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Jumbo
lessons from Kerala
The
temple is famous in many ways, one being for elephants. Guruvayoor
owns 59 elephants, four females, three maknas (tuskless male) and
fifty two tuskers. Many of them are offerings from devotees. The state of
Kerala has around six hundred captive elephants. 90% in their population
of male elephants are tuskers compared to Sri Lanka's 7%. No expert
has an The tuskers
of Kerala are venerated and respected as only they take part in
Pooram, the colourful temple ceremonies like our Peraheras. In comparison
to Sri Lanka where elephants take part in Buddhist and Hindu (Peraheras
and seldom in Radam or Vel) ceremonies only, the Kerala elephants
serves many religions. While being inseparable from Hinduism, the
elephant is also a part of Christian and Islamic ceremonies. Last October
I was lucky to be in Peechi, a small town in Kerala, where a church
festival was in progress. The people of the area were getting ready
to pay homage to St. John. Each village had a procession of its
own with two to three tuskers. In bright sunshine, their head dresses
glittered in gold and they wore silver bells around their necks
and feet. They added the cymbals to the rhythm of the traditional
Kerala drums, quite similar to the beat of our own Hewisi. Glittering
in gold, ivory and glamour the majestic creatures marched in the
spectacular procession. Managing tame
elephants is a daunting task. Officers engaged in Wildlife, Forestry,
Agriculture are all a part of the elephant management team in the
state. Kerala is not
short of experts. Prof. K.C. Panikar has a wealth of experience
in veterinary care, Ayurvedic medication and also in the techniques
of elephant keeping. His colleagues Profs. Muraleetharan Nayar,
Jacob Cheeran, K. Chandrasekharan and Radakrishnan are all experts
in their field. Between October 25-29 a group of experts from all
parts of the world met these dedicated elephant men in Kerala during
a symposium organized by the Elephant Welfare Association of Kerala,
to discuss and share their knowledge on the management of captive
Asian elephants. Experts from Asian countries Malaysia, Burma, Sumatra,
Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and most states of India presented
papers. Sri Lankan
environmentalists represented at this symposium were Drs. Jayanthi
Alahakoon, Ganga Wijesingha and Samanthi Mendis from the National
Zoological Department, Drs. Aso-ka Dangolla and Deepani Jayantha
from the University of Peradeniya and Jayantha Jayewardene of the
Biodiversity and Elephant Conservation Trust. Many foreign delegates
showed their interest and keenness in our elephants and their management.
Many questions
came up regarding the Pinnawela Orphanage and the Elephant Transit
Home at Udawalawe. This was a
clear indication that we have people around the world who would
help us in conserving our own elephants. Sri Lanka's captive elephant
population is dwindling very fast. In 1970 a survey conducted by
Jayasinghe and Jainudeen showed a figure of 532. In 1982 the Department
of Wildlife Conservation survey showed a figure of 344. A recent
count by Jayawardena and Rambukpotha shows 193 in the entire island.
There is no
doubt about the rapid decrease during the past three decades but
the question remains as to what the reason is and what we should
do about it. It cannot go
unchecked as Sri Lanka's captive elephants are a great part of the
culture of thes people of this country especially of the Buddhists.
Local elephant owners have formed an Association of their own, the
Captive Elephant Owners' Association of Sri Lanka. It may be useful
if this organization strengthens its ties with its Kerala counterpart. |
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