Residential training for mahouts on elephant care

Sri Lanka Tourism, in collaboration with the Central Provincial Council, is geared up to sponsor a new project in providing residential training on elephant care for the elephant mahouts in the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. 

This is scheduled to be held on 6 July at the Peradeniya University premises under the patronage of Minister of Sustainable Development and Wildlife Gamini Jayawickrema Perera. This program promises a good initiative on encouraging the public to have a positive impact on the mahouts and help reduce the human-elephant conflict. 

The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is the second largest tourist attraction next to the Sri Dalada Maligawa, Kandy and 45% of tourists visit the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. This is the best known elephant orphanage only for elephants apart from the Ath Athuru Sevana in Udawalawa. 

The training program will create awareness on how to treat these gentle giants with much care and compassion and encourage more people to be interested in this field. Already there are a few female mahouts who have taken up this field as their profession. Therefore, it is important to improve the facilities, necessary awareness and training to take care of elephants, majestic creatures who have been respected since ancient times for their wisdom and intelligence. 

Prominent attractions such as Pinnawala are a great asset to Sri Lanka’s tourism and economic sector. During the past few years, a great deal of misinformation was circulated about this orphanage, calling it a “dungeon for elephants” and about the cruelty of the caretakers which became a subject of social discussion. One basic intention of this training program is to rectify the wrong impression which has been given about the mahouts at Pinnawala. Due to the lack of education and the social background, these people do not have the necessary knowledge or the responsibility to take care of these animals. Therefore, there should be a proper training given to all elephant caretakers according to an internationally-recognised format.  Twentyfive senior caretakers selected from the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and Dehiwala Zoo will undergo a six-day residential training program including fieldwork in Giritale. Officials of the Zoological Department, Department of Wildlife, veterinary surgeons and university lecturers will also take part in this program to share their knowledge and expertise.

According to Professor Ashoka Dangolla, Head of Department of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Peradeniya, this is the second training program they are conducting for mahouts in Pinnawala and it is a very important step taken by the relevant authorities since a negative impression has been circulated about the harassment of elephants in society. They can only talk about the negative aspects of this matter without coming up with proper solutions. 

In this regard, training with scientific knowledge will be important and there will be some training related to social activities and etiquette. 

High profile experts will conduct lectures and different methods of teaching are expected. This training program will also coincide with the 75th anniversary celebrations of the University of Peradeniya.