Thursday Sep 19, 2024
Thursday Sep 19, 2024
Saturday, 14 March 2015 00:08 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
There is currently a video clip going viral on the internet, both locally and internationally on news media channels, showing a drunk man taunting the famous tourism icon elephant, Rambo, on the bund of the Uda Walawe reservoir: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2987892/Trunk-disorderly-Drunk-man-lucky-escape-alive-starting-fight-ELEPHANT-killed-man-days-Sri-Lanka.html.
In spite of pleas by on-lookers, the man annoys the elephant by first lying down on the bank directly in-front of the elephant and then climbs through the electric fence and stands in front of the elephant. In addition he is accompanied by a child, who stands right behind him in the initial stages of the episode.
After patiently watching him scrambling around for a while, the elephant finally loses his temper, and lunges at the man, partially trampling him and then immediately walks away. Thankfully, the man doesn’t seem to be badly injured and is then he pulled up through the fence by onlookers.
It is a well-known fact that this elephant Rambo has been frequenting this area for more than a decade now, soliciting food from passers-by. Contrary to what is mentioned in the back up newsfeed with the video, this elephant has been very docile and had not harmed anyone outside the confines of the wildlife park.
He has of course got habituated to being fed by passers-by to the extent that he can be hand-fed. The passers-by get a one-kind of an unforgettable experience of seeing a wild elephant so close up. However, what many people seem to forget is that it is still a wild animal.
Due to their superior intelligence, elephants understand the concept of space and ‘comfort zones’. In this case Rambo is absolutely docile as long as people stay outside the boundary in ‘their space’. But if someone were to venture into its domain (like this drunken man did), then things can get quite dangerous.
Over the years, Rambo has become an icon for the Uda Walawe National park, and Sri Lanka Tourism in particular, as perhaps one of the best known ‘wildlife characters’ in Sri Lanka. It is because of foolhardy interaction by humans that these types of altercations occur. The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) with the help of LTL Projects Ltd. recently designed and put up boards warning passers-by not to feed the elephant along the bund.
In foreign countries animal rights are given very serious attention, and abusing an animal like this can result in a jail term. In fact, the DWC has the powers to fine and even arrest those who violate the wildlife laws of this country. However, no serious action has taken to prevent people indulging in these activities. For security reasons also, vehicles are not allowed to stop along the bund, but no one takes serious notice.
We tend to forget that Rambo is peacefully staying within the constraints of the boundary of the National Park, which by statute is reserved for Sri Lanka’s wildlife. These parks are meant for wild animals, and we are the trespassers. Very clearly this drunken man is trespassing inside the National Park, and the DWC has the full authority to arrest him. In this situation, although the number plates of the vehicles that were stopped, and the culprit also can be easily recognised from the video, no action has been taken by the DWC or anyone else.
The bigger issue is that this incident is a very newsworthy, emotional story, which is going viral over the internet. I counted at least 10 leading UK media houses who have given this incident wide publicity. All this does is further erode Sri Lanka’s standing in the international community, especially when the new team at Sri Lanka Tourism is trying to re-build the nation’s visibility and positioning.
The sad part is that if something more serious had happened, then the entire blame would fall on Rambo the elephant, resulting in the DWC trying to translocate him to another location, with the usual disastrous consequences.
Rambo has become an icon for the Uda Walawe National Park and has done his bit to promote wildlife tourism in Sri Lanka. Many of us elephant enthusiasts and researchers believe that Rambo, now in the twilight of his life, should be allowed to continue his vigil on the bund without disturbance.
