On November 4 we embarked on a gruelling, and eventful field trip to meet up with the senior ranger of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWLC) who had reportedly heard about Raja. We set off around 8.30 a.m., eastwards along the main Thanamalwilla road towards the Mau-ara DWLC ‘beat’ office, where we picked up ranger Gunawardene.
Since we had a DWLC official on board, we were able to cut through the UWNP, instead of going all the way around the eastern boundary. We had to ‘open’ up the electric fence ( by removing the removable insulated link of the fence) and get into the park.
We travelled towards Pokunutenna, and passed the new bungalow that had been built there. A little further, just at the border of the park boundary we came across a sad sight. It was a month-old carcass of a mature elephant. Gunawardene told us that it had died from gunshot injuries sustained outside the park.
Dead elephant
We once again ‘opened up’ the wire fence at the Pokunutenne ‘gate ‘ and moved out of the UWNP and drove along the narrow bund. We got on to the road coming from Hambegamuwa and passed Aluthwewe and proceeded northwards to Medabedda, which was close to Gunarwardene’s home, where he had heard of a tusker sighting. We spoke to many villagers and from the information we gathered, it seems that there are definitely two tuskers often sighted in the area.
By now a thunderstorm had developed and the going was tough, compounded by the fact that the trusty old Defender had an apology for a set of wipers, and a tarpaulin cover that unloaded buckets of accumulated rainwater from the hood, each time the vehicle braked! So it was a soggy crew that finally reached the Handagiriya DWLC office around 1.30 p.m. The senior ranger, Kaluaarachchi, was happy to see us and in spite of the heavy rain we decided to go into the park with him.
The terrain was different, with the range of hills we normally see in the far horizon from the other side of the park, now very much closer. We could clearly see the Samanalawewa power station penstock and the Diyawinni falls.
Very soon we saw our first elephant. It was interesting to note that they seemed to be wary of us. Another herd we came across retreated into the bushes, while one charged us without any warning whatsoever. This reminded me of the elephants in the UWNP in the late 1980’s. Elephants were not acclimatized to humans and jeeps back then, and I recall it was always two options…’flight’ or ‘fight’! Today however, a whole new generation are much more tolerant of the visitors. So we wondered whether these elephants on the northern side of the park, were therefore maybe living more permanently in the region, judging by their behaviour towards us.
We could not proceed much further due to the muddy terrain and had to turn back. We reached the office around 3 p.m., and rested for a while, and set off again on the long journey back. We decided to take another route along a narrow bund, passing some spectacular scenery, and soon arrived at the Pokunutenne entrance. We drove back along the main road of the park eager to get back to base camp soon.
But as always, UWNP never fails to deliver. By the side of the main road, we saw a herd with juveniles mud bathing and having a good time after the heavy rains. We watched their antics, as one elephant rolled over another, in blissful happiness.
We reluctantly wrenched ourselves away from the wonderful scene, and in the fast receding light, drove back via Mau-Ara , dropping off Gunawardene.
A hot water bath, cool beer, and a scrumptious Chinese meal at Kinjou Safari Village brought the wonderful day to a close.
However, the frustrating part of the trip was the total breakdown of our communication system. We had very poor coverage in the northern side of the park. Apart from uploading stuff via the wireless modems given to us free by Dialog, we were even unable to make voice contact with base camp- a serious problem which will warrant total re-thinking of our entire IT/communication strategy.
Findings to date
- The team has traversed the entire north-eastern, northern and north- western boundaries of the UWNP, and met more than 100 villagers and made them aware of our mission. We have shown them identi-kit photos of Raja, and given them calling cards with our RAJA hotline to inform us of any sightings.
- There definitely appears to be two areas of ‘elephant hot spots’. One is in the western side around the Galpaya /Panahaduwa area. The other is the north/north-eastern side ranging from Kalthota/ Rathabalagama/Illukpelessa/Aluthwewa areas.
- There have been about six different reported sightings ( from the hotline) of tuskers, more from the north/north eastern, side where it seems to be fairly certain that there are two tuskers around.
- We hope to intensify our search in the northern area next week and stay for several nights at a stretch in areas, where sightings have been reported, and do some night tracking as well.
4It is not going to be an easy task…it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack, but there appears to be fairly reliable sightings of what could be Raja in the past six weeks. This gives us some hope of a breakthrough soon…
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