors Mahawelische'ne,several new prorectedAreas sue,, as rne (Cal KeDat sopplicd warc. ro theelephants. whcn rhe Maduru Oya NP and WasgomuwaNp wero creaEo.mcse arc locatedmainly in wct Zonc becamcgraduatly mo.e poputated,some oi rhc rhe easLcrnsccLor (Fj8. 20). The ont)' significanrnewProectcd Arer clcphanrs(and oLherwildaniinals) rhar lived therunDveo csrablishe (SN-SticrNarural Rcscraci NP Ndional ParkiNR,NnluE Rescrvc: SA SrnctuaryDndcrs: AM Anpam: AP-AnuudhapumiBA.B.nic.toa; BD Badull., HB-H.mbmrorxiKG-Ktrrunegdl!r KY Krndyr ML.MullaitrivriMN Moncr.glla: MR Mrnndri MT-MaraleiNE-Ntrstr. Eliyar PL PolonnaruwaiPT-Puttlhmr ltT-R.hapurai TR Trincomalee) SOUTHERN SN 2890,1 l9:15 HR,MN PANOf YPC NP 9?3.81 1938 HB.MN PaIt o. YPC 23499 1995 HA.MN Kirindi Oy.scheme:Adjoining Ruhunu NP 32315 t912 HB,MN WalaweCdrga schcDe 62.16 1991 HB 1938 MN Pon of YPC 8.33 r938 MN PONOf Yrc r066 t99f HB t933 HB Ii{STERN r8t.48 AM Par of YPC r5.51 1980 25399 AM.MN Cal Oya scheme 1911 AM PAd OIYPC 124.31 1954 AM Gol Oya schemc 152.80 1954 MN Cnl Oya scheme 155.40 TR t81.30 l96l TR 558.50 1933 Mahaweli Cahgascheme :169.48 1934 MT,PL Mahlweli Cans. schcme NP t?3.50 1984 Mahaweli Oangaschenre t936 PL,TR Mabawe| cang, scheoe 19.21 1993 PL Pan of etrlierMinneriyaGirihle NR NR i0352 1933 Mahaw€li Canga$hcme 8.24 250.r9 1986 t5.23 1938 SA 1938 SA r990 MT CENIRAL SN |42 t933 NE ln WetZonc, Monbne egion 35.t9 t933 NE In WetZone, Monranc region 42081 BD.KY, Mosrlyin lnrerncdiareZone MT.NE 22119 1940 NE.RT ln Wd Zone NORTII.WESTERN lll6.69 t933 PT Th€ l.rgcsr PA in Sn Lrnka 216.90 1939 AP,KC Mahawclicanga schene SN t528 1000 I938 35.01 r938 1963 NORTIIDRN AP Adjoiningwilpau! NP 266.'16 1968 ML.MR 43.30 MR M.n-El.phart C.rJlict n1Sti ltrk4 3l \n€ *:.m'* v"*h{efr Figure 20, ImpbrtantProrecred Aieas of Sd Lanka. (APs-AnuradhapuraSA, BNP- B uDdala NP, FNP Flood-plainsNP, GNP-6alOya NP, cRs,ciant s rserloir SA, HPN-Honon PlainsNP, KPS KahallePallekele SA, LKNP-Lahugala-KitulanaNP, LNP,LunugamveheraNP. McN-MinneriyaCiritale NR, MGS Minneriya'CiritaleSA, MNP-MinneriyaNP, MONP-MaduruOya NP, MRS Madu Road SA,NHS-Navat Headworks SA, PWS-PeakWjldemess SA, RNP RuhunaNP, RsN-RitigalaSN, SNPSomarathiya NP. SwH-SinharajaWodd Herirage Site,TMS ThrikonamaduSA. UNP-UdaWalawe NP, VRs-Vlctoria,Randenigala-RanrcmbeSA, WNP-Wilpauu Np, WSNP- WasgamuwaNP, WWS Wemwila SA, YNP-YalaEalt NP, YSN-Yda SN, NP-Narionalpark, NR NalureRese e.SA Sanctuary,SN-Strict Natural Reservc.l 32 The resiofttionof theabmdoned and ruined irrigarion line. Since Wilpauu NP area isan importantreluge tbr .cscNoirsand more recenrly,rhecreationof ncw irrigation elephants.thc activiticsof borh terorists and rhc sccurity systemswould haveintensificd the MECa manindcasingly forcesinrhe ffea help escalaieMEC. Thc rcrrcrisractiviries cncrcachcdinro thc natural habital of lhe elcplanr. The of ihe LTTE also extendinro lhe Mahaweli,castc.n and fightingwnh the LTTE rcsulrcdin lhe evictionof LhcDwC sourhe.n regions. For inslance, rhc narional parks o{ ollicialslrom thc WilpartuNP and rhepark itself has become Sornawathiyaand Flood Plainsandthe ThrirkonamaduNR . no man\ land.The arny hascstablished a bunker line along inthc Mahaweliregion are under tcmrist conbol and so rhe eanernborder of lhc park and laid mines along thc cannotbe visned,Similarly partsol lhe RuhunaNP and peripheryand insidethc park The terrorislshavc laid their IheYaldSNRin the southernregion and rhe Yala Easr NP, own m1nes.The i.evitableresuh has been dearh and injury Kudumbigalasanduary. GalOya NP and Lahugala-Kitulana to elephdnts.Thc guDfircanderploding bombs have driven NP in lhc easlernregion are nor sali to lisil bccauseol rhe elephantsliom the park to Lhevillages, but afew stitl lcro.ist acrivilies.Therefbre at prcscnt,a major pa( of thc rcrnrinin rhe Lc{J,srurbcddrca. On.e rheyare oul. rhc elephanl habitat is inaccesible lbr implcmcntingany elephanrslind it difficuhro re-enre.rhc park acrcs rhebunker ncaningfulconservadon and managenenrprogranmcs. I tt'dhi.ten4.-',r ,-|, r--\\'","-.. ltoRtrl ,' HAnlrJEtt wEsTtRl{ I -..-.'? i./ rsou_lHtBlll Figure 22,Tbe inrensityof MEC in theno h-{estcrnrcgion FiEure 21. Adminhtative regionsof rhc Departnenlof (Brokenlincs indicatc Divisional Secretaryt dilision! wirhin wildli'! Consedarion MatLlc|hurt ConJbt i sti Ldnk! -'' .=. ;''\ ':t s{r*Fhire i -rr"-Ji' #yJ""* 655"*:--d'$.*"nn,"f*"o,* _at' AqmrAnnf/ i ' .;* EtsE ll,Dhhl. - i i €/ $sili"in 6 sif, ira I i L t0 .Skn nirifrror. i 8io9r.itr I --- qshlf tautdaala! I --r orth-r.erhfn .qion bt{r(hry l(uruna{ats i i*\'s'"* rigure 23 The distribution or' crephanFin lhe no(h-wesremrcgion. (Thc numbers indicate the probnble numbes of erephanc rn tvhe pa(icuiar areas Thc double ) headedarows lndicaterhe probablemovemen! putt".n ot g.oup. in differeanrareas. 31 Distribution of MEC itr differedr areas dislrifi and lhe southcmpa(of tle BadulladislncL. This is becauseol the smallnumber of elephrnrspresenr hcrc. The MEC exisisroday in almosrall paasoi Sd Lanka areaswith a high degreeoI MEC in the Moneragrl,district whereclephants and human bcings are prcscnt. The lbllo*ing areOkkrnpniya, Buitala, Wellawaya. Koslanda, Suratrrune. JJ ' wcrc collecr.dr'r.,m drtrcrenr lJm n,rrali\c rcBion. Hiwalkandura,Handapanagala lnd in rheKuda Oya mcd, underLhe Dcpanncnr of WildliteConservarion. Eachdivisjon Diyaw'nna,Hambcgamuwd,Kahakurullan Pclesaand Suiya is undcra.cgional AssisranrDilccror (AD) andis rcrcirca Ara. ln rhc Hambanroradisrrici. a hieh des.ecol MEC js b as an ADregion.According tothc intbmationcollecre.t. observedin lhe arcasofAmbalanlotr, Ridiyigain.. Suriya (hc AD rcgions(Fig.zl) canbe lisredin dcscendingd.dcr wcwa, Aharabokka,Wcemwila and in colories ot Lhc of thc irlensity ofMEC as touowsr(!)rhe Norrh-wesein Lunuganvehoraand Yodawewa schcmcs.ln the crs.ern egion, (2) rhcMahaweli rcgion, (3)the Southernregio., {4) region,lhe arcas of highMEC areSiyanbalanduwa, Aopan. rhc No hern.cgior(very liule i.fofmarionis rvailablcfron GalOla. Uhana,Buddhangala and Samanrhura.Thc highesr tc orrhcnre8,nn. bu' probrbl)MfC lherci. les cn.c 'rlensty ol MEC is seenin rhe nonh wcsrernrcgon. rhan in southernreeion). (5) lhe Easrernrcgion (onty i,bdcqJ,.cinlbrml ,on r. o\Jrl.blcr,.m rhcea!rem rt,on. Somc arcascontain local popul.rionsol clcphanrs bLr frobrblJ the MEC m1y nd bc as inren"eas rnsomc lhatarercsident alnost throughourlhc ycar. Thescgi{rups pdtu ol thc sourhernregion), {6) the CenrGtrcgion (very which rcmain pcrmanendy,are usuallyynall. ElcphaDls Inw clcphants.re presenlirr the regionof the AD-Cenrral). aSSregatern ccnainareas and MEC is hrghin paflsot lhc nonh-westernregion such as Nachchaduwa,Kal.wcwa. MrC r\ *idcspreadIn lhc nonh-lrsrrmregrol. Ealdluwcqr. Herarhgrma.Rc5schc -. C. bJ;.,, ..or. icllvinrhe Anu.dJhapurr Di"rn.. Thr\poblemer,sh Galkiriyagama, Navagarhrhcgama,Karuwalae wewa. in allthe DilisionalScc.ctary s Divisio.softhe Anumdhapura Kalaoya,Mahavilachchiya, Tharririnatc and Medawachchiya. Disnicr bur in difierent intensilies(Fig.22). In rhe Tle generald;tribulion ol the clcphanrgroups in rtreaiea KuruncgalaDislricl signiticantMECoccurs only in rhenorh is shownin Fig. 23. and nonh,easrernparts while in Putalam Disticr. only the 'fhc no(hernpa( hasscrious MEC, pafi ofMannarDishict The elephantmonalily as wcll as huna,, ueaub, wilhin thc northwestern area is toothinly poputatedro have rnjuflesand danage ro propcny causedby elcphanrsin seriousMEC b n1eMahaweli region, Systcms C andD are diibrenl regionsindicatclhc degree oI MEC in thercspccrive rheffilicalareas of MEC(Fig.35).The areas adjacent to rhe rcgions.Fron l99l to 1995,elcphanr momaliry was highesl Maha*cli ProrecledA.cas (he WasgomuwaNP, the Ftood inthc northwcsrem rcgion closely lbtlowed by rharin rhe Phins NP, the SomawathiyaNP, elc.) havea high degree Mahaweli region(Fig.24). Aldough human deaths and of MEC. In the southernrcgion, MEC is high in the injuries wc.e higher in the Mahaweliregion, damagc to MoncragaladisrricL (Fig. Il) and rhe easternpart otlhe propeay was muchhigher in rhe noflh-westemreSron (Fi8. HambantondisLrict. MEC is aho observedbut ro a much 25) than in rhe Mahaweliregion. lesser degreein the south-ealrernpafi of lhe Ratnapura B !ti tt!l '|i rigure 24.F.equency of Elcphanrmonalirics in difierenrAD reBron\rA) rotalmonal'lrc,, ( B) mdnmeJ.,ted InoaJtrtrel Mau t:l.t)ht,t c.,Ihl h1s'i Uok. 35 tJ No.rh- al.1. l'isure 25. Frcqucncicsoi (A) hunrn deathsand injuricsand (B) prope(y damagcscaused by elcphanrsin diii.cnt AD Crusesof MEC Nature of MEC The majorcalses for rheintensifrcarion ofMEC a!e: In reldiol ,o ir' eftccron man rhrcemdlo a\fc.L, (a) the degmdalionand clearanccof tbrcst for land of MEC can be recognised:(a) humaninjury o' death,(b) developmcnr,(b) $e 'nllux oi a rapidlyincrcasing human danagcto housesand propeny,and (c) crop depredarion. populationinto foresta.eas,and (c) lhedcmandson rheforcst Elephantsatkck manand his propenyofien ar nighr Most by rhe rapidly increasinghuman populalion(lbr rimbe., anackstake place belwcen 1900 and 0l00hous (Fig.26) llrcwood,etc.). Thus rhcprimary tacrorthar affdts elephanrs and ln rheearly houtrof the day.This is the rine when man is habitarlo$ lcadin8to rhercduction in lhen bod andwarer is usuallyawake and active. It may be that even danage resourlcs-and Iragmenrationof rhe populationand habirat. ro propeny okes placenosrly duriDgthis periodbecause However,in d devclopingcountry with a fast human erowing the animalsin the vicinity of such prcpenyarc disturbed populr,on.rl'c !lear.nc. or torcrrhJb..dr lor hurncnu.e b by humanactivities. On lhe orherhand, lhe ho!6 lnevilableAs statedearLer. while thehudan poputation has of crop damageare nore towaidsthe Diddle and larrcrparr ol rhe lncreasedliom 2.5 millioDar rhc lum ofrhe ccnturyro over ni8hr. Ar night, man is ar a greal disadvanta8esince lE million in 1998, the closed-canopyloresr covcr has he cannotsee and locale lhe eleph.nLproperly, while declinedlron 707dtoabout 24,/o of rhe land areairne ross rhe clephanris ablc to detecrhis movcDenn of lbrest mcansloss ol habitatlbr theelephant. Theelephant easil while attehpringto makeuse ol what is lefi ol irs ibmer habitat,coDes inro conilicr wnh man. lh|n/I'$., }!c.r,r d.r'r.. lllf, t?0 loa n-a a-a aa.24 or-ot @.0,o'.!a 0a.6 6'06 Figure26 Thefiequcncics of elephanlhumanencounteB at differenrrimes in$e night inlhe norrh-west€rnd.d s{i,thernr€gions lnjury or deathto man is almostalways due Lohn Howeverwhcn a hc.dcnters a clllivationthe damage ncgligcncc.Thcre have been reporrs of solitary males causedis obviouslymuch higher than that causedby a attackingman on sight In theseinnances, il wasinva.iably solitarymale. Of the 1,672insran.es of crop dcprcdation foundrhat rheanimal had been injurcd eadierby man, often repoied by the farmersof the northweste.n region, 1,248 not oncebut scvcEl times,in almostall casesby shotgun, (74.64E0)\|ete saidlo be due to solitaryadllt nales, 127 Howeler mon of rhe humandeaLhs wcre causedwhen the (7.60%)by pairs and 297(17.'18%) by groups(Table 16), ucrim waseirber defending his propcrtyagainst the elephant group sizevarying from I to 16 wilh an averageof 5.0. or walkingor cyclingalong a roador lootpaLh.Ol tho 67 Accordingto the farmers,the same adult nale would humandcaths caused by the elephantin the noahwestern repealedlycome to an areadespire being chased away on each regionduriDg thc pedodl99l 1995,55 (82.1%)were males occasion,whercs herds*hen chasedaway woL,ldusually and only 12(l?.9%) were lemales.When the victim was move on to anotherarea. Sukunar(1989) rcpofls thar in a male,he *as olien drunk. Thus he would havebeen solthemIndia, the sizeoi.aidingherds variedberwcen3 and incapableol rcalisinglhe dangerof elephanrs.Mosl of rhe l0 with a meanof 7.9.He alsoreports that therc is a distinct victims who wereartacked were not carrying a ligbt A rcndencyfor adllt malestogather in groupsof up ro 4 while poweriulrorch-lighr mighr havehclpedthe viclim to se the laidingcrops. Such small,loose, aggreSations, otadulr hales elephani.Darnage ro housesand olher immovableprope(y werc observedin Sri Lankaas eell. Morc oftc! than nor, n causedwhen a pe6on is tryingrochase away an elephant suchgrcups spih into smallergroups or solitaryirdividuah andthe animalgets scared or enraged,or when theclephant when raiding.rops. Elephantsdestroy more cashcrops is rrying to ger ar grain or salt storedin the house.After suchas rice and othe. cereals,pulses and vegetablesrban theharvest.la.mcrsvisit theirrelarions and triends in distant coconlrorb.'n.n.. They oppear ro prctcrlJraklJn gpr pla.e.kl',le leaqrgrhc nouf unauendedThr, grve(rn rnillet)to any other crop (Fig.2?), so much so rhat some oppo.tunityfor elephantsto dahagehouses with impunity. fame( havegiven up the cultilationof kurakkan.Rice crop Elephanlsrhus get lsed lo rcpeatingthe act even when here is also often dcslroied.ElephanG do nol is r€si$nce.The rccofdedinslances ofMEC arenostly duc andmustard bui lhey tramplethc cropas lhey movethrough to solitarybulls. Frcn 1990ro 1995, 226 olephantsdied lhe fields.They appearto have a specialpreference lbr in the north-wesrenrcgion. Ol theseanimah 9(470)were cucu.bits.For instance,ahed of over10 elephantsdestroyed tuskes.166 (7lor)were adult males md only 5l (23%)*el9 tho entirecucurbit crcp of the seedlamof the Department adulticmales{ in groupt. Thus 777, of fte elephantswhich of Ag.icDltureat Madaganrajn one nighl. When rhe fa6 died were aduft males.Inthe soulhernrcgion, of the 132 wasvisired rhe nexrday. nor a fiele cucurbrtvine sa\ clephantmortalities during rhe peiiod 1991-1995,5 (47d) sen and the land appeareds if it hadnot beenplanted ar wereruske.s, 98 (747,)were adult males md only 29(227a) all. The groundwas hard and lootprintswere not visible, wcrc adulrfemales. Mosr of the humd injunesand dearhs but the elephantdung in the nearbyforest was Tull of as well as damagelo propeny arecaused by solilaryadult cucurbi seeds.The farn manager estimared rhe damage nales.Ahhorgh solihry animalsas well as herdscause 6op causedin this fam duringthis parricularnight io be ove! depredation,in mostinstaDces crop depredationwas caused Rs 100,000(US $ 1,500). by solitaryadult males. E I F Iigure 27. F.equencyofelcphanh destrcyingdifferent c.ops Maa-Elerha,t Co"Ii.t iS lan*a Tabl€16. Thc group size ol raidingclephants. ir chenas,and thes€ioo are nided. Etephan(monatiry is generallyhigh during rhis period (Fig.28), white fte clamageto properryis low (Fig.29B) bulincreases late.. By Ap.il thc hNesr ir alreadycoltecled and I the tarmerhs no furthe.inre.estin the chenaeea unu' 2 the next culLivatingseason. Aficr April someelephants try 10 get at the stored 3 5.86 harvest md hencc causedamage ro houses-As 6.64 the dry sedon advances,rhe eletxanLs slan moving towardslarger irrigarion reservoirs. MEC is aho high in luly orAugust,at rhepeak ot tbe drougbr (Fis- 28). Alter the.ice harv€st.cash.rops suchas cbi i, h nay bc that theincidents of damagcto coconur onion and iobaccoare grown in thc rice fields (where andbanana are les sincesuch crcps are grcwnaway fiom water is available). Thus elephanrs.aid rhesecrops lhe lo.cst area.Howcver. once elephantsenter such a duringthe penod Ap.il toseptcmbe..Coconul, banma plantation.lhe damagecaused can be exrensive.Some Md jak The elephantp.oblems occcur (hroughourthe yed lntetrrity of MEC bul ae intensifieddunng some months. For iNtdce, elephantsusually raid rice fields inJduary whenthe gmin The inrensiryof MEC is indjcaredby the man is maturing and conlinue their raids up to Aprit until mediatedhigh motutity ofelephantsand the high number barveslingis completed.During rhisperiod, orher cercals, of human d€ths and damage ro propeny caustu oy vegetablesipulses. etc. are grown or high grcund and elephmtsov€. th€ years(Figs.30&3t). ^t!,!r!4 !!L$!!\! E Soothern Z N-scstern 1,t- J J tfonfhs Figure 2E.The monthlyalenge elephantmortalities during Deathscaused by landmines and riom electrocurior the period 1991,1995.n=116, southern rcgionr n=211, (Fig.32) we.e due to rhe activiliesof rhe securilyaorcq andterrcrilts. The perimetersol thearmy camps in nc rorest arem arc prorecredby live elerric wifcs md the elephants cornrngrmo conractwilh suchwnes areetectrocured There In geneml,asshown in Fig. 30, abour70% of rhe wcrerlso a few instancesin which the securitylb.ces we.e elephantdearhs is dueto gunshotinjuries . Very few iarmers responsiblclbr shootingelephanrs. The rrapgunsset by havebeen issued wirh shorgunstegatly. Most oflhe shorguns larmeBare usually not meanribr etephanrsbur lbr killing usedto injureand kill elephantsare home-nade. They are smrller rnanrmalssuch as wild pigs. There we.e a rew usuallymuzzlc-loaded withhand-made lead pellets, although in!"n.c. ot ||lIng eleDhanr\detrbeEretyhy,a, por5oning a iewuseillegauy obrained or locailyrefilled 16 or t2 gaugc unng pesticidcs,and (b) using nail-boards(Fig.32). Sctring carkidges.Elephant deaths causedby man would in fact up ot a nail boardis a viciousway ot injuringan e,epnanr. bc higher becaDsethose classedas "accjdenls'arc also Long ircn nails are dnren inLoa woodenboard and tefr mainlydue Lo mans actions,such as digging pits, laying on thc pathol rheelephanr. When an etephanttramples rhe landmines.ereling live electricwire fences,etc.Thus man board,tbe nailsger driveninto tle foot. When thc anrdat is responsiblefor abour90% ot thc elephantdeaths. The '1EJ.e rdesLo gct.idof theboardby kickingand lrampling,Lhe ur Jdm.Beopropea) trom tool ro t9o4 .n board "een is brokenaway d.iviog rhe nails aunher inro thelbor. Unle$ Fig. ll nay reflect nor only a rue increasebut also an lrcarcdin goodtime,the animal becomes lame and ultinately in-easc in the incidenceoi leporting.Many pcopledo not dies of infecrion and srarvation.The usual Dcrhod of reportdamage ro theirproperty rothc Dwcbecauseot the poisoning is to placea lafge anounr of apotentpcsucroe difUcuhiesi. obrainingconpensation within a reasonaote wiihin a smaupurpkin while still on 1tsvine. so rh.t ir is catenby thc elephanr M(n tl.thahr Corllict ih Sti LntLa 39 A tstlcratity ZPropcrty bt|iage li,lontlrs El'lortrtity tsPro9ertyDanage B ilonlhr Fisure29 The monthrv averagehuman morrarities and prcpe(v danagescausedby elephanrs duiig rheperiod 1991,1995.A- Sorthernreeion (n=20, mortatitiesin=511, properrydarnaCeti B- nortn-wesrem(;= A:, rnorratitiesin= ZO:, property damager. _ Monxah de -Sina ll|rrrrat canrrl llArcidrnt Elfgotrrr*icite SrHr I ;q bc gr ,t 3 I r99l r9{t? 1993 1EtI TotBl Year Figure 30. The annuatctcphanr mortatiries dudng lhc pcdod l99l t995 (dlr rcgion, A lrrfh * lnjurhr B @roprrrl Brngi 5 8? 8z iz fr2 .|,l {tl ta 1 1 '199?'199! lggt 1992 F93 1994 1995 1991 199[ 1995 Year Year Fisure jnju.ies 31. The annualhunan monaliries, ano oamageroproperLycaused b) elcphanrsduring Lhepcriod r99l 1995in (A) southcrnregion, (B) nodh-wesrcm.esron. Mu Elephut C.nJlict ih Sri Lhk| 41 Moyementpatt€rm of €l.phant$ locationk a well-knowncro$ing poinl otthe elephants noving trcm theWilpatluNPlo Katuwalagaswe*aand Elephantsarc colstantlyon lhe move.Their honc Murukkuwatawanaareas, The Ialter areacontains very rangcmay includcseparatc dry seasonand wet seasonarcas goodelepham habitatsuch as largeplains with rall era$ belweenwhich they eillmove asthc seasonschange (annual with scattcredlow{talurc rrees(usually less than 20m niSr^liont. Bccalscofthc fragmcntalionof habilar,lhese in heighl) andthe elephanLsc.oss the teakand cucalypr bolenrcntsarcvc.y much dislubed today.But still some planLalionsalong the road to cnter tiis arca. palrernsof molement of dillcrcnt populationscould be disccrncd.For instance,thc clephanK in theRuhunn NP have The villaBe6who keeplivestock (espccially rhose who bee. observedto novc rhrouglr(a) Block I as ldr as rhc had beenencou.aged to do so under the Janasaviy! Eu.dalaNationalPark along thc sea.oasr(This routcisnow Pove y AllcviationScheme) rate rhen cauleand goa's vcry muchhampered becxuse ol thc humansettlenenrs on to thc fbrcsl for greing,and ftey usually chasea*ay thewry).(b)thc Katagamuwaand KararaSamasancruadcs ro theelepha.is thar competefor fodder. lhe LunugamveheraNP, (c) Block Iv to MaUgawilaand 5. The reservoirfishernen also chaseaway elephanrsrhar Monaragalaareas, and (e) thc KudumbigalaSancruary to comelo rcservoiFfor yater ar nighr.inoder ro prctect Panamaarea. Prior rothe establishmenr of thePelwafia sugar thei. Detslrom the animals. planlations,elephantsalso used to movc liom BlocksUI and v ofrltr RNP a. ra, a, rheHanJdponcr.a rc.ecoir. The Ncclabe'nmaprojed now suroundsthe grassland at Tlabbowa,.prevenring acccss to tle latterby elephanrs In thc northwcstern region,elephanls usuallyspend The proposedclectrificd ience of the projecralong rhe the rainy periodin forestedarcas suchas the Wilpa(u NP, dght bankoftheKala Oya willprevert movememacros Hrbarana,Padaviyaand Kcbithigollewa. With the onsetot ftat pan of thc rivcr to and from rhe WilpatruNP. thc dry season(from April to mid Septenber)lhey st.a( moling inlo areaswhcrc watcris available, i.e. areas in which '7. Poachingoi wild anirnalsis significanrin rheseareas there pcrcnnial are major reservonssuch as Kala Wewa, and peopleser t.ap guns usuallyfor killing gamcsuch BalaluWewa and Nachchaduwa wewa. Along thc way,they as wild pig, spotteddeerand samba.. According to well- pasthroughmany farms villagcs. and Severalherds may inlbrmcd viuagea,somepeisons hay sct up to 25 tmp grouptogether tedporarily,especially ar the driedup, grass guns,which can also inlurc and kiu elephants. grown, littoral of the nrigalion Leservoi6!and separare subsequenrlyro nove away in difi-erentdnedions. The Traps (nooss)laid for stray cauleaidwild animahcan v.riouslikcly loutcs(bascdonthe intbrmation received iion causelnjuiies.rnd ar timeseven death to youngelephants. peopleand DWC officiah and penonalobsepations) of the herdsof elephantsin parts diflfercnt of thc north,western The actilitiesof lhe terrorisrsand rhe amed lbrcesrn (Fi8.23). rcgionarc shownin and aroundthe WilparruNP causeinjury and deathto elephanrsmd aho forcethemto lcavc thc NalionalPark. Faclors rhat aggrayateMEC The lactorsrhat teDd to aggravatcthe presenl already I rghdegrce ot MECin 'he noirh-we"rernre8,on re g,\cn below as an example. L The only largerescrvc in thc arca(exccpt the Wilpa$u NP), the Kahalla'PallekeleSancruary, with an extenrof 217kmr, includeslwo largereservoirs (Kala Wcwa and Balalu Wewa)anda long rangeof hilhGaid to be the longest in Sri Lanka),and also containsmonocultLrre plantationsofteak. eucallptus. etc., clearedforest. chcna andhuman settlements. Hence it doesnot containmuch narural lood for elephants. 2. Elcphantsnoving fiod WilpaltuNPtoeastem areas lsed to crossthc main roadnear the 24'i mile posl (38'i km), ,n the Adampanearea which hasnow beendeveloped andol pre\enrbelong''o M"ha$eli S\nem H. 3. The iorcsl(*hich belongsto the FoiestDepanment and whichcontains somc eucalypt and tcakplantationt along Ue Putnlam'Anuradhapuraroad (RoadA 12)in thearea ttornrhe lob-l6hmile posls(l6s-25d kmposrt hasbeen clearedior humansettlement. Some houss are akeady completewhile foundationshave been laid for others. Figure 32. Frequencyof manmediated elephdr monaliries The housesare located only by the sideof the road.The due to diifeMl causesin 199l-1995 (all regions). 12 Ud!s!!! att t!!!! ROLE OF VARIOUS ORGANISAI'IONS IN nanne. In whrchrhe ADB projccris plarnedrL prcscDr, CONFLIC'I' ALI,IIVIATION il rill bc lbundat thc endoi rhc projccrltrat.as inLtrc .asc oflhc CEF projecrand mdny orherso{d|cd devctopm.nt SelcralprcgEmmes ro alleviarepoverty and improve and conscrvarionprojech, vcry tiLrtcwoutd have bccn lhecondlriols oflir! otrhe turat pcoptejn rhe a.easconrarn,ng achielediD witdlifeconserlaLion alrhough lhe Sd Llnkan ercphantshave bcen initiatedby lhc Sovernmenrand non_ peoplcwlll be in dcbt tora tong pcriodof rimc govcrnhentalorganizarions (NCOt ro thc Asian DevelopmentBank. The najor bencficia.icsot rhc projectwould be rhcso-crthd foreign expcrts andconsuuan$. Dopartm€nlof Wildtif. Consdvarion& For6t Deplrtmenl TIe cusrodiansol rhe lorcstsin Sri Lanka arc the Forc( Deparrmenr{FD) and rhc Deparrmenror Witritit.c In Sri Lankanca.t) aUibrest areas a,e sLate owned ConseNarion(DWC) Forcst conscrvarionaDd scientinc andso a.e undcr drejuisdiction of eirhefthe FD or ltrc lbrcsuy stanedin 1887 wilh the esrabtishmenrof Foesl DWC. Mosrof Lhc fo.esrslhar comcunder the rD arc Depa menr underthencwly prcnutgatcdOrdinancc *10 ot dcsignatedas eilher ReseNeForesrs or proNscd t Tabl0 17. DcrrirsoJ clcphenrdrives caricd ouLby Dwc. (N,^-.o(rlaihbrcr * Eff.crivecrccrrli€.r rtrce hLoc\jngrerunr). Sourcc: Jay.wa,dcnc, 1994r A,,so tatJocjc$i. 2l (t ]]0 NrultKon!rhxsela ucds l? 2 Itrhunu NP (Block tV) 22 ItLLhhr NP (Alack IV) 25 NA 25 Corqetsdtioa pal,Etts thc fo.cign l.urisrs. dnd thercibrcrhe prcscnt emph.sis unlorlunatclyrs on lourism as a meansafcarnlo_c A( prescnr lbrciSn- when a pcsor is kilted or injurcd, cxchr.gcj nther Lhanon conscrynrron. comp.nsalronrs p.id rhrouSh.n insuran.c 'thc schcmcinitialed by rhc DwC paynrcnr hjghesr i\ Rs.50,000_ (USlj ?50) h:lephut Trunsit Eo e pdid whenrhc chicl houscholderrs kitled rf an ddutrlho ,\ nor rhc chicf houscholdern kittcd, rhc maxinunrrnrou.i In 1995 Dr. N. Alapa(u. lhc Dcpuiy Direclor paidis Rs. 35,000(US$500). Iior an jnlury or d nrgc ro rvcr.a-d\ & Re,r"r,f' ot Dwc .onJJcr.Jr-c po..rt p.opc(y, rhc compensalronp.id is r lcss.coopensalb! tbr ol dllJrirg b,,rJ.roor\^t^p-rur9 (h. orrh,nrd .r,-.. cropdcpredalion was earliclpaid by rheDepartmenlot Social andjuvcnllesin an orph.nagcand rhcn alowing su.h groups Servicesrluou8h rhc Divisionar Secerary\ Oiiice. However, to go backLo thci. naturathabitar. Wilh rhisvic*, rhc DWC rh.sclaymenrs have been suspcndcd lbr rhelast rwoor threc csrablrshcdan orphanaeein a secxonof rhe Uda watawc ycarslor somcundiscloscd reirsons Atdough fte Divkional NP. In ordcr ro enphasiserhc rehxbiltarionnaturc, rhe Sccrclaricsare keen 1o resumc thc pdymcnts, rhey havenor bccn laciliry hm beennamed rhc ElephantTransir Home (ETH) fftJvrdedwnh iundsrodo so. rJl"erll..'_ dn o.p\ 'no8c.The cmp..^r\ i, In nrr,...!c hunancontact andro lcaverhc Itlephant OrplnMg. inianrsand julenilcs,,,r rm ol thcibrest. so tharrhcy wrlt .cn n ianitiar wirhttrc tb.e . Thc veryyounginii!(s arekepr one mjtkdicr hurthe orhcfs In Sn l,anka,rhc firsrarLemprro handraisc !! rranl are 8i!en succulentgra$. About l0 inlantsand clcph.nr,abandoncd by irs nother in rtrc foresr,was hadc Juvurl.s hale bccinglookcd alicr in the ETH tioh rimc ro l|ne but by rhc Zoologicrlcardrns in Dchiwalain ttre larc 1950s. somc halc beentransiened ro Pjnndwato orphanaee. When ln 1980.rn ElephanrOrphanaee for suchabandoned inlanrs they caD fen.l ior rhemsclvesand on.e social ;onds rrc ind juvcnileswas eeabtishcdar pinnawalain rhe Kcgaltc cstablishedamong rhem, rhcy wiI be rctcasedinlo rhcwikt D,slrlctundcr rhc auspjcesoi rheZoologicat Cardens. This No tou.isn is involvcd in lhis venlu,c. The i!rponanr orphdnagcexrends over 2l.crcs (9ha)andwas onsrnaly qucsrronIn suchan cftbn is whcrhcr or nor rtrc ..l.!scd pl.nncdto housc15,20 ctcphails. Howcvcr roday jt houses youngdnnnals would bc acccpredor ar tedstnorhatucd bt ovcr 60 elcphann(iniinls rnd adutK) and is rhc largcsr wild hcrds.Anorhcr potenriat pLoblcD woutd be lheracr ur.r colledtunol inhnrsand juvcniles ii thewo d Subsequcnr the animahin DIH arc nol lamili.r*,ith lhc oth$ witd arenpts rocsrablishorphanaSes ar Randenjgllaano nr rhe animalsand maynor dcvelop pfoper intcracdons lror rhc $rcc$ rorth weslcrnprovrncc tailed (N. Arapatru,pers. com).The oi rhisopsarion $sc shortdbc lcrytirlh honai connd rnlarLsrajscd in suchrn orphaDgccarnor bc reteascormo ther.natural habit.t. Ir is rhe expcrien.eoi th. olficiatsol The .rucial te$rof the succcssol the ETI' projecl thcDWCthal an inlantafrer bcing in rhccompanl oi huorns cancwhcn 4 indiliduats,(l limalednd two juvcnile halcs lbr A shon a pcriodas 24 hourswi be rcjecredby rhe anda suhadulrruskcD wcrc rclcasedinro rhc fores,Lrrune ndral herd (N. Alapalu. pers.com.). Thus the orpnanco 1998.This groupwas sctecred bccause rl lppeared0r rhc rnlanrsan.l Juvenilesin the Pilnawala Orphanagc usuall cnd individualsstayed togethcr and pesumablyhad devqopeo uf rs Sovcrnnrnt8rfis ro other couotncso. tocalrcmples. '|hc so'nesocral bonds. Pnor ro retcascrhcv w$c li(edw oehanagce..ns its rcv$uc rioh visiros. espcda|y n radiocollrrs so thnr lheir molcne.rs could be moo ored. Accordingto Dr. N. Atapartu,rhe group joincd a local hcrd disturbanccand havccnough tood. watcr, shcltcr, and spacc during the sameday. This was only a lemporaryalliancc to move about.Themain p.oblemis rhat both humanand becauselaierthe animah separaled fiom theherd and joined elephantpopDlalions grow andplace increasing demands on rwo otho herds.Ar prcsentthe subadultnale has moved rhe avail{bleibrest and other resources. Thus sone rornor awaylionthe .estof rhegroup. but thc othcrthrce animals conllol hasto be placedon thedemandsoi bothpeople md remaintogctbcr wilh the lhird groupthey joined. So far rhe ETH expe.imentappeau to rork. It provedsucce$tul, this wouldbcrhc llrst of this kind involling the Asianelephants The major problemibr people is to lindsuillcient andwoDld be exlremelynnponanl in theconservation ofthe land (a)thar would iulnl thcir rcquircnrentsfof housiDg, walcr, sanitation, health care, transpo( etc.,and (b) ro producelood for the expandingpopulation. The easyway A somcwhatsinilar experiment*as tried in 1991ar our wolld be to clea. thc loiest. Fo. thc clcphants,thc dre KrugerNalional Park in South Ainca. In one culling redu.lionrn rhclorcst dea rhe\eq e\'nelfF "ouldrhrearen operationinLhe Kruger Narional Park, the officiahcollecred of rhepopulation lhrcugh (a) 1o$ ol hrbirar,(b) lossof iood scleraljuveniles,cight of which werekept for abouta year and water (c) liagmentationof popularions,(d) lo$ of in lhe hopelhal bondsmighrdelelop among thc non-related migralory routes,etc. individuak. when thc anirnalswcrc rcleasedintothe wild theybroke up into two groups.However the released animah The alleviationof MEC is norDnly rhe responsibility slartedarlacking other wildlife includingrhinos and killed of the DWC, but alsotbat of orherinstirutions such as ttre- severalol them (Garai,1994). SocialServices Depa(ment, od thc DivisionalSecrerana$. It is alsothc responsibilityofthe peopleli!ing in ihe aflected The inadequacyof all.viation measuresso far taken areas.Non-Covembental Organizafions (NGO' musr play d imporrantrole, It must be emphasisedrhar rhe pople\ The measuresso far takenrcpresent Dncoordinared panicipationis importantin theplanning andimplementatioD allernptsto solveormitigateimmediale problemssuch as oiprogrammesleading to lhe alleviationof MEC Somcof thoseinvolving solitary adult bulls threateningthe livesot rhe impofiantacrivities rhar various pa.ties could carryour peopleor elephanndesroying cropsin a padicula..rez are sumfrarisedin lhe following sectionirhey are based Thc Dajor drawbackof thesemeilues is the laok of an mainlyon the study of the MEC in rhe north-westcrnand overallplan. The conrributoryfacto.s for the escalalionof sourhernregions. However these de applicableto the other MEC afe the contiDuingdeeradation and cleamnceof th€ forcst andthe ercroachmentof villagersinto the elephant habilat. For instance,undcr the Mahaweli Development Role of people schemeitself nore thanll,000ha weredeveloped in System H. One of the mostrecenl activities fiat would escalalethe Peoplecan €ke seve.alprccautions to avoid confionring MEC is Lheestablishment of humansettlements alon8 the Putulam-Anuradhapu@rcad (RoadA 12) between the l0E and lhel6d mile posrs.l( is not clearwhy the houss arebeing (i) Whentralelling on foor (or on by bicycle)at night.along built on eitherside ofa long stretchof theroa4 raoer than pathsknownto be flequeDredby elephams,mosr people asacluster inlhe formof a village.Ifthey ar€built asaclusler do nor takeprecautions, alrhough doing so is common onone side, siifficientarca could have ben left for rhe senseaDd does notcost much. Carying a powerfulelectric elephantsfor thei. molements. If the housingscheme torchwill help to see elephant.ta dislanceand avord prccecdsin the presentmanner, soon elephantswillattack it- Peoplemust avoid lravelling alone arnight. As poinred the new householders,houses and cultivations,tbereby our earlier,rnostpeople who wereattacked by elephanrs aggravaringthc MEc. wercdrunk.Th€rcfore, peoplemust not travel alon8 lonley paihsaiier consuninSliquor. All villagerswho a.e under ftrea! frcm elephants stronglyfeel that the anouniof compensationpaid is fd from (ii) Peoplecould orgarise themsclves into vigilantegroups. adcquate.The cultivatorstel that even during fte period Farmesin panicularcould fom Faftes Socieries(Govi whenthese payments werc made, they *ere quiteinadequate Samirhi).Such socie'rs m dlerdy prsen, n somr and took toolong to.each thoseaff@ted, sometimes nore villages.Inaddition to theirusual faming acrivities,rheir Ihanone year afier rcporting ihe damage.Thusthey feel lhal membescan monitor lhe elephantsin the drca,Wh€n the paynenb shouldberealistic, given the prcsenthigh cosl solitaryelephants orgroups move into villages,lhe people ol living and shouldbe made *ithin a monthor so after canl.ke immediateaction 1o chde themaway or intorm repo ng thedamage,since they haveto pay backtheloans rh€ officersof the DWC in the arcaand get th€i. help Ihey haveraken to defray lhe expensesof clhivaion. to chasethe animals away-Conplaints made by such socielieswould be more efibcliverhan rhosemade by Proposed measures to all€viat€ MEC individuahand would make DwC ofUciahact promptly. Influential peopleof the village such as the Grama On theone hand,the elephanlprcblems facing the Niladhari (village AdministrativeOfficer) and the peopleshouldbe minimised so that theycan carryour fteir lemplep.iests could aho co-ordinateactivities dirccted dayro'day work wilhoul iba., and on the other,elephants towardsminimising the elephanrproblems. should be abl. to live in lheir natu.al habitai withoul Gajah19(1998) t t'1 Eltfuant C.nlli(t h S l.anka to inprove visibilitv solhal (iii) Pcoplesho!ld work in closeassociation with thc DwC and overhrnSingbranchcs lhe sidcol the roadwould be orri(.1.h)povidin;r"cnwrrh rchrblc lbTriono_ nn clcphdnrbrowsing by Such act,viriescould bc idcnlificarionol problcmclethrnh. clcphanr novc mcnls, clearly scen lioma distance. q,rlrpPoflc on c b\ n,' nr!,ng groupstructurc. crc.Thc) shouldako infom theDWC ...rrcJo. r s td f.,pdr 3 voldnteerwork ofhcinlsof any illegalacti!itics suchasthc usc ol lrap_ Shram Dana or gunsand nail'boads, layinS oi fl"Ps andpoisoned ftuit acl'vrllcs ^r! l,-' $r I hirm clcph"1r. lhc) .\Juld 'rP.rni.c (iii) Local aulhoritiesshould co-ordinalc their problemswiththose of rcgularmccrings with thc Dwc olncialsand&e t(Nrrds mininising clcphanl rcpresenlativcslo scck ways ol solviiS spccilic LhcDwc oliicials cr.d ,-r p,Jbl(rn..-d '1. r' tlar JhcrJ'n mini,ni.c nuy bc dclaycdby onc (hc damugcby clcPhanrs (iv) The tiNeat whichs.hoolsopen hou duringrhc I' rcm oi rhe ycaf (JanuatyIo Mmch) poscd to lhe (iv) Thc mcmbcs o1 such societicsmusr be vigilanl aboul nr ordc. roninimisc lhc risk by clcphrn( hoursot the dry, lhe illceal dcri!ilies mcntioncdabovc and p$suade chrldrcnusing thc ro.ds inthe carly Lhoscrcsponsiblcro dessisl lionr such illcgal and whcn rhe lighl is poor. dcstrucLi!e.ctivilies, (v) Alrernaleland iholld be madcavailtle to lillagcmwho Ibr thc (v) Peoplc musr try to act in conjunclion wiLh such havcLo be relocated,ii su.h a movc is requned \ocicliesin thc neighbouringvillrges and co ordinarc longtcrn .onscrvationof the clcphanl. rirc,,d.1\rrc ron.crr'_8clcph.nr' 'h"r; uA "nJ (vi) Mosr ol lhe elephanlarcas dre lnder thrcat lrom lhe lhesecurity (!i) Whc! necesary.pcoplc should modifythcir Iarming LTTEdnd rhereforc conleunder the control ol pracLiccssorhaLelephant prclcms could bc minimiscd forces.Several elcphants havc bccn killed accidcntally _fhe cxistingtraditions oi discoungingelephants lrom by the securitl pereonnel whose activities such as driverhe cnrc,inevillaScs and cultilations should bc cncouraged. shooting,exploding oi land mines,etc. may clcphanlsto villages.Thus,it is imporlanlto educ e Thc rge-oldImdiLion ol lhc Dry Zonechcnaculrilalor drcsccunLy lorces and makcrhen aware otthc b.haviour hrs bccnto proteclthe cultivalionat night lionr clcphants of the wild elephant. .nd olh$ wild animalsby shoutingto chaseaway thcse (vii)The pa(y such Nnimals.Thisis usually done liom asmallwatch hul buill LI'TEcould bcinlbrmed via ! 0rird ona rrcc. A lirc is kepr burninSat llre lbot ot thc ladder as the lotdndrional Red Cross,in order ro biShlighl lcadingro rhehut. Thc neighbouring*atchcrs conmunlcalc Lheplight of thc clcphanisin thc coDllict rrcas. with clch orherby tecitinspocnslPel Kavi). Such thdnions pdties musl bc encouraged. Role of the NGOSand other int€resled Whcrcvcr possible,cbenas should be srtuated Thc NCOS havc a tery inponanl toleto Play rn adjacenrloeach otber, and not separatedfrom oneanothe.. alleviating MEC.They arc well equippedro carry oul sertingup suchadjacenl cheDas may needfewer watchers aearenesprogfammcs. orher inlerestedparties can alsohelp andlcssetTort in protecLi.gsince thc pcrimeler,whi.h is the NGOSin lheire orts.Such activrties must be encoulaecd prograrnmcs rhc torcst edge, is rclativcly small compared to the and supponedby the DWC. Publicawareness aSgreSaredpcrnneler of the sanrccxtent ofchenas siruated on elephanG,rheirrolc in the ibree andthcirconseNdLon widcly scparalcd.Small unils of nighl watcherso.ganised arccxtrcnely inponanr for thcsurvilal ofelephantsand ior by rhc Farmers Socicticscan guard such chcnascasily. alleviatingthc MEC. The levcl ot cducarionamonS the 'l hc prorccrionol .henasby constructingsloul tbncesdrould people,in mostpafis ol theconflictareas is vcry low(Fig. l5). Rol€ of Gorernnent departmentsand local aulhorities The peopleof rheDry Zone,hdve liledwithelephanN for a long rine Neverrheles,many ol lhen dppearIo be (l) Thc adthoriricsrcsponsible lor lhe welfareof thc pcople ignoranraboul scvcralaspecLs ol Lheelephant. But they ae qrr\ shoulddo rheirutmost to hclp lhe peoplcsuttcring liom $,ll 1t ro le-rn cnL .hac o.hcr thcr c'fcric1c danagc causcdby elephants.For instan.e, lhe earlicf AwarcncssprograDnes for adults and .hildren can bc !.heme of the SocialSc iccs DcParLmentol paying conductedrhrough ftc FanncN Socieries,remples and compensaLionforcroP depredationshould be .esumed. schooh. In thesc prcgranmes. n 's vcry rnponanl to Delays nr paymentsshould be minimised.Paymenls cmphasisethe porentialbencfitsol clephant conservation to could bc made through thc DivisionalSecretarials. lhe local peopie.For instance.conserving thc elephanl populationmeans consefving rbrlsls. Thc disappearanceol ',,r lu1 .'urhontics:horlJ N"ll .lerrly visiblcwnrind lbrcsrswiu ultnnatclycrcate unproduclivewastelands. ll 'sighted sign boards tomark lhc poinlsar which elephants is thefameror !illager whowill sufferrhrough sho dos rheroadand arcaswheie elephantsgather. The degradarionand clcaranceol loresls for culrivation.Thc sidesof the roadsand pathsmusL be clearedof bushcs mainrenanceoi ElcphantRcscrvcs may crcdtccmploymenr Ch^ntg awo! the invadi,te elephants opporuniticsfor thelocalpeopte. Thc DWC muslpubticise the importanceof the elephantas a keysronespccres rn The comnon and mosrellictive nertrodof chasing the forestecosystem, irs .ole in the Sri Lankaneconony, away clephanhftom a villagc o. cllllivationisby rhe use and theon,Soing efforrs of the DWC in erephanrand ol thunder-flashs.Bur rbeseare not veryeftcctive during wildlifeconservarion. In addirion,rhe DWC must distribute daylimeand sholld be usedonly at night.In one inslance, amon8the public,marerial such as postersand patrpnrers morethan 40 thunderflasheswere used to driveaway a sma! to enhancerheirawarenessofthcissues. U herdof elephantsduring daytime (K.C. Samson,pes. coml At presenrthDnder-flashes are used onty by rhe DWC offrcials,When tbe oifice.sof the nea.byrdge slationare inLmed of invadingelephantc), rhcy visir POSSIBLE MEASURES FOR rhe area and chaseaway rheanimal(s), using CONTLICT ALLEYIATION lhuDdeGnashes. Proyi.litry people with the nea8 to chaseLwa, crcp ftiding The legalrcsponsibitity for aueviaringMEC lieswi$ the DWC, althoughnany olher govemmentaland non_ Sovemrentarorganrzar'ons .an ptay inponanLsupponing 'ole,. Severalmeans have ben adopredso fal with varying. Theacrionr ,obc adop.edby rtc DwC to mrlrmi.e degreesof succes.These include shouting(or use of lou.j MEC.an be groupcdintorhree categories according ro rnetr speakeBor meSaphonetand thc useof thundeGitashes(ljre cracke.s).fire. powefDl lights Gporlighrs),inliasouno and- ulbasound,and domesricelephanrs. l. SHORT TERM MEASURES(could be implenented within 12montbt a) Renoval of dangerouselephants Golilary aduu Table 18. Degreeof effectiveoess,a! cstinaLedDy ne viuage^,of variousdeledent measures b) Chasingaway rhe invadingelephanrs. curenrly beinguscd to keepelephanrs away lrcm cDhivations. c) Providingpeople with rhemeansto chase a*ay crop raidingelephants. MEDIUM-TERMMEASURES (t -3 yeus) a) Renovalof srnallhe.ds responsibte for cropdepreoauon. b) Makingcompensation paymenk nore reatsic.efticienr 25 66 t601 12t0 952 58 5s 64.83 .14.08 56.55 c) Imp.ovingthe relationshipbetween DWC ofiiciah 24.34 2a51 100 100 79.6t d) Public awarenesprogranmes. 1202 13.81 2024 1908 :1036 3421 43.45 29.60 54.16 l. LONG-TERMMEASURES (over 3 years). 92.| 95.24 a) Elephantdrives to trdslocateexcess herds. b) Minimisingillegal activjties such as theclearance of Table18 showsrhe degrecof eirectiveness,of rhe .) Commlnity devetopmenr actjvitiesdd emptoyment variousmeasures curently enployedin Sri Lankalo prelenr oppo(unitiesfor local people. crop-raidingby elephants.At presenrDWC doesnorprovroe d) Progressrevicws ol MEC alleviadon and elephanr villages with thundeFflashes.atthough irdid so earher. conservatronmeasurcs. Villagerssomerimes use fire crackes instcad.If nunder e) Marking of boundariesof pAs. flashcsare ro be provided, theyshould be given lo the fdme.s who(D aretrain.din rheir properuse, (ii)own regaj farm land, (iii) have takenthe trouble to proted mer. Sho.t-terh measres cultivations(e.9. wilh stout fenes), and (iv) dc rccun- mendedby thelocal DWC officiah and$e resperivecrana Rmoral of .ldnserous elephantt Niladhari.The use of thundeFflashesshould be urder rhe 'covi supera'sionof fte Grama Niladh&i or Sanithi . More often, rhe really dargerouselephanrs are rhe Wheneverposible, localDwC ofiiciatshould also e,,ccK on solilarybulls. When an aduttbuu urns homicidal orbecomes theuseol rhunderfla(hes. Su.h prccau,,ons iecc$d) in a perrstentcrop-mideri rhen 4r lhe.e is no otheratternative view of what happenedirrhc past. When ihundecflashes but torernoveit from rhe area.Ilbas robe hanquillheded were issuedto people, the gunpowderin rhem was used then transponedb arorher suirablearca, such as a romo@ D) \omcIn ldpglnsedlocall) made\horgun(lorpo".h,ng. NarioDalPark. Translocaringsuch d elephantto an area Therhunder-tlasheswere noi purro (ommunalu\e.bur onty wneren may comeinto conractwilh p@ple metus transfenng for thebenefit of rhosewho recejvedthem. They we.ealso the problemlo anoaherarea. usedineff€ctively against theelephants. peln(s havebeen issuedfo.lhe useot shotgus to protecrcrops r.om wild Mua Elephanl Conllitr ihsti Lo"ku 49 animah But rhe issue ol peroits for shotgunsis nor Medium-term measures recommendedas shotguns can aho be usedto poachwiidlilc. Renoval oJ flaU hqds rcspo^sibleJor c.op dep.e.lation. Shoutinghas been the ageold methodof chasing away rheelcphants. ElepheG are usuallyscared of human Sevc.alin stances ofsmallgroups of elephants(pans, voicc Bartery'operaGdloldspeaker or megaphoneswhich tlios or up to 5 aninals) raidingcrcps have been reportcd. arc ponableand horc convenient,can be Lrsedro amplity Theseanirnals hale to be rcmoved.whcn two or three the sound.Such activitiescould be caded out by rhe anihalstrcinvolved,they may be fanquiUiscdand ranslocared !,gilante groups. Drumming also rends to scare away lo someother area. Small herdscan bc drivenLo a nearby elephants.(ln iacl, shoutingand drunming wcrc the means nainly uscdto drive elephantsinto a kraalduring rhe dals ol ma$ elephanr capture). These activixes hust be Making .ohlpensation palnents mor. rcalistiq elJicie encouragedby thc DwC. Lighting iires has beenfound to be rnetllctive.Farmere claim lhar elephantsaie not scarcd oi tirc Jnd.one',me.crhneubh ir by riampt,nC Thc compensationpaid by rhc insurancescherne of the DWC lor dearh,injury and damaSeto propenyis lar The,rdc o.herInerhoJ' dLarlcblc ror rhrinB -say f.om adeqDate.The DWC musrconsider an insuranceschenre wild elcphanK.Sudden ilashingof a bright light arsoscares lo covercropdepredation as well. Thescheme reconmcnded ccol,anr:.PoqerlJl l,gfr\ opera.eJb) cd bauencJwer in Tablc19 is more rcalisticand so niorc likely to be ioundto be vcr! cffectivein India(Lahiri-Choudhury, l99t). acceptableio thc peoplethan the onecutrentlyinuse. Eve.y In lact a deviceemiuing b ghr light was !sed, on an eflon must be madero pay compensarionwithin 30 days expenmenralb$is, asanadditional deter.entro lhe electrified of receivingall the necesa.ydo.uftents. lencein Handapanagalasubseqlent ro lheelephantdnve (N. Atapanu,pers com). The lighrswere aftachedlo rheposts Inprotins the reldtiotship betveen DWC olficiah and t. ol the cleclrifiedllnce, and were poweredby a portable Senerator.A dcvice 10 detecr elephantmovemenrs was jncorporatcd into the system.When an elephantcame closer It is very importantto improve rhe relationship thana cerraindi(ancc todredevicc, n swirchedon thebright belweenthe local DWC personneland rhe villagc$. Oiten lights. Whcnthe animalmoved away, the deviccswitched lherelaiionshipdete.iorares because the DWC personnelhave otT rhe lighls. The quire delice was effective oDr Lne to take actionagainst rhe poacheBand lhe shopsselling operatingcostwas very high sincea gencratorhad ro be ruD game.Poaching is quite widespreadin all foresrareas and throughout,whcther the lights were on or off. The device shops near suchtueas, sell gane. Anorherproblemis thar would be costefiective if naii! electriciryn available.The the availableDwcpersonnel ar Lhetocal srarion hay not be useofsuch devices on elechfiedfences should be considered able to attendto all the complainrspromptly, as by lhe DWC. On theother hand, lighrsof low intensitymay a rcsutt which, attraclcurious elephants. Many fames in the north-wesern of somefarmers may surer. Whena pe6onn killed region haveseen solitary bullelephancalrracted by low- or injuredby an eiephanr,his iamily and friendsbecome powerelectric torch lights. hostilerowards rhe Dwc officiah. Elephantsare knownto codmunicate with eacnolner This statcofaffairs erists mainlybecause rhe pcople ulng very low trcquencyinftasound ll4-24 Hz)\Pay^e et l@1that elephantsbelong to the DWC od thereibre.it is dl., 1985),which can be hcard by the animah over long Oe responsibihyof thc DWC olnciats 10 ensurerhar distances(l.skn or more).Thus inlmsound cm be used to elephanFdo not ailack rhcm or lhen crops.This artnude scaLeaway clephanrs. BLrr so far Do one has used infra- shouldchange. People should understddrhat the etephanl soundin Srilanla, and much researchneeds to be done is a national(and global) resource. It belongsto the people in this iield. A device which cmiftedultlasound (high of SriLankaand all citizensare responsible for its well being. iiequencysourd inaLidible to man)rather rhaninfrasound was Tbe DWC k merely thecuslodian ofthe elephanrand othbr usedonan eiperimentalbasis ar Handapanagala(N.Atapattu, wildlife.The DwC officialis only tryiDgro help the peopte pels.con.).The soundwas automaticallyswirched on when ed the wildlife. During lhe proces the.ecould be many thc elephantscane closcr ro rhe devicedd swiichedoff shoncomingsbeyond his control.This hastobe enphasised when animalsmoled away, Accordingto Dr. Atapattuthe rn lhe awarenessprogmmmes. elephaotskepr away fronrhe device,as rhesound apparently The Dwc officeB should participa@al disturbedor hurt them. The effectivenesof rhe dcviceis the meelingsof tlic local Fame6 Socieliesin srill robe evaluatedscien!{ically. If found eff@uvc,rne orderlo improvcrelations withlhc public.Tlere havebeen DwC shouldconside.using ir. Domsricelephantshavebeen complaintsrhar sone of rheDwc officialsdo not cany oul prope.ly usedin India 1o chaseawaywild etephanrsinto the forest their duties and that when lhey visir a paniculd village during dayrine(Lahiri-Choudhury, l99l).But usjng them or cultivationro chaseavay the raidingclephdts, they rouL,nelyin manylocations, wolld be expensivejn Sri demandfre lood and liquor fron the vitlagers.Such complainlsmust be invesrigaredpromprly. lable 19. Suggesredcompensarion scheDetor humandeath and i.jury, propedydamage, and crop depredatronby eteDhant De.th of a Chicf Hotrschotder Eiihft Rs. Icx).otoor rvo ]ear' satxryit enptotcd. rvhrchever N hrAh*+Rs. 10,000eaci lor wite and elch chlld undcr thc age or 18 yeN, up ro four .hild€n Dealhor u aduh (above 18 yearsof.ge) Either Rs. 60,00\)or lwo yc6 sattu} ii emptoycd,whichevcr lnjury ro Chief Houschotder Rs.50,000 or lessdcpendins on injuri€s+if inclpacnared,Rs.5 Oql cachfo! wile and cachchild underlhe age of ls yearr,up IDjuryto .n adult non chief householder Rs 25,000orles dcpeDdinson injunes De h or a yourh (10-t8 )rcm of aee) Rs 25,000 Dcarhoi achitd (3-t0 tea6) Dearhof n infur (ut ro 3ycdt lnjuryro a child (10-18yeaB of .ee) Rs.10000 or less dep.ndingon injuries Injury to a child(3 l0 ya6) Rs. 5,000or less dep€ndingon irjDries Injury lo an infanr{up ro 3 ycm) Rs.3,000or le$ depcndinson injuriA DanaAetohouse or other propeny 50% of lhc estinaled dmaee 50% of (he esrimateddanag. Awtuea.ss proSrcnn.s peopte to leod about lor top- Herathgama,calkiriyagama,Kalaeewa, ThiraDpaneand tuidiDg b.haiour of etephdtts Karuwalagaswewa.For the herds frequenringbiribawa, Herathgama.Calki.iyagama and Kalawewa,t-he Kahalla- The DWCmuslpubtish scientifrc,semi-scjentificand PauekeleSanctuary htheonly refuge,but ir doesnot have popularaniclesor elephanls,thcir behaviou.,c.op raiding largearcas of good elephanlhabirat. Thereiore the number parterns,etc., in local newspapesand djst.ibulepamphlels of herdsfrequenting rhese areas musr be rcduced.Some oi on suchtopics ro the public.Tlc DWC inust aho rcsune the elephantshave to be driveneirhcr to the WilpatLuNp pubiicarionof its Annuat Report,which provides deraitod or to the Habdanatbresr. Abour t0cl50 animalsmayhave inlbrnarionon cureDt wildtife conservationissues in Sri lo be translocarcd.Abolr 60 elephants rn rhe Lanka.There bas been an e0brr ro reslne publication ot KaruwJlaeaswe\sa!e..outd be dnvenrorrre \rtpJIJ Np the magazincSirilal WanaDivi LankaWildlife) 6n in Elephanrdnve( aremore I'tcly ro .ucceFdIn rheMchrwetl Sinhala.The publicarionor sucha popularnasazine wouro and sourhernareas as there a.e severalpAs which can helpimprove public awarer*s. alconnodateetephants. dut thenorth wesrern a.ea nas onry rhe wilparr! NP and rhe KahallapallekelesA. Long-term neasures Minirrisits iqegal @tivities sa.h as the ctetuance olJo.ests Elephaat .l.ires to ttanslo.ate etcess hzr.ls Illegal activiriessuch as ctearanceof foiest for In lhe nonh-wcstemregion rhere ae severalelephant cultiration,should be stopped and deteirent punishmenr herdswhich frequenl developedareas such as Ciribawa, meted out to the offenders Mon-EtzphafiA,fli.t insn Lt^kt 5l Cohnu itr dereloprte\t actiyities anat enplolne oppor- Karuwdlagaswewatuea tuhities Jor locdl p.ople l Tle housingscheme located between rhc l , and 16,tr lr o dcr ro ,mp,ovcrhe rela ons wirh rhepeopte. mile postsalong the Pu alam-AnuradhapDranain rcad rhe DwC could channel some iunds ior comnunily shouldbe relocatedin ordcr ro keep openthe coffidor dcvelopmenracrivilies.For inslance,a najor probtemin rhe tbr migratoryelephanls. north-wcsternarea is rhe high ttuorideconlcnr of dnnking watc.. Cheap, easilyconstructcd, fluoride fitteA havebeen 2. Woik should he cstablishmcntof a desiSnedby the WareLSupply and DrajrageBoard, which ElephantReserve in rhe area. caD be inade availablc ro $e poor peopte.Furthemore esrablishmcnlof dispcDsariesto providebasic medicines Kaha d-Pduekelz Satutuar! aSarnstsuch common diseases as nalariaj fever,diarhoea. etc, will be grcatly appreciaredby the comnunity. Such L Thc ancieDlreseryoirs in Rajakandayaya md ku.lenjyawa acaonswould help developa .odjal relationshipbelween (near Herathgama),can be restoredfor rhe use of Ihepublic and rhe DWC. Inaddition,rhe youth in thoregion elephants.There arc aho addilional .eservoirs(c.g. can be rcouitcdas labolrc6 and wildlife guards.Local Horuwewain theKurunegala Diskict anda bworhen) people.an bc usediD anti poachingactiviries. firc cont.ot, thal need restoration, and surveyoperations. 2. The Forest Deparrment bas srarred a Kohomba Ptugress rcview ,JMEC a eiathg anal etephMt conser (Azadiru.hta indicd) plantationar rhe expenseof natu.al lbrest.This projecr should be abandoned The eff€ctivene$of the mealuresfor altevialing 3. Thcteakand eucalyplus planraions in the SanctDaryand MEC and Lbusenhancing etephantconsedarion DUsr be 'ls vicinity cd now be harvested.A,Ier rhe haryest. rcvrewed oncc every two yea.s.Review botrds shoutd naru'alioen \rould be rltowcdroregenei,r(. flrclude,besides rhe DWC, rhc local autho.itiesaDo oe representativesol famen, affecredvijlagen, and NGos 4. It is very essentiallo reforesrlhe 400 ha avaiiaorened wofkrngin rhe .egion. Pothuwila.The villageB g.az theircafile in lhc area. Thc villagescan be relocatedoutside the sancLuary Markins oJ boundaies oJ PAs 5. Workmust commence to male rhenecessary cheges 10 It is ve.y imponanrto demarcateonrhe grouno,ne rhe boundariesand enrichthe habitar. boundariesofall theProLected Areas and Elephant Reserya. vjllagers oten complainthat theycdnot find thebounoafles Nac hc ha.l uw a - Thi np p ane a. q of a padcula. reserveand fiis is ofrengiven as the rcason tbr rheirencroachmentinro thereserve. The boundeiesof l. The 400 ha Nachchaduwa-Thirappaneforcst could thc Kahalla-Pallekele be Sanctuaryneed to be denarcatedar linked to the foresl ar Mihintale. 2. It may ahob€ possibleto establishconnguous foresr coverfton Kahata8asdigiuya,Ulparhagama, Hurutuwewa, Ritigala,Habarana ro the MinnedyaNp and rhe I. orderro iiluslare wharmust bcdoneto alteviare Minneriya-chitaleSancruary. MEC, rhe following acrions have been identifiedinrhe nonh-westem rcgion. M ah dvi Iac h c hi! a-T h arth rindle arc a Therea.e relativelylarge forest .areas near Oyahaouwa which hlso conrainsgmsgands. Thisarea could I Theresloration be of the Kudavilachiyaand Mdaddmaduwa rncorpo.aredinto d ElephanrReserve. rcservons,will providewater for bolh elephantsand MahaWewa and Percy Bendi Wewa, which areinfesed wlth wceds, shouldbe cleaned. -i"; \ Increasefteexrent of grasslandby 200-300acres (S0- 120ha) in fie Pelessaarea. The proposedelecrriuied fence of the N€€labehma Prcject will p.evenr elephanrsmoving ro md from Wilpattu NP in the project area.Ir shouldbe erecco in such a way as to minimise such movemens. 52 REQUISI'ITS FOR I,ONG.TERM NationalPa*s andthe Minncriy! Cirirah Sanctua.r and Naor EI,EPHANT CONSI]RVATION Reservein lhe l4ahaweliArea; (3) thenonh-wcncm du(er containingthc WilpartuNalional Pmk andthc MxdhuRord Key elephani populations for conservrtion and Yodhawewa (ciails tank)Saicrualies. Elephantsarc mostly conlinedro the Dryzone and Urgentaclion has to be takenlo conserverheclcphanl a pafl of the htcrmediate Zonc (Fig. 3j). They are popularionsir Sri tanka.especidtly lhose inthe norrh- concenrGted pa.ts in ofrhe norrhwesreo, Mahaweli, eastern, westemand M ahawclircgions, paniculady in the areasncar and sourhernregions. prcsent Ar nis extremelydifitculr ro the Kahalla,Pallekelesancruary. If lhe wilpauu Npcan be obrain any dataon elcphanrs fronr some pansot ltre opencd,then sone ofrhe p.oblemanimah rbund ro thcsouth Mahawcli and eastcrnregions! owing to the prevailing of MahaweliSysrem H and to rhe west of rheKahaua- leiiorist acrilitics. As a rcsutt, very liftle can be doncat PallekeleSancluary could be ranslocatedthere GeeFig.l5). prcsento conscrve and managcrhesectephant popuranons. This wouldredDce rhe problem subMnrially since theMEC Hence the key poputations clephanL for conservanonand r inostintense in theGiribawd, Herarhganra and Clltnryqama nanaSemenrar prcsenr occurin thenofrh_wesrcrnrcgion, rhe areas.Despitc the on-goingwar, the Witpatt! Np may still .orrhcrnpdr of rheMahJweI rcgron. and rhe sourhem rcgion. accommodareelephanrs in ranslocationprogramme. There_ Thc deg.ee of MEC is high in all three ares, bur u r fore thetbllowingsteps musr be rakenin lhe north-wcstern especiallyserious in rhe norrhwestern region. Thus urgenr region.(l) Determinewhether the Wilpatru Np couldbe used conseryarionDeasures are neededin the north-weslem as a sumpiDan elephanldnve and if so,cnrichrhc habirat region,but rhey shouldbe adoptedas a part of an overa| and sta.tthe lranslocationsas early as possible.(2) Idenrjfy plan to conscrveall key elephantpopularions. otherlorest dea!, especiallyinrhe AnuradhapuraDistrict,ro whichelephants can be t€nslocaredo. whichcorld bclinked to theexisting foresl areas, so thata targearca 01 coDtiguous rorestcover can be madealailable blhe elephanrs.such areashave becn identilied in thepresent studl andrheymDsr be linked tolhe o(isritrg lb.ests jh rhe probternareas of Kalawewa-Bdaluwewaand Nachchaduwa-Thimppanearcas ln the Mahaweliand southe resions.rhere arc sevemt pAs to accommodare the problem aninah identitied lbr ttuslocaion(Fig.36). Th€ sizeofelephant poputation for long-termconserv{oon In Sri Lanka,ibr longterm elephdr conservaoon, the criticalsize of m elephanrpopularion appeats tobe 150 anjmals.Thisconclusion was basedon bjotogicat,ethotogi, cal,sociological and especially rhe generic conside.alions If thesercquirements, are Dot merj evcD though the populatioD mdy {urvivc ior somc ntre, '( b Joomedto erunctron Corsideringthe serious pressures rhar elephan$ race in tbe wild, it is imponanlro know ho* buch of rhe remainingforest reserves can be set asideor sharcdwith the elephanrs.S.ilanka must decidc,in rhe lighr of the requtrementsot irs erowing humanpopulation. just how many elepharrsit could maintaininthewild. The critical qu$tion is not how many el€phants Sri lanka crn maintlinat prcseDt,buthow many it cfi supporl in rhe next 100to 200yeaN. In answeringthis quesrion.one has to lale into consideBrionseveralfacros retatedro bom humanand elephantpopulations. At rhe currentmre of growthof 1.270 per annum, lhe humanpoputalion in Sd Lankawould indeaseto abour35 ni[ion by the middleof Figure 33. The disfibulion ol elephanBin S.i Lanka the 2l'rcentury.In .norherprolecrjon according ro Batdwin (1991),the human populadon is expecrcdrcincrease ro aDour There are three clusrersof witdlife leserveswhich 20million by 2001, and rcach25 miuionin 2046.Feeding oiier rhe best prospechfor the longrerm conservalionof a nationof25 millionpcople would enrail substanria, cnanges elephants.They are:(l) ge ypc soulherncluster contajning in landusc and agdculilral pmctices, in theprocess ofwhich andfielunugamvehera and Uda walaweNationalparksr (2) the rorestcover would inevitablydecline turther. Some of lnc north'estern clusler conkining rhe Maduru Oya, the requiremeDtsof the elephantpopulation afe considered wasgomuwa,Flood Plains, Somawarhiyaand Min.eriya Mur Llrtlrht C.llkt uSjr Lelktl 5:i llnrloAi.rl rcquirenreDts rr'(nl'!c r'i|' u"" ' '' (lui " rs.o( ln musth.or a hcrd d!cve.. bolh n,,Lrr\ ru![ Un)logi.rl rc!ujrcnenr\ rrc nuirty trc require- hrlcs drdlhc hcrdslcnd lo rcmrin wrlhnr a gjlcn drer. ulrrh nrcDl\ol rhc rrii!durl !njm.ts. rjtcthdnlsn.cd oot untl rs rilcr home .rn8e Occasi(nu|y. tbcy !ra! tr0vct lnnc r.od nnli rIcr In ruiJicicnrqunDritic\,hut jnun rLsonive d*lrnce awry lrch thcir hom. fungc. Thc sirc oi uLe runr .xs) rrr.rs !r |rcscrcs.urrcs. Elcll nlssrurd olcr t6 houa flnge dcperds on lhc hrbilrl qun|ty. As rhc hrhjlu o.ronrcs t)cr dr)' lc.dhs (llscitrcr! LLo.khrn. t9?2), durirg whrctr .lcgradcd, rhc siTc ot rlt home ranlc hal inc.crsc. ln rhey r[! lruvcl 20-25 kr]. Ar ctcphrnt rnay co.suhc .bour cascswh.r. scpanlc dry scasonrnd ser scrn r hojre rx.gcs l.l5 i00 kg of licsh vegctilidr pcr dry (Vrncuyrenoe.g, n.vc oceDshown Lo c\isl, etcphdls nrov. Uon.rrc u urc l9l7) Thc qu!tity ol lirod isrt5o itrrt.(onr. Thc crcpnant otlrcf wilh thc chlngc 01 scN$ns. f.{turrcsalargc anDunl oJ u,rlcf. nol oDly lo d !k hltalso ro co.l llsclt !lcfhanc nccd str.llcr.Atlhou8h s,Nsruus ln tlrnn're r .cw P(ncctcd Arcr tbr (har rna s.rub locsr prc!id. good jnddcf, etcphmr\ etcplarls nccd de.sc are alr.a'ly prescnr js ,l.hc iD lhc rrer. rl inDo(.rl 1o Indudc l.roscrr cxnopl)lincsl Drrche\_lbr strcttcr a.d resrrnS N rnuch N ru$ible, rhcir homc tungcs. tl clephlnrs lrc dcn\c lorcsrol lhe Drt z.nc {rttr s rndcf skncy is good Lohc drivcnrod ncwlo.dron.rhe raf8ct arc. slxrtd b. trrsc clcphrilhlbilrr,uttNe lhc lall. dcnsclorcsr oi lhc wet Zor. cnou8h 10 r.comDodlrc lh. homc jrngcs l.rbt.20 thN! lic undcr slo.cy \vhrch ts spa,scty dcvctoped. thc cnrnratedhomc ranecsor th. \olildy rdull nrrtcs.nrl herds. FoL Sri La.ka, Ecologi(,1 r.quiremrnls il rppcrrs rhxt {hc ho e rirgcs rrc sdlll (ldblc l0). As ! workjns hypoarcsis.75 kDr:eul.j bcconsiderrd Ihcsc arc nrainty thc rcquircnents lhc size ot ttlc hoDc frngc of boh adutr - oflhc poputatro.s. r.r n nralcsrnd herds in ttrc scrub rM larcst hrbjt , rtrtroughrhc l)opull|ronlo rcmainhc.lrh! Jo,a long |!nod ol rimc, .crual honrc rrrges could bc snrlcr. (he 'L sirould llllil iDt.t alia th. lollowinr condiliors dcpcndi.g on natLrt oi rhc h.bital. The ctephn! s rol r tein.rial snccrcsand 1rt ls siz. mun bc ihovc thc Mi.ihun Virbte the.clore thc lomc ra.ges of borh adlll Dulc\ and rnc ncrls P.pulurion(Mvr') do o!.naf. For sjzc insrancc,honr. .xng.s ol Br)ufs .s u.crr (!) lr scncdcrti! EJlccltvct,,)rr arim Size(EpS) must be rs solrtaryldulr animahin BtockI oi rircRuhurrNp ovctdn .losc tr)thc tolat si2e oi dr. brccdirgpoputarron. vc|y rnuchin rhc.orsril ^rc (.teSrlva c,dl. 1997)..1-hus (ir) Therc shoutd not bc I slnilicanr anrounror scveral iDdiridudt adutr halcs dnd gn)ups .!n tjle becrhcl inbrccdiig dcpre$jon withii Ltrcpopotahon. w'thin a gilcn arc.. Thc siTc of rhe poputarion ol. cou6c ocpcnls on thc sizc oi rhe habn Hdbirlls Iess lhln 100 ll rs alsoinrpo a.t lhiL lhc bultsare ublc u ,ruve kD1'o.y nor bc surrabtelbr tong rcnn ctcph.nl consurvrtron. tr!!id lrcely 0|d join di|trcrr hcds lq m{jng. Thc lingnrorrLior ol popllalrons D.kcs such ftec nrovenrcnr W|cn I-n.tu.JleJr..,. n.k dn.a.,.ot -.r,ct.-nl ii.rcrsligly dificutt. or i rcrd u ll to n rctuT ro . or.gL-t h"o.l-.. tr rt,r, r) prevcnre'1,rhcn ir wiil hive to In gcnc.at lor nost oittrc cslabtith a ncw honrc range. mammat spccles,ltrc MVp lL rs srid thit an ctcphanr,cvcr !li.f nrany yc.rs ol tjvnlg iscerm.led ro be around50 b,ccdin! individuats.For the crcph.nrrn sou(hcmlDdia, slkumd 11991)esrinrN(ed rnc rrc\nd,c ..Tcrinr\,!\.,tIn.,,\crr uld Jr.l,.n._S,.. MVI, sizc l{) bc bcrwecn t00 200arinals. lhc acruar nze "drr- rd.li-g hJ. hccndcrror. rnc I r ..rno ..^ jrur. ol thc populaLion dcpendins on dcmoglrphy, sex rdtio and I .rrr'lorrrun bu uhetrcrLnfct .,. ! .cm.rhhc,. \..) ecorogrcdrpressurcJ. such a pofutation woutd hlvc ovc, h^I.rler n-ny\cd.. c,pprd.tr rt,cr, r.c ,,t .\c. 99% chance {n surlival tbr rhe next I00ycars in ,t.r.. rhe race has changcd i1scharacter, ol dcnrographicnnd rs nol ycr denonslrlrcd. I rs l.uc envr.onmcnral slochaslicjry. .lcp rhr lhc l t . n,rca t,{ ... ,.. t,Ld..e .1- ..1, qhihcr.' Ethological requirchents hur . ulJ .r"rfcr rc (..rdl and cclcslial clucs ior tong rdnge hoDring,as the bjrdsdo. Elcfhlnls movcovcr tongdistanccs A bu tn nusrh Tablc 20.Ennn.rd homDran8e sze ofAsim ctcphlnr (r n;*;1;1llt3*,:ill,;fi,;#}""[:f],;ii"J;H"Tili""i i]ilitil'i:::i:fitfft,ILti,fitltl ]iliirii.i",l,ll,l",t;,ixl; Hrhe \ru? ,l'lt) q!!!i!'L Srtirutnntl? Ahmr, l612 t5 32 :18+ t05I l5 19,66 2 226 t,l21 2| 215 56261A * ?fl 23 fromas early as 60r ? ycas of age, thoscbelow 18 yean ae pfc\enredtrcm mrrnE ow,18,o,he,, o*c, domltr-(c Elephanlherds are mabiarchali.e. they are led by staluswith rcspeclto old fenales andadulr bulls. Sukunar an adulr tlmalc, llsuallyOe oldcst,and consistof closely ( 1989)is of the opinionthat thc mean age of sexualmauriry relalcdindiliduals. The subadultmales,as ftey malure,leave in both malesand femalesis drc same tbr a particular rheherd on thehownor areddven away by theadult females. population(1716 ycas)and lhl't malesmay not be ableto This is an importantbehaviouralaspecl a lhis eould reducc matc uniil they are 20 to 25 yea6 of aee.Thus lhe rtue Ihe chancesof inb€eding,since a herdconlains genetically EPSwould be significandylessthan EPS esrimdted liom the relared.nimals.As the herd growsin size,. ponion nay adult maleiemale ratio. Since EPS is relatcd lo thc break away to lbrm a new bed. althoDghrelared he(ts detrirnentalgenelic cffects such as inbreedingdepre$ion and apparcnllyrcmain iD conlacrwith eachother lor a long time genetic drift, sclectivemalc mortality wiu increasethe and form a looseaggregation in the fiom of a cld. Thus .bnce\ oI e\r,ocrionol smalpopuldlions. Tne..me r. rrue for elcphanlconservalion should be able to in the selectiverenoval of adult malesfroma population. supportmany heds, eachcomposed of severalgenelically, relatedanimah. This would minimiseinbreeding. As the populationsize decrcasesthe frequencyol inbreedingdue tochancc will incrcase.In a closedpopDlation, Gen€ticr€quiremetrts lhe inbreedingrate is in iact inverselyproponional to the populationsize. SDkumar (1993) sLrggesls an EPSol 50 as Any biologicalspecies has a limitedlife{pan, which lhe minimumnumber required to kep thc inbreedin&of dependsoD the genetic variaior available to lhe speciesand elephanrsbelow a rolerablerare o. leo per genetur'or environmenralchange. It is inevilablethat one day ihe Acco'dingro Sukumar(1993),iora populalion with an adult elephantwill becomecxlinct just as its rclalivessuch as lhe male'fehalesex{alio ol I 14,the MvP neededto ensure99% Dammolhsdid. The two speciesof elephantftat areextant survivalis 25-30 individuahand that for a populationwith todayrepresenl the last remnants of a very largea$enblage a sex ratio of1r8, is 55. In no elephantpopulation in Sri oa prcboscidoansthal inhabitedall @nrinentsercept Lanka,does fie sexratio deviatelo as nucb as l:8. In facl Australia.Exlinction oi sr€clesis a facr of life, but in the theadult male:femalesex ralios ol theclephant populations case of fte elephants,mans actionsmay acceleratelhe we.efound to be 1:1,lrl.4, l:1.8,l:2.2 and Ir2.9in lhe Cenral, Nonh-westem,Easlem, Mahaweliand Southern regions fespectively (Hendavithaana et al, 1994). Thus, on Nevenheless.the elephantmay be abl€ to continue both MVP andinbrceding considerations, 50 can sately be as a wild speciesfora long time (eventhousdds of years), takeDas lhe miDinumnumber of breedingindividuah (EPS) if ploper coDservalionmeasures are talen to proted irs neededto ensLtrethe long-tem survival of an elephant habitat.However, treating the elephantas a biological populationin Sri LaDka. cu.iosily md tryiDg to proled a f€* animals herc and there in pocketsof forestswill nol save the speci€s.For the In a populationwith d adult $x ralio of l:4, for survivalof any species.what is importdr is the sizeof its fte EPS 10 b€ 50 the acNal populationsize shouldbe a! breedingpopulation, which deleminesthe sizeofrhegene- leatt 78. The surveycaded oul in 1993(Hendavithmaut pool of rhe next generaion genelically i.e. fte Effecrive al., 1994)showed that, on an average,adulls constituted PopulationSize (EPS) rather than lhe actualpopulaion size. about51.9% of the Sri Lankanelephanr populaion. HeDce, (N") populalion The EPS of a is eslinatedusing the fonnula, a populationcontaining 78 aduhswould havebbe as large as 150 individDals.Therefore, the goal for long-term =(4 \ xN,xN)/N coBerv.tion of the s.i Laok.n Elephanr should be ro malntain populadoN of sia lqrger thaD about 150. wher€N-and N,are the bumberot bre€dingnals andthe Ldge elepharlpopularions can only be maintainedin large numberof breedingfemal€s .espectively in lhe populatioD PAs or complexesof PAs suchas rhe Wasgomuwa-Flood andN is thelotal adult populationsize.Il is clear rhatonly PlainssodawathiyaPA complex,the Yala PA complex,erc. aboutthe ideal ser ratioof l:1. the effectivepopularion size Howeverby allowing for migrationsof aninals berween willbe equalIo theaclualbrceding population size. smauerpocketed populations, and there byensuring the gene flow berw@n these separate populations, the requned EPS For instoce, thesex ratio of the elephanlpopulation in Block I of the RNP was found lo be 0.52 (desilva,€r a4 1995).This will maketheEPS to be 0.90of the acrual Habitrt and sprtial requirements breedirgpopulation size. The EPS*ill b€ one-halflo one- tenlhof the aclualadult populationsize, when the sex ratio McKay (1993),whostudied the elephants in thecal is as skewedas aboutl:6 and l:38 resp€ctively.When the oya aiea, anivedat adensityof oneanimal per rwo sqlare sex ratio deviatesto l:6,lhe MVPsize would doublefrom miles (0.2 km"). de silva, eral. (t995) found rhe averase what it was ar l:l Etio. The aboveeslimate assunes rhal densityof elephmGin Block I of RuhunaNP lo be about all adirltmal€s have an equalprobability of malingwith adult one animal per zkm, (0.5 km'). Using.rhe dung-colnt tlmales.Howevei, this is not truefor elephanlsbecausc of method,d€Silva (1998) obrained a densityof 0.65 kmi for Lheirsocial hierarchy. Eisenberg& tnckhan (1972)have theYPC. Th€ YPC providesvery good elephanr habirat. The pointedout thatalrhough males arc capable of reproduction total land dea available in the la.ger ProtectedArcas of the t- 55 nonh-weslls about 1,533kmr (Tablet5). If 5 kmr is raken el€phants(Table 23), and if rhese arc to be conservedj asrheminrmun land requnemenrper elephant.ont, some sDiiicient habitat should be found. However,ils atso 30? animah could be oainrainedin theseresefles. A( a possibleto increaserhe number of elephan$ an densityol0.65 kmr, this nuhber would increaseto 996. rn areacan supporrthrough improvement ot the habiral. thc nonh western region rhere are between 900-1000 Table21. Impoaa.r Prorecred Areas for elephantconservatron. SN-Srict NaluralReservei Np Nationalpdki NR-Narure ReserveiSA-Sanctuary. SOUTITERN High Adjoinins RuhunaNP: highMEc in ihe High The adjoirine (uda Oya aEa to the nonh 6 atso very impoitanlforeleDhmr EASTERN Althoughsmall,suppons a tarseetepher High lmportmt PA for elephmr conservatoniothe 6lern iegion HieI subj€credro te;dsr erivities Subje.tedto rerons .crivitis MAIIAWf,LI Hish A pan h subjecr€dto remrist .ciiviri€s High Hish MEC in the adjoininsdeas High subject€d to rermrisr acriviria High Subjecr.dto te@nsractiviri€sr highintcrrftnce Subj*red to remns acriviries Subj€dedto teirorislrtivities CDNTRAL Very few elephm6: Coniains s.leral hils NORTH.WESTERN High Subjecredto rmnst actiyitics PaRs m degiaded or-devetoped.pcrhaps rho area with hiehBr degree of MEC. NORTIIERN Subjccted ro terrcrisr acdvnies High Subjectedto lemnst activiti* STRATEGII]S AND MANAGEMENT MEASURES FOR LONG.IERM ELEPHANT CONSERYATION In rheManaweli region, Polonnaruwa has losta high percentaSeof ibresrb€cause of agricrlturaldevelopmenr. In Habitat coruid€rations lhe soulhernr€gion, the highesr% lo$ of tores!is inrhe Hambantoradistrict (Table22). It is imponantro providesutticicnt habnat ro. rre Howeve.,what is ofren not madeclea. isthat rhe elephantpopulations. Howcvcr, lhis would be a rarher loresr cover' in these wofks rcfers ro thc doscd,canopy diticull taskin thc face of the curenr landlse pattern. ln nalurallbrestcover and docs noi rakeinto accounrLne scruo theno'1h wesrem regioni the areas wirh intenseMEC conlain lbrest,especially the openscrub. rhich also .overs a hon of $e foresrin smallparches. seneratly les than100 ha. substantialarea. Neither does ir ldkc into accounrplanred Someare stecp hills thatare nol suitableforelephanrs. Snall forest such as leak and eucalyprplanrarions oiten found lbrest parchcsdo not conlributemuch to fte mainrenance within ihe foresrreserves ofrhe ForestDepartmenr. Thus thc of elephanlpopulalions. In rhe southernand Mahaweli tolal area oii lb.est availablero the elephanrsrs onen legionsja largc extentol resenesis available.Theh propcr underesrimated.Grasslands are ahonoL raken into account. manaSement will help mainlain substantiatelephanr Accordirg to Legg & Jewell (t995), in 1992rhe closed-canopyforesl in Sri Lankawas 23.97d (I 5.827.56 km,) Bcrwder1983 and 1992,l?5,240ha (107, ofrhe total oi the land area,the sparseforesr (open-canopy and sctub (4.638.42 area)ol closedcmopy tbrestwere losrin Sdl-anka,mainly forest)was 7.0% kml) and lhe wc -established due to agn.ulturalactivnies. tarestplmtations was i.17,(723.40km) Hen.e, rhe total foreslarea in 1992qas about32.070. Of this,rhe Wel Zone forestsde liltle availableto elephants.Thus the rotatforest ln Anuradhapuraand Kurunegala Disr.jcts, this loss arearvailableto the elephanthay be about 18,350km! was 6.270and 23.9%respe.tively (Table 22). The Punalam \ot abott 27.7E oI ahe totrl lard area) and is large. ihan Dislricl seemsto have gained5.97, during period, lhis what is ofaenquoted. This becomesquir€ clcar wnenrne makingthc enrlreloss for lhe nonh-*cslem region3.6qd.It ioresLcovcr of Block I in the Rlhuna NP is corsuerco. appeaG ihatonly abour10,000ha(l00kb:) of ctosed-canopy h isestimatedthar Elock I comains61.6% foiesr cover. This lbresris ]eft in KurunegalaDislricr (Table22). Thus, the forestarea .ontains approximaFly 15% oi dcnseor crosed main effons in the conservarionof tbe elephantin nortn- canopyrorest, 50%of opencanopy foresr and 35%or scrub westernregion have tobe concenraredin the AnuradhapDra or sparseforest (de Silva .rat, 1997).Thus, closed-canopy and PurtalaDDistricts, which still have 180,000ba(t,800 forest@cu6 in only lessthan 10%of Blockt. ThisBlock kmr) and 82,500ha (825kmz), of closed-canopyforesr left also contains26.1% of foresr-scruband l.0Zaof open grasslands.Therefore alrhough the closed-canopyrbresl in Table 22. Changeof closed-canopyforest cover in lariousdisrrjcls from 1983 to 1992.Source: Legg & Iewel (t995). % 0J Cha4!? 1933 (kn!) Land aret t,9t8.90 26.6 1,30083 24.9 118.0? -62 l3l.10 2.1 99.80 2.0 -11.30 -21.9 24.1 825.29 26.2 +46.29 +5.9 |,6\715 1 t58.8l 33.6 -45354 -28.4 t,15070 429 i,t38.12 42.5 -t258 -l.t 432.50 r6.5 243.17 9.3 t88.?4 -41.6 2.199.95 33.1 t,326.01 3t.1 313.94 -170 1.493.30 33.2 I,249.08 21.8 144.22 -t6.4 t7,ttg.95 26.6 t5,an.s6 23.9 -r;r52,40 -10.0 Mtr Llet hnnr Ctlhtt tn Stt l lt 57 (Fie.34), BlockI anountsto lessthln l07d thecnli.e Btock EvergreenIoresr), unlike the Tropical Wet Evergreen p'ovi'lcs cxccllenlhahirar tbr clcphanls.Thi! is cspe.i.lly Fo.cslof thc Wer Zonc (e.9.Sinha.aja forcsl), arso has a $ prcscrcc bccauscollhc ol a largcnunber of warerhorcs. well dcvelopedunderno.ey whichprovidcs rbo.l rbr the In lircl, rhcckrsed canopy latt lbresiwnh lilttc undeFsrorcy, is ,orher poor habirarlbr clcphairs Mosl ol thc National Parks arc in the Mahlqeli Thelaid arcaundd chcnaculrivaion is aho imponanr for rcgron. Ihese Nationalparks andsomcsarcuaries fom a cLcphanrs.ll1e cxlcnt oflh..hcn. tandsin SriL!.kr wascslimard continuousforesr arca whicb is imDorranlIo! the tong-rcm bv$eLnid Comnircear | 2 millionhqcurcs(12.000 km,) in 198? .onscrlation ol rhc elephrnt sin.ea Ia.gc poputauoncxn (B.ldwin. (This 1991). couldbe an overesLinareand it may be mainrainediD such conriguoustbrest arcas which incrudcsfub drea well) is Thisis ncrrtyonc litih 8.l%) prcvid. sullicientspacc for migetions ol clcphan$ r! me ollhc toralland area ol Sri Lank. Thc chenatand is atso sorrhern.cgion,thc RuhlndNP.nd associaredp.\slban .varlablcto thc .lephantdurinS . parrofnlc ycaf.Thereiirc. a contiSuorsforcst arca, rhc Yala ProtcctedArcalomllcx the|rea th.r is availablero rhcclcplanr (brcst+(rub+foresr This is extrcmelyihporan( fo. rhc lonS-remconservation plantations+ chcna) is abour467. ot rhe rotal land areaol oJ rhe(lcplJnl thc country. Bur lhrs potenlialis ncver realiscosrnce a subsGntial arnou.r ol this a.er is nol acccsibrc o lrc A. Finlcd ou,cd |lrr. rt \ rTpor(xnr'.kr,owju.t ho* mdny clcphan$ could beaccommo.larcdinthe lbrcsr by thc 'niddle ot next .cn!ury. If rhe numberis takends rl musl be enphasisedrhat rhe doscd canopy torcsr at p.esent{4,000,4,500) (Table 2l), rhenthc nofih-wc$cm 'n rheDry Zoneis iDporranltbr the long-termco.servation area will have rosuppon 900 1,025elcphams. Thc disL.i ol (hc clcphlnr, alrhough rhe scrub ioren (and cheno) bunonpak.n of the elcphams(FiC. 23) showsrhat mosr provides beuer lbod sourccs As Hoithann (1975)poims oi the elephanrsin thc nonh-wcstc.nregion are associare.l out,thc conlersion ofibresr ro chenaad scrubwoutd favour with devclopedarcas. Therefo.e, nost haveio be .clocared rhcgroMh ofLhcclephant popularion byimproving the tood to a.caswith sufficienltbrcsr. Wnh carefulmanagement, situalioniniLid,lly, bu(rhcloss ofdense toresr wiltcvenrual' x hay bepossiblc10 mainlain a popularionof 4_000-5,000 havc ns dcLrimcnraletltcr onlhe popuhdon.Tnc dense elephaDrin thc counrry,prolided peoplcalc preparedro toresl in the D.y zonc (Moisr DcciduousForest and Dry rinefofest atongl4enik ganga BtorkI 0ouncacy Sparseforest Figure34.Dense ibresl in BlockI ofRuhunaNaionalpark. 5a .- ManR.!! 4!:tj!! Tablc problble 23,The numbcror*ild eieph.n$occurring ar nesent (iii) Rcplacemenlof exisling reak aid eucatlprplanudons rn diffeEnt AD rceioos with naturalforest. (iv)Periodicmanipulation ol rhe vegerlrioDi[ orde.ro eihanceelephant fodder. (d) Manageneniof clephanrpoputarions. t.150,t.250 (i) Monitoringof elephsntpopulallons. (ii) Captureand donesticarion olexcc$ elephanK. 60 80 1,t00.t,250 (e) Managernen!oi other herbivorepopulations. Lr trying ro allcviate MEC and eifecr tong-rcm (r) Provisionofdererenh ro preventelephanrs tfon teaving conservat'onof elephanlsin thc entireisland, the ibllowing ERs. key questions have to bc answcred. (i) Ereclionof electriliedfences. (ii) Digging ol rrenches. How much foresr 0) land canbeset asidefor elepharr,in (iiDEstablishmenrof biolosicaldelerenrs. pa(icular inlhe no.th-weslcrn,nonhem,Mahawex,casrcrn (iv)Creationof other detcrcnts. and sourhed regions? (ii) *' Arethese roesr areas conrisuous andor iuificien, ."jfl:; J j::r,"X*'; ro allow fo. Oc movemcnrofetephanri? ",..", Tffi;""'ff;;:j;J" enre.inssuch areas. (iii)lf not. can they be joined br slripsof land of sufiicient (h) Relocationof villaga. width(jungle corido$), so rhatone conrinuousforesr area will be availablero elcphants? (i) Establishmentof ElephantManagcnent Unns. (i!) Can enoughiood and wate. tor elephaDlsbe provided throughourrhc year within thse lbrcst areas, 0) PromotingScientific Research. Ar present,thc wilpatru NP and nearby naJor (k) tx-rit! conseNation. sancluatresprovide aD a.eaol about 1,850kmr (Table l5). The siluationin rheMahaweli and southcm regions 6 oeae. It is very importantto scr a tine ftane for the as there ae do.e nalionatpa.ks and sanctua.ies rn lhese tmplementationof these conlervalion mcasus. The meaurespropos€d here would probablyrake more rhan tle In the nonh-wesledregioD, it is seen(har except for the Wilparu NP md Kahatla,Pallekele Smcruary,all othe! Establishnen. ol Elephant Resetves (ERs) PAs are Ie$ than lookmr in exient.In facr,Dosr are ress rhan30kmr. It vas shownrhar ior an etephantpopurafio, ro bc viable lbr a longrime. ir shouldcontain at teast t50 'ndrviduals.Such a populalionwould prcbably need300-750 ThefoF$area\ menloned below a,c \eD ,mpona.l km' of foresr.Thus, cxcept ior lhc Wilpaltu Np, otherscannor for the longlerm conservalionof elephantsin Sri Lanka. suppoaviablc populations. The 900-1,025 elephanrsestimated Thus, thesea.eas nay be declaredas ElephantReserves ro he presenrin rhc nonh-wesrcmeEron. woutd requirea ( ERt,an ElephantRreserve being an areawhich conrarns iorcsrarea of 1,800-5,125km:. suilableelephant habilar and whichmay includccrownla.d, landbelonging to otbefgovernmentdepadmcnts sucn as tne Strategiesand manrgeoent measur€s Fore,rDepaflmenr. ProqncidlSe.,e(ariars. Jno c\en pn\are land it necesary. The requkcment is that oFrations The ibllowingstraregies and measures arc importst detrinrenralto thc welfbeing of lhe etephantshould nol be ib. the long-rermconservation of rhe elcphantin Srj Lanka. carnedoui in ERs. It is not necessartfor the DWC to takeover thcse lmds, but theDWC mustenrich the habnal (a) Esrablishmenrof Elephanl (ERs). Reserves It shouldb€ possiblefo. the peoplero continucrher usuar acrivitiessuch as sustained-yield,forestryIi.e.collecting wild (bl ElephantdrivesLo trandocatecxcess herds ro ER! and vegetabresand frui$ (katuala \Dioscotea pctuaphrlta) and orher ibrcstareas. gonata(Dioscot"aspicta),ft1lits such as wood apple (tDronra aci.li$ikn), paln (ManiLkaruhe'an.l'a) and \|ect^ (DrypeAs (c) Habilatenrichmcnt wilhin ElephanrReserves. rcp@,ta),wild bees'honey, md medicinalplanh ( hauuva, ,ya (Calottopis (i) Restorationof ancienrrescrvons. and itnecesary, \AspataSusrc.etnos6), Naft siEartzq ta creationof newreservots. lustainablemannet, andchena cutrivation, as long as these activiriesdo (ji) Incrcaseol vegetationsuirable for clephan$. nor imperillheprimary objecrive ot tr,erong, Itth t:1.t)rtr! (t,tllnt nl Sn lt,l.t 59 tcrm sLrvi!n! ol arc clcIhrnl\ Nhcn tcofLc fc0lrsclrrc (0 Minncri)'aCiillrlc NatureR$n!e (MahalveliRdgonl hcnclil\ aul arcy coull obtorn nonr conscNin8 thc foresl, (gl Arcdbehvccnthesc sancru!,ics and rcscNcs in.lLrdin8 rlrc! trill supporl.lcphanr cons.rv.Lior. Hrbror. fofcn(naikcd 4 inFig.15 rnd d id F,r 16l Each ER $ill conllin N clLrslcrol Pmtcctcd Arcal lN.rionaLP.rks, Srncr Nrrunl Reserlcs,NarurcRcscrv.sard I'R 4 jnrdonr.tcd Srnrluriic\r rnd ft&( rclcncs b)"Jungh Coiiil.* {a) l,A Clusre.2 Thc Nalrl rlcadworksSA colld be ' -| I r T\.i"ot lr'L e'.J 1," joircd with SonrawaLi)'aNP ((ridor nr.rk.d c i. Fig. l5) rnd wlsgonNwa NP nray tu jdr.d w,rh lig\ l5 & :lar!r!c(hc loc.Lionsofthc colrponenlPAs 'fhc ivadu,u Oya NP (corido, mriked g ir F,g 16) {l lor.st xrcrs ol lhcsc lRs. er.d boundrrics. orjdorscrc h!!c 10 b. workcd olr .lrer !lcrailcd study. ER5 WiLp.LruNP, Mddu Rord SA- Yodhalange Closter 2 Wr\gomusr NP, ltridunLOla Nl. PloodPldinsNP, ER6 r . \1 S i. ih \P. \'ln r).' . V r c r),r (,) P Clustcr4 Lihueala'Kitulda NP Du) trc toincd CinraLc5A. Minncriyaclritalc NIl. Naldl I lcad wnh K!d!rnbigalasdncruary of thc Yrl. PA cornpler works SA, Thrikon.madu Nlii rhmugha juislc co'.idor(mirkcdi in Fig.16).Simrld! LunugrmvchtraNP maybc jo,nedwlrh rhcWccrawili SA CllOya NP,Cal Oya vaLleyNESA. CalOya andthe BundalaNP rh.oughcoridoN (markedl 1nFig lallcy SESAi 36), dnd LheUda wahwc NP may be joined wirhthc LunugamlcheraNP {coridor mrkcd k in Fie. 36). C[nc. 4. YalaSNR,Ruhuna NP, LunugamveheraNP. Uduwrlawr NP, Bundah NP Yala East NP, ERI andER 2 nraybc nadccontiguotrs lhrough iircst rcas ro Labugrla-KitulanaNP, KataragamaSA, rhcnonh of vavuniaGeeFig 35, alsomr,kcd x in Fig 16l KataSamuwrSA. KudumbigalaSA. ard wccrawilaSA. Thc possibilityexists ol connectingER2 ad ER3 througb a rbresr area (see Fig. 15, also mrked yl in Thus IhcproposcdElcphanr Rescrvcs (ERt will bc as Fig.36). SihilarlyER2 may bc linkcd wiLh ER:1 via junglc co(idor in the are. ol wrhalkada rcscrvoir and thc TrincomaleeN.val HeadworksSA (mrrkc.l y2 Fig. Nonh'wcncrnReSion 36) ER3 aDdER4 may be madecontisuous. bccause I'R I r\c \,4innFI\,FGIl.'lc\R.oulo b- mroe JII!u.1. with Wasgomuwa NP thrn'gh a corfrdor (b) Arcd adjoiningWilplttu NP andto southof it in lhe lunglc (markeds in Fig 35 and i'in FiC.36) nearElahan (nalked Kdruwalagdswewail'habbowaarea I in Fig Tlus, ! largc arca would bc a!ailablclo clephant\. 35 ind a in Fi8. .16) cxlcnding ltotn lhe Kahall.-PallekeleSxnclulry 1o thc (c) Arer belweenWrlpanu NP andMadu rcad and Ciant Waseotnuwr NP. an idcdl siruati{)n tur thc clcphanr. Rcscrvoir(Yodhayrngc wcwa) sAA (tnarked2 in Fg :l5anil b in Fig 16) ER2 (a) N.chchduwa rcservoirlorcsr rcse.le (h) Mihintalc SancLuary (c) lofcsrsjoining thes. and exrendinCup ro Padaviya and wahalkadarcscrvois (m.iked 3 in Fig.15 and . in Fig 16) in rhc noah oi AnuradhafuraDistric( bcbnging ro lhc ProlincirLSccrcladrl rnd situatcd k, rhc no.(h oi Rambc$! ard KahalagasdiSiliyd. ER] (r) KrhallaPallckclc sA (h) Krlawcwalbrcst res0ve (c) RiriSalaSNR (d) Hun'luwcwalbrcsl reser!e (cl M'nnerilaCiritalc SA (Mahaw.li Iiegion) 60 _ a,'!.s!f! 4!j!l!! I jI 9|oro $ 0 *S*' I 9.",;f.19, .-fu'-.*x ,. oq-a. o l\\' r:4a.i Figure35. ProposedEtephanl Reserves in norrh_westernand Mahaveliregions. 1,2,3,4-prcposedERsi B,C,c.H,Mahaweli syslemarcas under cultivarion. Cdjuh 19 ( 1998) M4r.Llethart Catrlitt nttu LI\a 6l ___-_"!.Si*l w€TzoNE \.- /\ rr I \ "l 5::---x' riaurc-36 Ptupscd Elephmt ReFwes. (r plains Wilp.[u Npi 2-SondwlthiyaNpij-Fl@d Np;4-wsg;nuwnNp:5-Maduru Oya Npi 6 cul oyr NPi 7. Lahugat.-KirulanaNpr yala 8 Ear Np; 9-RuhunaNpi lo-Lunucmveb"_ $, I-;;;;;i; ^", 12 ud! wata*e Npi 13Hdor Plans NPi A-Witpan!Nonh SA: B-yodhayds€ wewaSAi C Mrdu Roa; SA; D-NavalH{dwo . sAi !j lhrkondbadu NRi F MinneriF Cirir.le sA: C-RitisalaSNR| H Anur.dhatu_ra.SArI Kohalla palekelesA: J-Mi,nedya-Cnna; NRr K-vrcrona_Rtrdenisato. RanrcnbesAr L 60l oya NE sAi M cal oya sw sAi N--Kudumbisala sAi o-yah sNR: i K;G;; s;, a-K;i;;".,_" sAi R-w.e,awih SaiSPeltwndemss.sa,-T.SrnhrjawortdHtntag.Sner..b-pansofERtic-ER2id-p,nor-en:;"-"oiOo.t"t*ecnN*otneua.o,ts ra Jno romrw{hrva Npi I omdor berqecn Minn€nvrciritarc NR md wsganuwa Npi c-coaidorb.tweenwdgomuwa Np dd Mad!tu otr NPi h_coftidorb€Nen car ora Np and Lahulala'Kiturea Npi i cod-dmberwen i.rr"g"r"-ri.r""" *p -a Kudlmbie,rasA: corndo^ b€NcenLunugamveheia Np Md wamwir;sA i md weemwirasA md Bund.rr Npr t:.*;ao, tJnneenr-unugam*toa rr -a Udawaliwe NPr x-codidorbetween Madu padcviya RoadSA and ResetuoirSA: yt,codido,t i"."" p_p"."0-ijn z -a eR 3i y2-codidor bers*n ER2 and ER4i .coridor b€twecnM.duru Oy. Np dd coloya Np (NitasalaJungte co;dor). 62 Thc proposedElahara corido/ wil I be afftctcdiflhc pointout, it canbe an areaof degradedvegetarion or a iorest plrr ror rhe crcr,ol Jr Vo,rg.'|Jrenn.re,e or b nonocullurclhalprolides cover for the migratingclephants. inplenenl€d.Thc soulhwcstcrn bordcr ol rhe corido. will Tbereis no guaranteethat the clephanrswiU usea condor bc inundatedby the rcservoir(Fig. 35). Howevc.sulncient unlcs it includcstheir migratory parhs. To be eilcctive,the ibresldrea is availablcat thc no(h casternborder ro shilt .oiiidor musr bc the shortesrdistance betseen Lhc rwo thc cotrido. slighllyto accomnodalethc Moragahatenna reseNes.The viability ot a .odidor obvrouslydcpends on rhe distanceseparaLing the rwo clephanrpopulalions. Thc gredtcrlhc distanccbetwecn two clcphanlarcas, de g.eare! lr may also be possibletolink Gal Oya valley SE mun be the widlh oi the coiridor linking rheh. SAof ER5 wiLhthc LahugalaKitulana NP ol ER6 through a junglecorridor 0narked h in Fig.35). The Nilgalaiunglc Coiridor (markedz' in Fig.36) was declaredto link rhe Cal Oya NP (ER5) with rhe WasgonuwaNP (ER 2), but it was later abandoncd. If allthe proposedERs can bc established,n would link all the PAsin fte Dr) Zoneand Internediate Zone. This will ofle. an cxcellcnt situationro promorethe geneflow lhroughall the sub-populationsol elephantsin the hland. However.this may be too much ro hope for. In iac1,such .oridors connectiDgall the important PAs was proposedby LheDWC as @.1yas 1959(Fig.37), long belorerhe conceptbecame vogue inthe west. The proposedERs are somewhatsimilar ro rhe ManagedElephant Reservcs rccommended by Santapillai& Jackson(1990) for the long-Lemconservaion oi ihe Asian elephan(.They suggest tha! an elephantpopulation of at leasl doublethe sizeof the MinimDmViable Population shoDld be maintainedina ProlecredArea and that the Protecred Areasshould be partof a largerManaged Elephe( Reservc I to providesrlficient spaccfor elephanlmovemenrs. such l ManagedElephant Reserves have aho b@n recomhended by Santiapiuai&de Silva(1994) for the consedationand -"*t managementof elephantsin Sri Lanka.The ERs prcposed her€ are a categoryon lheir own (and may includeother cateEoriesofPA) and are subj@t to their own manaSemenl ) activitiesfor the benefitofthe elepharB,ThePAs included in the ERs will have their own managementp.ioririesand plansthatdo notome into confliclwith thoseof the ERs. The planningof the ERs shouldcommenced early as posible.The immediatetask is lo identiii andmap lhe lbresrhabik\s in rhe proposedER deas. Researchshould lbcuson clcphanr density, demography,ranging parrems, cropraiding behaviour andolher aspects of rheMEC in rhe Figur€ 37. Forcst coridds pmposed by DWC in 1959 Jungleor foreslconidoB we.eproposed in Sri Lanka as eady a! 1959(ADon. 1959) in order to join diffe.ent Koho a-Pallekele Sdrctud'! ProtectedArcas to cater the fE movemenlof wildlife, (Fig.37). especiauyth€ el€phanr This enlailedsetring aside The Kahalla-PallekeleSanctuaryinthe nofth-wesrern stripsof for€stolsufficient widrh,lo facilitarethe movement 'egion wJs p.onulgaredin 1989.Ir a a nanow. \corpion of migratingelepha.ts fron prorected one a.€ato another, shaped,sanctuary, whose width insome placesis lessthan withour invading the adjacent villag€s. The juDgle coridor skn. Il spds pans of fte Anuradhapuraand Kurunegala shouldp.ovideaccess to wat€r! but it n@d nor neceslarily Districts. Thh sanctuary is very important fo. elephanl b€ a goodelephanthabilar. As Santiapillai& de Silva(t994) conservation,being in thecenlre of a veryintense MEC area. It includeslhe iwo majorreservoirs of Kalawcwa md Balalu Habitat qichneat o.f DRs Wewa, and manyhinor resedoiB especjallyin rhe north. Therea.e two medium sizedresenoirs, HakwatuDawa wewa Resbtutiorof oncient rcsetbirs. an! ilnecessaD,,creatioh and DevahuwaWewa, on either side oI rhe southernend. qf M", rcsewonswithin ERs. Thereare aho severalperennial spdngs wirhin the sa.coary, which provide watei for elephanrsyea.{ound. A largea.ea In mosl foresrareas of theDry Zone, valef is very in thc middle of the sd.luary hasnot beengiven sanctuary sca.ceduring rhe dry season.tn fact.oneot the reasonsfo! statusas fl conlainsseveral ancient vitlages _fhe andpaddy fields lhcelephanBinvading lillaees, is rhe lack of wacr rn rne long, sreepKahalla hill, tics wirhio the sanctuaryro thc forestdurinEthis penod.Therefore having perenmat sources cast.The MahaweliH Systemabuls on thenorthem side of ol walerwithin ERsis very imponant.If hrge nunbed of the sancfuary.Tle sancruary,as i$ namesuggests!includes elephrotswere lo be acconnodaledwithin rhe ERs, hen rhen two rnportanl iome. ibrest reserves.lhe Kahalta Foresl berehab,lil.led. ai a mJter ol tnon.J Reserveaod the PallekcteForesr Reserve. Many of theDry Zone tbren areaswere intensety The sancruaryis very important,being rnc onrl cultivatedduringlhe ancient rimes and therefore some otthcm ProrccredArea associarcdwirh a largenumbcr of elcphants still conrainabandoned irigalion reservoirsthat could be in thereeion(probably 350-400). Ifthc sanduaryis to be used resloredLo providewater lo elephantsand othervitdlife. jt lor rhclong,tem conservation of elephanrs,its boundaries not, new rcservoiahave ro be buih.tt willbe prcferabtero havetobe rcadjusted. Ir hasrobe developed togetherwfin nea. resroreor construda nunberofsmallrcservoiuthat can hotd by reservesas an ElephanrReserve. rf the Kahallapalekele watcr yeaGround,rarher than a few larger and deepe. Sancruar)could be joinedro the Riligala SNR md the fesedoifi. If tbe resenonsare a$ociatcd wirh strcamstiey Minnedya-GiritaleSanctuary and NatureReserve, then the.e are likely ro fill fast and hold watcr longer.The perennial would be a subslanlialafea to maintaina viablepopurauon spnngsiolnd in someareas (e.g.wilhin lhe Kahala-palekele Sdncruaryin asoc,flion w h Kahattahrlt, are \erv impoaanr sourcesof waterfor elephantsand shouldbe devetopedfor Dl.phant .lires to translocate etcesshetuls to ERsanlt othe, thar purlDse.The rock pooh (Cal Kemas) too could play an imponaDlrole in Deeringfte warerrcqDirementsof lhe Thc following accountdeals with theetephaDtherds which werestudied inderail infte Donh-westernregion. The Growits of wgetati@suita e as etephantladder iithit ER. panciplewiu apply to orherregions as welt. In rhe nodh- wesEmregon,lhere are scveral elephant herds which frequenr An ER mustcontain sulflcient fodder for rhe crepndr popllation lhe developeddeas of ciribawa,Herarhgama, Caltnryasama, rhai itsupports.or else,grass and other suitable elephantfodder Kalawera,Thicppane aDd Katuwalagaswewa. For lhe herds speciessuch a diyut&nnahid acitlissina) ^nna{ ireqlenting ciribawa, HerathSama,calkniyagama and lDichrostacbs cinata) ^nd thinbat (pkcospennu"l rp!?1orr,,)should be grown. Kalawewa,there is only the Kahatle-pallekeleSancudy as a rcfuge,which howcver doesnot conrain la.geared of good Replacenent of .risting leak elephanthabirat ar presenr.Thus rhe number of herds atu eucalrl ptantdtiohs with natkral within ERs. fequcnrinerhesc deas havctobe reduced.The etephanrs have Jares ro be ci$er driventothe WilpattuNpor the Habararaforest. The eucalyptandreak plantations within proposed Aboul 100150 animalsmayhave tobe rranstocared,If the the ERsandor rhe KrhattaPalleketc Sdcllary qurc Kahalla-PallekcleSanctuary could be joined to the Ritjgala are naorc andsocan be badested,after which the landshould be left SNR (Fig.35) and lhe Minneriya-ci.italeSancLudy ano fallow forthe naturalfo.est to develop. NatureReserye, then ir may nor be necessaryto reducethe numberoiherds. Abour 60 elephanbin theKaruwalagaswewa Peiodic nanipulation oJ the vegetatian wnhin ERsn otuer aieamay be drivenimorhe WilpatruNpor rhe proposedER to ethan.e dephant foddeL nea.Katuwalagaswewa andThabbowa. Some oi the he.dsin theThiEppane arcacould remain in theforest area dsociar€d Peiodically mansgemenracrons (uch as prunrnB wnh Nachchcadlwarcservoir (proposed Nature keserve ar thelow star!.errees must be rakenso tharmore new growth Thnappane)and the othersnumbe.ing about ?5- l0O, hav€to will be availableto the elephants.Weditrg and removalor be dnven acrossrhe Mibinrale Sancruaryro the proposed pila (Tephrosia pulptuca), tantana {.tantdna caharo ana ER ned Rambewaand Kahatagddigitiya.Howeverifthe rhora(Carrta rola and Casia occi.tentatis),should be done ioresrarea nea.Nachchcaduwa reservoir can be joined to Mihintaleand Kahataeasdigiliya-RaDbewa forcs1 through d ER,andif rhis joined ER could rhen be ro the ERlinking Ma agenett oJ eleptta t popatato8 KalawewaandRitigalasNR, then ir is possibtero fino a roDS_ lasdngsolDtion ro the MEC iDthe area.Furlhemore, ir may A cdeful asessnent of the impact of the be possibleto join the forestinrhe areaof Kahatagasdigitiya ibp.ovementof elephanthabital on orher specjes,thatae aDdRarnbewa to lhoseofrhe MaduRoad and Ciant ReseNon symparicwith the elephant.is very important_Althougn Sanduanes(Fis.35). ne pnDary aim of an ER is to consene etephants,this should 64 Mdnsak de Silra not be done at Lheexpcnseof other specis. The aim nust to the undesirableresult of prcmodngthe .apid populanon be to enhancethe cntirebiodiveAny ot thc arca,wnh special growth and ove.crcqdiDg by anoLberspecics. This is enphasison thc elephant.Habilat cn.ichmenr tor elephants esp€cialiytrue of the gregdious, non migratory warer inay lead to m infiease in the numbe. ot clephants bnttalo (Bubalusbtbalis), ii thc yearround availabilityof (sometmesa{ rhc expcnseof othe. herbivorcswnh wbich wate. is 8ood.Tbus stepsmust be |akenLoregulate within the elephanrcompetes for resources),which may leadlo ERs populationsof such herbivo.ols speciesas well. undesi.ableconsequences such as e increasern me incidcnceof crop depredationsoulside rhe reserve_ CrcanonoJ dctenentt to p.event .lephortt ion learw DR! Manitoriag of elephdit populations Oncethe elephan$arein ProtectedAreas and ERs, ctc., detefenc to thei. leaving such arcas have rc be Periodicmonito.ing oi elephan!populations is very creaied-Permancnt bmiers, borh physicaland psycbologi nnponanrto assess|heir well being.Thiscould be donconce cal, are to be sel up ar vulncrablepoinIs. Even if rhe ER in rhree to five yea6. Such moDitoringshould provide (or P.olectedArca) is a good elephant habirar, rhe intbnnationon the sex ralio, juvenile ro adult ratio, rrsker lranslocatedelephants will tend to track back to thc arca Lonon'iusker rario, etc. Tbc infomalion wilt showwheoer in which they lived earlier. Aftcr several yeurs this rhepopular'or is In.,ea5ingRmd,n,nBnablc.orde!'es5in8 tendencywill rcducc.These derercnts can be i! urc num Thc dnecl method of countirg elephantgroups along a of electrifiediences, rrenches thal the ctephdrlscannor l,re rrmsectis impossiblein lne Sri Ldkan scrubforesL, cro$ or someplanB which theelephants dislike (e.g hana, be.aulc of theexrremelypoor visibility. Thus the indirecr, (ABaw am.ticaM), rhat (Bonssus flabeuikr), dungcounl helhod could be usedwilh cenainlimitations. bougaiDvillea'(BouSanlriUea x spectabili) ar(t thel $andv (Ricinus.dlan6),. Watch posrswill aho havero A modified walerhole-counrhcthod, d usedinrhe be establisbedto dake surcrhar rhe animals will nol leave I99l survey (Hendavithean et.al.,1994)could also give through gaps allowed fo. roads,erc Elephmr-ptuoflog approximate densities- This nethod will also give fen.cscould rl.o be con\rru.redbur rhe.ede c\penr\e informationonthe populationsrruclure, age and sex ratios, and willuse much timber. iniormationwhich cannotbe obtainedfrom the dung-counr nethod. The methodwould give only a minimuftestimate Powerfulligbts and loudspeakers (ult.asound ?) thai of the sizeof the population.Even tboughall the animals automaticallyswitch on when elephantscome close ro cannotbe observed,fie trendsin popularionsare sufficient themcoold be installeda! rhcgapsleft iD etectrifiediences fo! managemertactions. The samemelhod can be repealed on accountoI roads,ctc. The movcmentpareds indicate once every tn.ee yea6 or 5o. 10 undersrandrhe dynamics that most elephants,if rot nll, avoid lhe developeddeas ol the elephantpopularion, (e.9. rhe MahaweliSysteh H). Before devctopmenr,he Mahaweli H area wds a foresl eea rhat the elephants Both rhc duDg counr method md rhemodified liequcnted.Because of the high human population,and water-holemethodmust be usedinthe ERs,add rhe resulrs man madesltuctu.es such s buildings,machinery, crc., the dea now actsas a detedenrto lhe movementsofelephdrs. This shows lhat if the.eis a sufiicien0y s1rcngdeerrent Monitori|B of patkns ol ndqnek3 the elephantsc.n be forced to changetheir movement patlerns.With timc, the elepbantswiil ge1used to rhe new It is imporrdt ro knowthe rangingpalterns of rhe elephanlsin the ERs and ProrectedAreas in which the elephantswill be locatedinthe future in order to plan any Changesof lond-usepatte.n in oftler to lessesth..ktndn l subsequentactions necessary for the improvementof the on Ia .l, espe.iau! forcst lan4 and to dkcoarug. conditionswilhin theseareas. On the olher hand,the srudy elephan^ fron e|te.ntg such drcds of movementparterns of elephanBar p.esentin rhe are6 with a high degreeof MEC (e.9. Kahalla-Pallekeleea) The availablelandfor cultivntionislidired andtbe would norbe otmuch valuefor furureelephant conserlation cultivationscannot bc indefinitelyinc.eased at the expense plans as Oe populationsin ftese area will have to bc of lhe foresr.Every year,several n€w chenasare sr&Led by manipulatedro a grear extentwithin the nexr few yea.s_ clearing presenr 'I'Irc forest a.eas.The agriculluralp.actices, clephants are forced from location ro location by fie especially cbena coltilation. arc no1 very p.oducrive. people.As mentionedeadie., the MEC in lhe deaincreased ScieDtific,more intensive,agricultural p.actices bave roDe very much within the lasr 10-12 yeds, and rhe movemenl .esortedro inorder to fced rheexpccted increasein rhe sri patternsor elephantobviously changed very much during tinkan humanpopularion inthe next cenrury.Conmunal this period.The movemenrpattcrns will continueto cbmge tams with integraedfaming practices,nce-fish inrerg.ated until suilablelocations can be providedfor the pe.manenr cullure,etc. may be introducedin order to mdimrse oe senlemen(of elephanlsthus shbilising the situation. useor cultivableldd. A ldrgechena (or a groupof smau chenasadjoininS each oftet is more prollLablcand edier Mandqemnt oI other herbieorcs !o protecr|he severalsmall chenas locaredaqay iiom each other-Also, in a largechena, a crop (e.g.sesame.nustard) The habitatenrichmenr progrmmes may aho lead o. othcf planlsthe elephanrsdo nor like could be grown Mtr.El.nhort C.rlli' i)1s,i Lurkr ar rlrc foresredgc ro discourrgcclcphrnts liom raiding(buL obtaiDlhe serviccsof t*o wildlilcgua.dsaqd/or taborrers ho$ lar dlis would bc successlirlis nor known). llnn rhc AD olfi-c *hen n1.\.dv tor ltrld JpJrJrr.n\ Thc unit at rhe berd-ollcc musrbc leadedby rhc Dcputy Ir lhc carly ddys,whcn preparingthcir clenas,rhc Direclor (VeLe.inary& Research)of Deputy Dhecr{)r l|nc. -.ord.Jl- 'qr clcphrntrh. $irl rhc n.,cd{ (Research&T.aininS) ed dusr havconc scienriricotficcr 1n lnc human population,and inSressol people from and two clcrks *bo should aho be tumiliar with rhc clsewhcrc(who know li le aborl elcphanrsand rheir appropdarecomputer proeramdes ror prcpding danbases, mrgratorypatbr. this sourd prdcricc was unforrunately et.. Eachficld unit shouldbe p.ovidedwi$ ! vchicleand rgnorcd In Lhevillages. plAnrsuseful to ndn bul which ddvcr andappropriaie communicarion cquipnrnl. The iield rheelephanls do not likc. suchas lcmon andorangecould uDns 'r dillercnt rcgionsshould be in conslanrcommu bc grcwn in homegerdens,in orderro discourageelephants nicarionwith lhe cent.alunir at the head-olncc.Thc fictd liom niding. Ir'lilcstock is robc dcvcloped,n is impodanr lnits will altendro problcns suchas injuricsto elephanrs, ro eslrblish scparalegnziDg land lor cartlewith rbe inquie inro humaDdeaths and injudescaused by ctcphanrs, a\\istanccofrhe Dcpatmenl of Agriculrure,rheNational carryout posl-morLemsonelepbanrs, and pe.iodically chcck LivestoctDevclopmcnr Board and rhc MahawcliAuthor on the proper(irnctioning of LbeERs. The unir ar lhc hcad- ity Cohpetition for lbod and orher resourcesberween office will establishdarabases oD the darareceived from elephAnlsand livesrocksuch as donesLiccattle should be rhe field units,advise rhe Direclor,Dwc on macers petuining to elepbantconservrlion or MEC. and provide information1o the public when necessaryor when The Problcm of elephanrsfouling rhe iishing nels of thc reservoirfishermen could perhapsbe solvcdby (a) rssigning fishermcnrishing arcas in la.ge rese.voirsro Protuotion oJ scientfi. Research which the elephantsdo nor cotuc, (b) confining nshing actililies Lotimes a1 which elcphanrsdonorcome to eaLer, Availability ofscientinc data is lery imporrmr for rnd (c) protcctingrhe shorcand rhe liltorat of the nshjng elephantconservation and mdagement purposes.Srudics arca by sobe ncans sucbas a tuncc. on size,srruclure and disr.iburionof elephantpopulations arevery rmportart in pldninS managemenrmeasures. such Relocanon oI ri ages stud,cs over several yea6 will indicare wberher fte populationparameters de chdging. For instece. wherher whcn ERs are esrablisbed,it hay be necessdyro the sex rario will remainctose to l:l so rharihe eftecrive .clocatesome of rhe vilhges that witl come lo be wirhin populationsize will nor deviatemnch trom the roraladul1 the ERs. This is especiauytrue, if exlendedERs are lo populationsize. If thereis any deterioration,approp.iate becstablished such as drc ones suggested from Nachchaduwa conectivcactior couldbe taken.Counling clephants in rhe ro Kebitbigollewader and Kahwcwa ro Habmanaforest DD Zone \crubro csrimaterheir populdrion si/e r. an and beyond.During rhis srudy, a significanrnumber of imposible task.The apprcxiftatepopulation size can be peoplefrom villageswith intenseMECcxpesed wiltjng estimatedby the indirecr dung count 6e1hodor by rhe nessro leavcsuch problen areasif theya.e given sufficient modified wa(erhole method as ftentioned edlier. wllen aertilcland ehewhereand iDcenriveslo starr cutrivarion. habnarhanagement medures a.c undertaken,rheir effecr Some relocationoivitlagesmay also havero be done in on the clcphantshould be studied. rhc KahallaPallckele sancruary and irs vicinity. Alrhough rranslocationof peoplewould be a very unpopularnove, An ERnust havesulficienr space and rcsources for this may hrvc to be done forit world benefi! a greater its elephantpopulaton. This could be cstimatedonly il number at $e expcnseof a lew. Any translocanonor n is knownhow clephantsuse rhe space.The sludyof rhe villages,ofcou^c, will hrve lo be doDewnh the advice, ,Jnginsp rcm\ wouldb. pani(uldrl)uretutrn d:\cs\in€ conscnt and lhe panicipation of the local aulborilies rhe movemenr\of,mn.locared elephdnr\ in rheirnF{ habitals-The rangingbehaviou. ofrhe Asiaricelephb! hd beenstudicd only in a lew instances(Trble 20) Thc patiern of habitatuiilisation by fte elephanrs.their inreraction wth Estoblirhment of Elephant Manaqetaert units (EMU) other species,cspecially herbivorcs, the effecl ot habirar oanagcmcnlmesues on rheelcphant, are some importanr Ir isimporraDrro esrablishEMUS in different&eas aspectswhich shouldbe studiedin depdronce the elephanr in orler to dcal witl larious elcphanrisucs lhar will arise popular'on\.cspecrally rho\c ot rhc noflh-{e,rernrcgion fromtimc to rime.There must be a centralunit inthe neao- are sctlledmore orless pemarenlly. ofiice of (he DEC. 11is sugSes(edrhat rhc field unil in thc norft-wcstcrnregionshould opecrc in asociarionwith Elephaqt .apturc an.l domesti.ation thc RcgionalAD oflice at Anuradhapu.aand wo.k under Ihe supe.visionoathc RcgionalAD. Therecould be thrce If the populationis increasing.thcn some ot thc otber lield units in Polonnaruwa(Mahaweli Region), animalshave 10 be removcd.Wharever lhe sizc of the Anpara (Eastem Region) and Kataragama(Sourhem clcphantpopulation that has beendecided as desirabteor Rc8ion).Ea.h unn couldbale a scicnlificofficer, a wildlife rhatcanbc accommodatcd,cuuing becomesne.etsdy as olliccr and a vererinaryorficcr. They shouldbc aoreto theelepbantpopuhtion increascs.lf lhe elephantpoputdlion is maintainingitself asit appea.s1obe doing at present the foreslar nighl, whereadult iemalesmay be maredby in spiteof thehigh levelof man-mediareddealhs,then once wild adult males. In this captive popularion,dbout 74 theseare minimised,lhero would be su.plusanimals. The calveswerc bom to 37 femalesberween 1950 and 1983 questionthen arises as to whal is to be done with these (Sukumar,1989). The posibilily exists of esrablishingr ' aninals.Thebes1, mdperhaps the only solution,woutd be somewhalsi milar ElephantCcntrc" witb a semidomcsnc 10 capturesome animals for domesticadon,This iscenain populationin the nonh-wesrernregion close ro a reserle ro be a mosr uDpopular move with some wildlilb (e.g.Wilpanu NP)or whcrewild elephanrsconsra.rly occur enthusiasts,but, the possibilityof domeslicarionof some (e.g- in Oe proposedThnappee Narorc Rcserve).Th's alimdls shouldbe \eiroudy conridcrcd.Srnce rhe,e is a facihy would be differentfrom rhar in lndia in rh rhe high dcmandfordomes(icared clephanrs. disposing of the females orat de kepl aJe nor domcsticated.Such an animalswould noi be a proble'n.This would evengenerare endeavourwould belp to increasethe capLilc population income Lo parrially defray the costoflonservalion Both & well d. to imprcre rl'e pcne Fuul oa rhe.1pI.e malesand femalescould be capturedso ftat the sex ratio of the wild populationwill rcmainas closed possibleto fte ideal l:l ratio, dd the animalsfor capLurcmusl be carcfully selecled.Ir is sugSestedtbar relarively young animals ol less thaD 20 yeds ofago be caplured fo. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS domeslicadon,as this is a good age to stdt training .lepbants.Some counl.ies, such as South Atucaand Kenya, I am g.ateful !o rhc former Directo.s of the also periodicallycurl their elephanL(Lotodonta afrnota) Dcp.rnmenrol \\rldlitc Con\erv rul LD\ CJ Me"!. w popularlons,to ensurehabitar adequacy. A. Jayasinghe,C.P, Attanayake and N.W. DissanayaKeror g.anlingpemission to work in the PAs. Dr. Nrndana The DWC starlcda surveyof aU captiveelephmls Atapatlu(Deputy Director, Vererinary& Resear.h)and in Sril-anka, but the prcjec( lppeas to have cometo a Mr. K.C.Samson(DepDry Director Field Operariontfor sundstill half-way through. Such a prcjecr is vc.y providinginformation on ihportanr ticld acriviriesof the important,as i1 would give infomation on the distriburron, DwC, M. H.T.S.Fe.nando (RcgioDal Assisranr Dircctor status,numbe., structure and composi(ionol the captive norlh westernregioD)aod olher RegionalAssislanr Direc- popllationi and shouldbe comptetedas soon as possible rorsas well as ftc RangersMessrs B.V.R. Jayararne, B.A. and updatedpe.iodically. Mulhubanda,and W.A.Sarath and other field ofticeE and 8me guatdsof tLe DWC for then invaluablchelp dfins the neld work. The helpof Mesys S.P.U.PremAsu,oa, rr-rt u conseryation A.A. Weerakoon,R.M.D. Somearne, K. Manamcndra- Arachchi,and D.Gabadagein colleclingfield infbrmation The domesticelephant population in Sri Laoka in the southemrcSion is gratefuUyacknowlcdged. I am numbered?36 in 1946,bur at presenlthe numberis less also grdrofulro lale Mr- P-B.Coswarre oi Kekirawaibr rhanhall tha! becauserhere is no €plenishmenthom the accompanyingme and introducingme to va.iousi,mers wild. At present,ther€ is no nccessityfor d a-rir! ad othe6 in the north-westernregion which enabledme conservqtionprogramme. However, the domesricelephdt to colleclmuch information on elepbanldanageand socio populationcould be ihproved if therede captivebrceding economicsof ihe people,and Lo M6. JulianaCoswarie proS.amnes.To date,there have beenseveral successful for her kind hospitalityduring the work in the norrh, bi.d$ ofelephantsat the ElephantOrphanage at Pinnawala. westeroregion. Prcf.Chades Santiapilhi very kindly rcad Thereis a temendouspotenlial tor usingtrained elephrnls thc manuscriptmd suggesledmany valuablc imp.ole in narure-orientedlourism. mcnts.Thanks are also due ro Mr. T.s.B. Alagoda for drawing the ngures andb M6. Anoma Santiapiuailbr h South India, some captive elephantsare kept checkingthetypescript. Prcl: Padmade Silva prepted tbe undersemi-natural conditions, and lel out for feedinginlo summaryaDd rranslaledi1 into sinhdla lttn-Elerhdnt CuJlitt i" Sn Ldnku REFERENCES de Sllva, M., Jayaratne,B.V.R. & de Silva, P.K. 1997.A studyof clephantnovenems in RuhDnaNarion.l Park, Adans.F.D. 1929 Thc geologyoi Cellon.Cu,.1i"r., 1l: Sri Lanka1.!ra,/t Asianrat.Hist.,2(2): llj3-19E. 4255ll. Dissanayake,S.R.B. & Santiapillai,C.1998. ObscrlaLions on Anonynrous,1959. Rcpo.r on thc Confiirtee onPrcscrvation elephanlsinlhe Maduruoya nationalpark, Sd Lanka. ol Wildlita SessionalPaper, XIX. GovernmenlPrcs, Eisenberg,J.F.& tnckha(, M. 1972.An ecologicalrccon Anonymols. l9lj8. NationalA as o/ S,i .Irxtd. Survcl .riss.nceol wilpau! NrtionalPdk,Ccylon. $rr6,,k, Dcplrtmcntof Sri Lanka,Colombo. Contnb.Zaol., l0l)l\ l8 (ed.).l99r rraldwin.M.F Ndnral ResourcesoJ Sti Larka: Gard. 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