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Elephants in Sri Lanka: Past Present and Future

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Elephants in Sri Lanka: Past Present and Future Policy issues Elephants in Sri Lanka: past present and future Prithiviraj Fernando Thus, a more realistic evaluation of the possible Center for Environmental Conservation, history of elephant populations in Sri Lanka is in order. Schermerhorn Extension, Columbia University Undoubtedly, the chronicle of elephant populations in 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York NY 10025, USA Sri Lanka is intricately linked with that of human presence e-mail: [email protected] in the island, and could be divided into four distinct periods: prehistoric, ancient civilization, colonial, and post-independence. Introduction The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is considered an The prehistoric period. During this period the island ‘endangered species’. Historically, the range of the Asian was sparsely populated by hunter-gatherers. There is elephant extended from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers no evidence of hunting of elephants by these people, in west Asia to the Yangtze-Kiang River in China (Olivier, who were also unlikely to have had a major impact on 1978). Exponential growth of human populations and landuse patterns. Thus, elephants would have inhabited attendant land use changes over the past few decades the entire island during this period and have had a stable have extirpated Asian elephants from approximately 85% population. The elephant under ‘natural’ conditions is a of their former range. As a ‘free ranging’ or ‘wild’ species, low-density species (Rudi van Aarde, pers. com), and the Asian elephant (hereafter, ‘the elephant’) is now ecologically it is an ‘edge species’ and a ‘pioneer species’. limited to a number of isolated and fragmented Thus, the wet and dry zone climax forests that would populations in thirteen south and southeast Asian states have clothed the island in the prehistoric era would not with a total estimated population of 35,000–50,000 have supported high elephant densities. Given the (Sukumar, 1989; Santiapillai and Jackson, 1990). extremely low densities of elephants reported from In Sri Lanka, as in the rest of Asia, the elephant has primary forest areas (McKay, 1973; Eisenberg, 1981) the been closely associated with man and has played a central total number of elephants is likely to have been role in the country’s economy, conflicts, religion, and comparatively low. The density of elephants in Wilpattu, culture for many millennia (Jayewardene, 1994). It which has a large extent of mature forest, has been continues to hold an important position in the religious estimated as 0.12 elephants per sq. km. (Eisenberg and and cultural traditions of the country and plays a Lokhart, 1972). As the entire island was likely to have significant and high profile role in the country’s been under primary forest cover, the average density of conservation efforts. elephants in Sri Lanka during the pre-historic period can be assumed to have been around 0.1 per sq. km. Thus, if Elephant population history elephants inhabited 90% of the island, the total elephant The current Sri Lankan population of free ranging population would have been around 5,000. elephants has been estimated at approximately 2,000– 4,000 (McKay, 1973; Santiapillai and Jackson, 1990; The ancient-civilization period. In 5th century BC, Jayewardene, 1994). Over the recent past, much people from the ancient civilization in India colonized apprehension has been expressed over the precipitous Sri Lanka and founded an agro-based civilization in the decline of the elephant in Sri Lanka, based on the premise dry zone of the country. Over the years, they constructed that the ‘historical population’ in the island was in the countless numbers of freshwater reservoirs by damming range of 12,000 (McKay, 1973) to 20,000 (Jayewardene, rivers and tributaries, and converted large extents of 1994). McKay’s estimate was based on the density of land in the dry zone to irrigated agriculture. The elephants in his study area in southern Sri Lanka and ‘hydraulic civilization’ that prospered as a result, used extrapolation of it to the total land area of the island. The elephants extensively in cultural events, wars, pageants, higher number of 20,000, was based on reported annual and as work animals (Jayewardene, 1994). Thus, while losses of approximately 195 elephants in the 19th century the agricultural land-use patterns no doubt excluded (Jayewardene, 1994), and does not take into account the elephants from the centers of civilization, their capture reproductive potential of elephant populations. An for domestication would have depleted elephant annual loss of 195 animals can probably be sustained populations in surrounding areas. indefinitely (without any decrease in numbers) by a During this period Sri Lanka was also famed as a population of around 4,000–5,000 elephants with a rate center of elephant commerce, both exporting and of increase of 4–5%, which is well within the rate of importing elephants to and from the mainland increase observed in elephant populations (Jayewardene, 1994). The export of elephants to the 38 Loris, Vol. 22, No. 2 mainland could be explained in terms of the higher value populations were exterminated, the populations in the placed on Sri Lankan elephants for use in work and war dry zone are likely to have undergone a resurgence and (Jayewardene, 1994). The need for importing elephants the total elephant population would have risen to into the country is more difficult to understand, especially unprecedented heights. Assuming elephants inhabited given the effort that must have been entailed in two-thirds of the land area at a density similar to that transporting elephants between the mainland and Sri observed by McKay (1973) in his study area, of 0.19 Lanka in that period. The only logical reason to import elephants per sq. km., the total elephant population in elephants from the mainland would have been that they this period could have been as high as 8,000. were different to those in Sri Lanka in some manner, the most obvious possibility being that they were tuskers. Post-independence period. The period following At present less than 7% of Sri Lankan males have tusks, independence from colonial rule represents the fourth whereas the incidence of tuskers varies between 45% in (current) phase of the saga of elephants in Sri Lanka. north India to almost 95% in south India (Sukumar, 1989). With exponential human population growth aided by Culturally, tuskers are highly prized and held in high the introduction of western medicine and modern esteem and even today, they are imported from the technology, subsequent governments in Sri Lanka turned mainland by prominent Sri Lankan temples. While it has to re-developing the dry zone for agriculture as the been suggested that the paucity of tuskers in Sri Lanka is answer to feeding the burgeoning human population. human induced (Kurt et al., 1995), it could also have Fueled by large-scale irrigation projects that dammed been a genetic cause such as a ‘founder effect’ or the major rivers and diverted the flow to rehabilitated and greater impact of genetic drift in a smaller Sri Lankan newly-constructed reservoirs, extensive areas of the dry population. A cause pre-dating the ancient civilization, zone were once again brought under irrigated therefore of genetic origin, is supported by the historical agriculture. Large-scale trans-migration programs re- import of elephants, even during the early periods of settled people from the crowded wet zone of the country the ancient civilization. in the newly-opened dry zone. While the landuse changes and capture for domestic- However, this time there was an important difference ation by people of the ancient civilization is likely to in how people perceived the elephant. Previously, when have depleted elephant populations in the dry zone extensive areas were converted to agriculture, elephants during this period, the sparsely settled wet zone and the in those areas were eliminated, possibly by capture central hills would have served as a refugia for elephants. during the ancient civilization period, and by shooting Thus, the total elephant population is likely to have in the colonial period. In contrast, during this fourth reached a low level as elephants would have been largely phase, modern environmental attitudes and the growing limited to the low carrying capacity wet-zone forests. awareness of the endangered status of elephants led to Assuming a density of around 0.1 per sq. km. and that attempts at preserving the elephants that inhabited areas elephants inhabited one-third of the island, the total cleared for agriculture, resulting in a dichotomy of population at this time could have been around 2,000. attempting to conserve elephants while drastically decreasing their habitat. The origin of the present high The colonial period. Around 15th century AD the level of human-elephant conflict (HEC) in Sri Lanka can civilization in the dry zone of the country declined, and be attributed to the attempt at pursuing these two the center of civilization shifted to the wet zone. Shortly fundamentally incompatible objectives. thereafter, the country came under colonial rule, during In the post-independence era, a number of protected which period the wet zone became densely populated areas (PAs) were designated, where elephants that and settled. Large-scale land-use changes through inhabited land cleared for agriculture were to be growing of cash crops and the systematic killing of accommodated. Elephants were translocated to these elephants by shooting, practically eliminated elephants PAs by elephant drives and chemical immobilization and from the wet zone during this period. However, the transport. However, in most instances, translocations secondary forests in the abandoned dry zone of the failed to eliminate elephants from developed areas, which country, together with the countless artificial freshwater was attributed to translocated elephants returning to reservoirs that were constructed during the height of their homelands (Jayewardene, 1994).
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