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BY Derrick Schokman
PINNAWELA Elephant Centre, established in February 1975 by
the Wildlife Conservation Department, was taken over by the
National Zoological Gardens at Dehiwela in 1938.
Frolicking in the Ma-Oya
It started as an orphanage for elephant calves found in the wilds, bereft of
their mothers who most usually lost their lives in the ongoing conflict between
man and beast.
The Centre later developed into a safe haven for adult wild elephants too
who required human assistance.
At the inception there were only five orphaned calves. But now thirty years
later there is a total of 70 elephants brought in from the wilds, varying in age
from a four-month old calf to a 64-year-old tusker blind in both eyes.
The tusker's keeper told me that the day he was brought to Pinnawela by the
staff of the Wildlife Conservation Department, he was fighting mad - the most
difficult beast that they ever had to restrain and control. In his new home this
blind tusker is at least in peace and docile as ever.
There is also a female elephant named Sama - an unfortunate victim of the
recent civil war in the North and East, who had part of a front foot blown off
by a land mine.
This foot is about six inches shorter than the others, but it does not stop her
from mingling and getting about with the rest of the herd.
Present herd
The present captive herd at Pinnawela is comprised 27 males and 43
females, confined to a 25 acre cleared old coconut block of land. There are
28 mahouts to look after them.
The fact that the herd is allowed unfettered movement during the day is the
primary attraction specially at bath time when they are allowed to frolic in the
nearby Maha-oya.
64-year-old blind tusker
The flat rocky bottom of the river provides a large number of shallow pools,
allowing the animals to splash and lie down to be scrubbed by their keepers.
Some of them scamper across the shallow river to the other side to scrape
the mud off the high bank and cover themselves with mud.
The other attraction is bottle-feeding the calves. Each one gets seven
giant-sized bottles of milk plus five other meals a day.
River bathing takes place twice daily between 10 a.m. and 12 noon and 2
p.m. and 4 p.m.
Bottle feeding may be seen at 9.15 a.m., 1.15 p.m. and again after 4 p.m.
Adult animals are tethered for the night in their stalls between 4.30p.m. and 6
p.m. at which time they are given their evening feed of coconut, kitul,
tamarind, jak leaves, some logs, plus a mixture of maize, rice bran, powdered
gingelly seed and minerals.
Captive breeding
Entertainment however is not the only purpose of this elephant centre.
Captive breeding is an important objective.
Birth of elephants in captivity in Sri Lanka has been rare. Partly due to a lack
of a herd instinct, and other practical difficulties such as the inability to
coordinate the breeding activities of work elephants, and the loss of revenue
when females become pregnant. The pregnancy period is over 20 months.
The first calf in this captive breeding scheme was born on July 5, 1984. She
was a female named Sukumalee. Her mother was Kumari and her father
Vijaya, 20 and 21 years old respectively.
Although females were seen to reach sexual maturity between 10 and 12
years, and males between 12 and 15, the practice of mating was observed to
be most successful between 20 and 25 years.
Between 1984 and 1997 there were 12 more births.
The calves were born to seven females. Two males sired 80 per cent of the
births. This identification was made possible by DNA testing.
The two males involved were Vijaya and Neela who sired seven and five
respectively.
Vijaya and Kumari produced three calves at intervals of 4 and 5 years
respectively, a calving interval that is normal for Asia. The birth weight of
Kumari's third calf was a healthy 86 kg. the oldest female to calve at
Pinnawala was 45 years. She calved again when 54 years.
The youngest female to calve at Pinnawala was Sukumalee, the first baby to
be born there in 1984. She gave birth to a calf on February 7, 1997 starting
a second generation of births in captivity.
The breeding program at Pinnawala has demonstrated that it is practically
possible to maintain and increase the population of elephants in captivity
within the social structure of a small herd, contributing to a more viable
genetic diversity at the same time.
Future development
The aim now is to increase the number of elephants at Pinnawala to one
hundred on the same 25 acre block. The authorities do not consider it
necessary to extend the land area, since the elephants are stall-fed,
adopting a system of cut and carry as for farm animals.
Further improvements however are expected for the benefit of both
elephants and visitors. These include a waterhole for bathing within the
premises, open feeding area, mini-laboratory, X-ray unit and restraining
facilities for elephants.
An up-to-date visitors' complex is also envisaged with baggage and security
rooms, coffee shop, souvenir shop, information unit and video facilities to
provide a clearer understanding of the need for elephant conservation and
management
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