The elephant is the king of the Ceylon jungle. No other animal dares to
challenge his kingship. In their wild state, elephant live in small herds,
about twenty-five in each. A full-grown male is usually the leader of the herd.
Such a leader, in all his majesty and dignity, roams the jungle with his
followers. Some elephants have tusks from which we obtain ivory; but “tuskers”
are now rare in Ceylon.
Today, the Ceylon elephant belongs to a dying race. The opening up of
Ceylon’s forests for cultivation has steadily reduced the size of our jungles.
The elephant is thus deprived of his natural home and is sometimes forced to
roam on cultivated land. When this happens, the villagers shoot the animals.
There are about a thousand wild elephants in Ceylon today. To preserve the wild
elephant and other wild animals, the Ceylon Government has set aside certain
forest areas called “Game Sanctuaries” where animals can live in safety and
breed peacefully. No one is allowed to shoot in these areas. The Ruhunu
National Park is one of these deer and other animals can be seen there in their
natural surroundings.
A full-grown elephant eats a good lot of fodder a day. Elephant are fond of bathing and they spend hours in the water. They lie on their side on shallow river-beds and lift their trunks above the surface of the water. It is a very pretty sight to see baby elephants bathing. They are very playful and full of mischief, just like little children. Elephants have poor eyesight and people can approach within about a hundred yards of wild elephants. A famous photographer, Eric Swan, once dared to go so close to a wild elephant that he lost his life in the attempt. Sometimes old elephants develop solitary habits and become dangerous to people. They wander away from their herds and often attack human beings. Such an elephant is called a “Rogue Elephant” and the government issues licenses to people to shoot such dangerous animals.
A full-grown elephant eats a good lot of fodder a day. Elephant are fond of bathing and they spend hours in the water. They lie on their side on shallow river-beds and lift their trunks above the surface of the water. It is a very pretty sight to see baby elephants bathing. They are very playful and full of mischief, just like little children. Elephants have poor eyesight and people can approach within about a hundred yards of wild elephants. A famous photographer, Eric Swan, once dared to go so close to a wild elephant that he lost his life in the attempt. Sometimes old elephants develop solitary habits and become dangerous to people. They wander away from their herds and often attack human beings. Such an elephant is called a “Rogue Elephant” and the government issues licenses to people to shoot such dangerous animals.
From very early times the elephant has been trained to help man in various
ways. It acts as a beast of burden for us and it ploughs our fields. It is also
used in peraheras. What would the annual Kandy Perahera be without its richly
dressed elephants? Have you seen the famous Maligawa Tusker Raja who carries
the sacred Tooth Relic at the Perahera?
Sri Daladamaligawa
Sri Daladamaligawa
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