Ravi Palihawadanas Response to Mr. R.A.

Ratwatte that the Newspapers Did Not Publish

While calling me a greenie (Domesticating elephants, Opinion, The Island, 13 Sept), Mr. R. A. Ratwatte (RAR) of Kandy tries to romanticize the taming of elephants, conveniently glossing over the objectionable aspects of the practice. But to the discerning reader who reads between the lines, this other aspect is patently evident. RAR: "We picked a coconut estate , in a fairly remote area with good access to a river. RP: This is exactly one point that we animal lovers keep harping on. Elephants in the wild are free

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roaming and wide ranging animals. They cannot and should not be kept in confined places. How many of the elephant-keeping aristocrats and the nouveau riche who would do anything to obtain one to keep as a status symbol, let alone city temples, have enough space in their premises to keep an elephant nowadays?

RAR: We also fed her treacle and jaggery" RP: While this may endear Mr. Ratwatte to some readers, he is in fact doing a disservice to Kiri.

Treacle and jaggery are not part of the natural diet of elephants. Captive elephants are often fed with diets that lack variety and are nutritionally inadequate and well-meaning but misguided elephant lovers often treat elephants with the wrong kind of food that is detrimental to their long term health. RAR: Having Rani was also very helpful because she was able to communicate with Kiri Rani started lactating and decided that this calf was hers. RP: Yes, elephants are social animals that cannot and should not be kept in solitary confinement. That Rani started lactating dramatises this fact. However, most elephant keepers and city temples neither have the space nor can afford the expense of keeping more than one elephant. So they have to be kept in solitary confinement in chains stunting them emotionally and making them either aggressive or resort to stereotypical behavior of nodding, body swaying, swinging of the trunk etc.

RAR: Initially Kiri was tied to Khadira ... This meant that Kiri was compelled to do everything Khadira did RP: We believe nature and evolution have bestowed elephants with all the training they require and

they do not need the avuncular help of the likes of RAR and Khadira in terms of training in life skills. RAR: As you may have gathered sometimes has to be cruel to be kind" RP: How cruel you have to be to be kind?

RAR: Appeals for rationality and good sense from all those who are genuinely interested in the well being and survival of our very own Elephas Maximus Maximus. Rationality that ensures the wild elephants live with dignity and relative comfort and the age old art of domesticating elephants is not forgotten as an alternative to culling. RP: According to RAR, Kiri was so weak that when she lay down she needed help to get up again.

Marauding elephants who come to villages in search of food are generally the most aggressive ones. If they are caught in order to be trained they will resist violently and get themselves cut badly by the restraining ropes that will result in horrific injuries and death. The solution elephant experts suggest to alleviate Human Elephant conflict (HEC) is to refrain from encroaching on land where elephants live, to leave wide corridors for elephants to roam, and to put up electric fences to deter them from wandering into villages. RAR: W atch the majestic Nadungamuwe Raja walking in the perehera with his mahout well to the rear. RP: As an animal lover, my idea of a majestic elephant is not one who stands still when it is asked to, who does banal, boring and dangerous work day after day, hauling logs with its mouth damaging its teeth and being paraded few times a year in religious pageants. My idea of a majestic beast is one who roams the wild with its herd and who passes on its superior genes to the coming generations.

Ganga of Gangarama Temple, 61, Sri Jinaratana Road, Colombo 2, Sri Lanka (e-mail: gt@gangaramaya.com) Sleeping on its urine and feces (Picture Credit: Ms. Laurene Knowles)

RAR: The "Bull hook" is custom manufactured This was the practice but I am sure it has died out now as has the art of a genuine elephant keeper. RP: Not only there is a dearth of genuine elephant keepers nowadays, there is a dearth of good

mahouts and people who know the art of manufacturing the implements of cruelty needed for the practice. Keeping elephants in captivity is a practice that is dying a natural death. Trying to revive this vile practice is not only an ill-informed scheme but one that will ultimately result in the death of many magnificent beasts that are peacefully roaming the wild at present. It is far easier to wake up somebody in deep slumber than someone who is pretending to be asleep. Mr. Ratwatte knows very well the cruelties involved with elephant keeping but steadfastly refuses to acknowledge them. Id rather a greenie be Than an elephant keeper airy Who tamed little Kiri Feeding her treacle and jagry While keeping her away from Aunt Rani Ravi Palihawadana