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Mirigama’s baby jumbo happy at transit home
Since he was temporarily released to the wildlife authorities by the Gampaha High Court on July 18, the Mirigama baby elephant is now leading a healthy, playful life with fellow elephants his own age, officials at the Udawalawe Elephant Transit Home told the Sunday Times.
The baby elephant, or Hamu, as his caretakers at the transit home now call him, was rescued by wildlife officials back in February, along with an adult male elephant named Wasala. The two elephants were found chained to wooden columns in the premises of a place called Kandalama Walawwa, or Baby Mahattaya’s Walauwwa, at Giriulla Road, Mirigama.
One of the baby elephants chained to wooden columns
When the raiding officers found Hamu, he had severe injuries on all four of his ankles caused by tethering marks, and a festering abscess on his left side the veterinarian present said was most likely caused by a tranquiliser dart.
At the time, no one at the premises was able to provide the officers with valid licensing or registration documents for the confined elephants. Subsequently, the Department of Wildlife and Conservation (DWC) took the case to the Attanagalla Magistrate’s Court for violations under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO) and the Public Property Act.
After a couple of hearings at the Magistrate’s Court, two monks, Ven. Anamaduwe Dhammadassi Thera and Ven Thumbulle Seelakkanda Thera, claimed ownership of Wasala, the adult elephant. The Court ordered Wasala to be released from the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and handed over to Ven. Dhammadassi Thera, once registration documents for the elephant was presented that the court could recognise as valid.
Around the same time, another lawyer appeared on behalf of Ven. Kolonnawe Sri Sumangala Thera, head monk of the Pannipitiya Dewuram Vehera, and presented a permit to the court saying Hamu belonged to Ven. Sumangala Thera. The DWC, however, found several anomalies in the permit, which was issued in 2008. The photograph of the elephant the permit was issued for did not resemble Hamu. The permit was issued for a female elephant while Hamu is male. The permit issued was for a 10-year-old elephant.Veterinarians determined Hamu to be around three years old.
Despite a report submitted by the DWC to the court listing issues with the permit, on April 7 the Attanagalla Magistrate ordered Hamu be released to the Pannipitiya Dewuram Vehera, much to the outrage of many wildlife activists and organisations.
If the police stop a vehicle on the road and the driver presents papers which police say are not valid but the Magistrate releases him, there’s obviously a problem there, Sujeewa Jayasinghe, managing director of the Centre for Eco-cultural Studies (CES), an NGO focusing on environmental research, said.
CES, along with International Animal Welfare Association, filed a revision and an appeal of the April 7 Attanagalla Magistrate’s order at the Gampaha High Court. The NGOs withdrew their cases when the newly set up animal unit at the Attorney General’s Department also filed a revision following requests by wildlife activists. (Hamu’s case is the first, and so far the only, case to be handled by the new unit.) The Gampaha High Court issued an interim order on July 18 to have Hamu released to the transit home pending the court case.
“At this point we don’t want to say the Magistrate’s Court decision was wrong, or that the monk has committed an offence,” a state lawyer involved with the case said. “So far the claimant has been unable to produce a valid permit, therefore pending a final court decision, custody of the baby elephant has been handed over to the Wildlife Department.”
Now at the transit home, Hamu has been happily welcomed by other baby elephants, W.A.A.D.U Indrajith, assistant director with the DWC and the officer who led the raid that rescued Hamu, said.
“Last time I saw him, when all the baby elephants went to be fed, they rubbed up against Hamu, entangled their trunks with his and accepted him,” he said. “He’s doing quite well at the transit home.”