International Conference on Asian Elephants in Culture & Nature
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Item Success of Rehabilitation of Orphaned Elephant (Elephas maximus) Calves in Sri Lanka(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Perera, B.V.; Jayawardena, K.N.; Prasad, T.At present, the natural range of the Asian elephant is confined to 13 countries in Asia. Compared with these countries Sri Lanka harbours more than 6000 elephants who represent approximately 10% of the global Asian elephant population. Even though Sri Lanka is an island with an extent of 65610 km2 and over 22 million people, 14% of its land has been devoted for its wildlife. Human-elephant Conflict (HEC) is, however, the major wildlife conservation issue faced in Sri Lanka. An average of about150 elephants associated with human elephant conflicts die annually and 10 to 15 elephant calves orphaned. The Elephant Transit Home (ETH) in Sri Lanka was established in 1995 for rescue and rehabilitation of orphaned elephant calves. This is the world’s first facility established for rehabilitation of Asian elephants. Over the last 21 years, ETH has received 305elephant calves as orphans from throughout the country, comprising 181 males and 124 females of ages between less than one week:14 (5%), 1 week to 3 months:105 (35%), 3 months to 1 year: 98(32%), 1 to 2 years: 47 (15%) and over 2 years:41 (13%). Orphaned elephant calves are usually found in areas where HEC is intense. The calves are usually found in a critical condition due to dehydration, starvation, poor body condition, heavy parasitic burden, infected wounds and congenital abnormalities. Of the orphans ETH has received, 137 (46%) have died with 112 (86%) of mortalities occurring within 2 months of arrival and 5 of them have died during transportation. Even though, the mortality is higher in new arrivals, after introduction to the rehabilitation group, the mortality rate is 3%. ETH has developed a process for rehabilitation and release of orphaned elephants by empirical methods, with the release of 103 rehabilitated calves a ratio of 53 males to 50 female50) back into the wild, where they are tracked and closely monitored. Among them, only 7 (5 male/2 female) deaths have been recorded, while 15 of the released females have given birth to calves. A further 21 (16 male and 5 female) elephant calves have been transferred from ETH to other elephant facilities. As of July 2016, 41 elephant calves are undergoing rehabilitation at ETH. Conflicts over space and resources between elephants and people appear to be the principal source of orphaned elephants in Sri Lanka, although some weak calves may also become orphans as a result of rejection by their mothers. The high mortality of elephant calves occurs mostly just after arrival at ETH. The successful reintegrationof released elephants with their wild counterparts and reproduction observed in the released females are the major indicators of the success of this rehabilitation program.Item Social Behaviour of Marshy Elephants in Wasgamuwa National Park(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Attanayake, A.B.This paper will present identifiable behaviour patterns of marshy Elephants (elephas maximus maximus vil- aliya) which are a subspecies of Sri Lankan (elephas maximus maximus) Indian (Indicus) and Sumatra elephants. As marshy elephants inhabit Wasgamuwa National Park and suburban areas in Sri Lanka, they are identified as “Wasgamuwa Elephants”. This subspecies mostly resides near water sources and grasslands in tropical, semi-evergreen forests. It seems that they mainly favour lush and scrub in the park but use different habitats like nomads around principle areas. It is estimated that 150 of the elephants in the park include 12- 15 cows and calves in a herd. Sri Lankan marshy elephants are capable of sharing territory with other creatures. Wasgamuwa elephants inherently show signs of uneasiness in awkward moments and are more aggressive than other relatives like Adams Peak mountain elephants, Yala and Udawalawe elephants. They also have a strong family bond. Behavioral patterns demonstrated by this mammal include their thinking capability, reminiscence power, teaching and learning patterns, imitating role models and communicating by infrasonic levels. This data is collected by utilising the participatory observation method and recorded data of The Wild Life Conservation is also used as secondary data. These positive behaviour patterns show how these elephants survive and how comfortable they are in the park surrounding them, both psychologically and physically. Further, this behavior also reveals that well-trained park conservation officers are looking after them. The Wasgamuwa elephants are energetic elephants since the park provides a very good environment for a suitable habitat.Item An Exploration of the Motherland of Asian Elephants with Special Reference to Historical Records from 5th Century BC to 15th Century AD(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Bogahawatta, C.Elephants, in the Sri Lankan society, are treated with a certain degree of respect and devotion. With the introduction of Buddhism to the country in the 3rd Century BC, elephants gained a prominent place in the Sri Lankan culture. Literary sources of ancient Sri Lanka, make reports of instances in which elephants have played a significant role in religious functions as well as political functions such as enthroning the king. This is evidence of the significant role attributed to the elephants in the cultural and religious contexts of the Sinhalese society. Since Sri Lanka was located in the centre of the Indian Ocean with active natural harbours, she was popular among foreign nations as favourable trade centre. This is evident from the entries in the journals of ancient Greek, Roman, Arabic and Chinese travellers since the 5th Century BC. Voyagers, historians, merchants, as well as geologists such as Onesicritus (4th Century BC), Megasthenes (4th Century BC), Solinus Polyhistor (1st Century AD), Dionysius Periegetes (1st Century AD), Aelian (170-235 AD), Cosmas (550 AD), Athanasius Nikitin (15th Century AD) and Ludovico de Varthema (16th century AD) have made such informative records of the Asian elephant. They have also devised some criteria to distinguish Asian elephants from other species. These criteria include their intelligence, efficiency and military calibre. Once all their records are thoroughly examined it can be righteously concluded that Sri Lanka was the motherland of the Asian elephants prior to the Europeans’ conquest of Asia. Reports about elephants appearing in the works of the afore mentioned foreign writers ranging from the 5th Century BC to the 16th Century AD have been cited as primary sources for this research.Item A Case of Anthrax in Wild Elephant from Western Ghats Region of Tamil Nadu, India(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Manoharan, N.S.; Senthilkumar, K.; Jayathangaraj, M.G.All mammalian species including human being is virtually affected by highly contagious zoonotic disease called Anthrax. Anthrax is caused by Bacillus anthracis, a Gram-positive, non-motile sporulating rod bacterium. Although this disease is well documented in wild herbivores of India, it is rarely seen among elephants in Tamil Nadu. On 14th September, 2011, the death of a wild elephant was reported by the forest range officer to the Forest veterinary officer, Coimbatore. A detailed examination of the carcass revealed the absence of rigor mortis, dark tarry blood exuded from the natural orifices (does not clot), rapid putrefaction, and subcutaneous swellings were noted. Based on the features the disease was suspected to be anthrax. With suspected diagnosis, the blood smears were prepared from a dead elephant. The smears were fixed and stained Leishman stains. Blood smear stained with Leishman's stain revealed numerous blue rods with typical truncated ends in short chains. Polychrome methylene blue staining was done for the demonstration of capsule. It revealed blue colored bacilli with pink colored capsular material, the 'Mac Fadyean’ reaction. On nutrient agar, irregularly round colonies of about 4 mm in diameter, flat, dull, opaque, greyish-white and a frosted glass appearance were noticed. The typical 'medusa head appearance' is noticed under low magnification. On blood agar, the colonies were weakly hemolytic. 'Bamboo stick' appearance was appreciated when Gram's stained culture smear was examined. As anthrax was confirmed, the post-mortem was not conducted. Although deep burial of carcass is permitted, the carcass was incinerated in the forest area to prevent further spread of disease due to scavenging of other wild animals. Consequent upon the incidence, ring vaccination programme for cattle, sheep and goat with anthrax spore vaccine was launched, completing the process in the villages bordering the affected forest area.Item The Close Relationship between the Tusker and Buddhism(Centre for Asian Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2016) Bandara, D.J.M.R.V.Asian elephants are long-lived mammals who live for sixty years. They are highly intelligent and also extremely sociable and stay in groups. These mammals have a close relationship with humans for over centuries serving as work animals and playing an important role in religious and cultural events. The research question is why only the tusker and not the elephant is used in Buddhist cultural events. The main objective of this research is to find the reason of using the tusker in Buddhist cultural events. Mainly a literature survey was conducted in this research to collect data. Among them only qualitative data was analysed in this academic work. Through the analysis, it was found that the tusker is used in the stories related to Buddha’s life, Tales of Pansiya panas jathaka and in Perahera festivals. The most important finding is that it is always the tusker which is mentioned and not the elephant in the above references. According to the biological factors all the Asian elephants do not have tusks. In some of the male elephants, a pair of incisors may become elongated into tusks. Because of this speciality, tuskers might have been used as a symbol for the Lord Buddha as He also was special among general human beings.