Dana Kucinski Journalism

I had the privilege of watching eight little Asian elephants taking their steps back in to the wild of  Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka. I couldn’t help but wonder how their lives could have been without the help of Elephant Transit Home. I got a lump in my throat but at the same time my face gleamed knowing that they had a future like many others who were rescued by Elephant Transit Home. Hope came across me as I witnessed the positive work happening before my eyes and the certainty that so many other elephants like these will also be given a second chance to live safely in the wild.

 Elephant Transit Home is a small rescue and rehabilition centre established in 1995 by the Department of Wildlife Conservation which is situated near Udawalawe National Park.

They rescue many baby elephants from the wild, which are mainly threatened by human conflict, attend to their medical needs then release them back in to Udawalawe National Park, an area free from threats and conflicts.

Despite the elephant being an honoured symbol of Sri Lanka, the conflict between humans and elephants still exists and is a major issue. Many farmers and tea plantation owners have trouble with marauding elephants and, as you can imagine, elephants can leave a massive trail of destruction as they go about their day foraging. To be fair, these elephants are finding their natural habitat shrinking before them so they are forced to move on to plantations. It doesn’t help when elephants have a large feeding and roaming range.

It is a constant battle to ensure the livelihoods of the Sri Lankan people and the protection and conservation of elephant populations. It is a battle that the Department of Wildlife Conservation and Elephant Transit Home continue to work on and hopefully, some time in the near future, a plan will be defined to the liking of both the people and elephants of Sri Lanka.

I was talking to Eeasha Nanayakkara, the Conservation Educationist of the Department of Wildlife Conservation and asked her what is being done at present to ease the conflict and what are the best solutions. She continued to tell me that it would be helpful if plantation owners allow elephants to go on to used and worn areas of crop because they will no longer be used. Though, it looks like this isn’t favoured by many of the owners. I saw her face grimace but as she turned again to watch the new baby elephants being fed that just arrived the past few weeks, she smiled with adoration. It was clear that she loved elephants, her Country and the work she did.

From the determination and love of Eeasha and the positive work from everyone working at Elephant Transit Home and the Department of Widlife Conservation, I somehow knew that the people and elephants of this beautiful Island I visited will live harmoniously, albeit it won’t be an easy ride to get there.

I stood silently watching the newcomers getting fed and looked forward to the day when they too will be released back in to the wild like the eight others who are now  in their natural habitat, roaming freely with other elephants. I smiled.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 11:20 pm and is filed under Wildlife Conservation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.