For a long time I have been anticipating going to Pinawalla Elephant Orphanage, an hour west of Kandy. It was established in the early 70s with 5 orphaned elephants, and has since developed into a herd of 86 elephants, with the most successful captive breeding program for elephants in the world - 50 live births since its establishment.
We arrived early in the morning so that we could see the elephants before the tourists flogged the park at about 9am. We entered what was effectively a giant open elephant house, with some elephants chained to the floor and others roaming around. Over the next hour all of the elephants were progressively unchained and released to go up the hill to another viewing area more open to the public. Whilst there we walked freely amongst the elephants, stroked them and fed them. There were even a couple of 1-2 year old elephants that were really playful - just imagine a playful puppy the size of a cow with a flexible, inquisitive phallic nose and you pretty much have the experience we had. It was fantastic to interact with the elephants, both young and old - it was surprisingly similar to being amongst a herd of cows, with the elephants showing a similar degree of docile inquisitiveness and endless hunger for plantlife.
A stark reminder to the role of this centre as an orphanage and a centre for protecting elephants was presented starkly in the form of one elephant, who had stepped on a land mine. She has three legs, and although she has adapted to walk, she cannot walk quickly and would not keep up with a wild herd. They did try to build her a prosthetic, although she rejected it in favor of her new gait and her adaptations to life with 3 legs.
There was one incident where one elephant was obviously not too fond of us, and tried to head-butt us, and then tried to punch us with her trunk. We were pretty happy for the chain at this point, but judging by the rest of the herd we encountered this is a relatively unique case amongst females. The males however are innately slightly more aggressive, especially in Mush (their testosterone fuelled equivalent of "heat" in female dogs) when they have to be Chained up away from the herd until mush is over.
When all of the elephants had been released and walked up to the larger feeding plain, the tourists began to arrive in droves. This was the first point in which our idealistic vision for the orphanage started to break down. The early part of the morning had been an intimate experience with the elephants, but on the arrival of I would estimate 300 tourists (just the beginning) turned the whole place into a spectacle. The whole vista seemed like something out of Jurrasic Park (hence the blog name), with these huge lumbering creatures bumbling across the view, with the backdrop of a tropical forest. This was further helped by the fact that a lot of the noises of various creatures on Jurrasic Park are in fact taken from elephant noises, occasionally in composite with other creatures to create the desired effect.
Next we received our second dose of disappointment with the running of the orphanage, as the two young elephants we had played with earlier were taken to one of the elephant sheds, chained to the floor, and then surrounded by at least 500 tourists, all squabbling for a place close to the barrier, which the elephants could reach at the very end of its tether. You could then pay a nominal fee to queue to feed a bottle of milk to the elephant, whilst all of the other people taunted the young elephants, poked them in the face, encouraged by the poor creatures growls of discontent to poke more (mainly the children who didn't seem to have any appreciable parental presence).
The elephants were then herded by mahoots (obviously using their spear) down to the river to wash. The river is overlooked by seating for what must be 1000 people in various "elephant view hotels" and cafes etc. These seats were all taken, and many more people still were standing, both in the stands and down by the water itself, up to the "do not cross" line. Here the tourists became even more abhorant, throwing anything they could find to see if they could get the elephants to eat it. Just in the period of time we were there we saw several full drinks cartons (including the carton) and a tube of pringles (including the tube) thrown to the elephants for their delectation. Much to my horror the elephants ate the pringles, tube and all (not the metal bit) but it left me wondering what kind of people could make the journey all the way to Sri Lanka, to visit wildlife, and show its welfare such contempt.
With 16,000kg of food being required daily, as well as the employment of mahoots, vets, and many other administrative staff, the money from the tourists is essential for the maintenance of the park, and the work it is doing to conserve elephants , although I just wish that there was a way to attract tourists to the park without creating stress for its resident elephants.
Talking to the head Vet at the orphanage was an eye-openning experience. He explained the concern he had for the stress that tourists could cause the elephants (not to mention the pringle related damage) but he also explained the help they gave to the weaker members of the herd as well as the breeding program they have to help preserve the animals for future generations. Weaker members bathe in the river seperately to the main herd, and are given extra care, and food, which they certainly would not get in the wild. Another had its scapula (shoulder blade) broken in a fight with another elephant, and instead of being left to die, she is being given calcium supplements and is having most of her weight supported in a large cradle device made in-house, giving her the best chance to recover and rejoin the herd in a couple of months time.
Overall, I fully understand and appreciate the controversy which has formed around Pinnawalla in the press, as although it does provide care for orphaned elephants, and those born in captivity, these elephants can only ever be described as "semi-wild", as they can never be reintroduced to the wild, even if they encourage herd interactions of a similar kind to those you see in the natural world. It is a brilliant facility, with dedicated workers, but the need for money from tourists is changing it from what could be a true recreation of wild life for the elephants in semi-captivity to a conveyor-belt of spectable for the benefit of the tourists, sometimes to the detriment of the very elephants that the centre is there to look after.
This is likely to be my last blog from here - I am going to attend the Kandy Perahera (Kind of a carnival, but exchange the floats with elephants draped with Christmas lights - similar to what I saw in Anuradhapura) although I leave here at 4am on Monday. I feel I have one more blog in me, but it shall not be written until I am safely back in Blighty. So thanks to anyone who has stuck with me so far - only one more to read :) xx
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