11th January 1998

Happy ending to 'Operation bear'

By Arshad M.Hadjirin

In Omantai, while the war raged around them, a group of soldiers rescued a severely injured bear from the battlefield.

The animal had been hurt in a grenade attack and was close to death, when the forces decided to urgently airlift her to the care of Wild Life authorities.

Today the bear is on its feet, taking food, its wounds healing from the trauma. Receiving treatment in Colombo, the animal is expected to be released to a National park once completely cured. Wild Life Department officials claim that it is nothing short of a miracle that the bear has regained consciousness and survived the ordeal, even with one eye blind.


According to Dr. Nandana Atapattu , the bear is a mother who had calved just a few months earlier, and it is feared that the tiny cub would have been on the back of its mother at the time of the attack.

The bear appears to be a young adult, not more than three years .

Dr.Atapattu explaining the sequence of the bear's marvellous escape from death, said that it all started on December 28, when an army spokesman told him about an injured bear. "The incident occured in Puttur, Omanthai. The soldiers treated the bear the way they would treat an injured soldier. The bear had sustained 36 superficial injuries, and two bad injuries on the head, and although we appreciate the treatment provided by the forces it was not appropriate for the injuries that the animal had sustained," said Dr. Atapattu .

Soon the army airlifted the bear, to the Anuradhapura Wild Life Department for expert treatment under Veterinary Surgeon Dr.Tharaka Prasad. As the response was yet unsatisfactory the bear was brought to Colombo on January 2.

After nearly a week of coma, the bear first showed signs of recovery last Tuesday, when it opened its right eye and started moving its limbs. By Wednesday it was able to stand on its feet and all superficial wounds were slowly healing. A happy Dr.Atapattu said they are confident the bear will recover entirely within the next weeks.

"We expect the bear to eat on its own and stand on its hind legs," he said, adding that now the bear is being fed with cereals, lots of curd and quarter bottle of honey each day. "Even if the bear doesn't regain sight on its right eye we would still send it back to the wilderness, as bears naturally have a sensitive snout, which is sufficient for them to survive," he said.

The Ceylon Sloth Bear, is a highly endangered species in Sri Lanka whose population has dwindled to a pathetic 1000. According to wildlife protection laws it is a crime to rear, injure or shoot a sloth bear, as it is one of the dwindling species.

Bears are generally considered fierce, but when we met the injured bear, at the Wild Life Department in Colombo, it appeared a timid animal altogether. This was chiefly because the bear had lost its sight on the left eye, and had still not regained full sight on the other, said Dr. Atapattu.

Director, Department of Wildlife Conservation Berty Jayasekera said they hope to release the bear into the wilderness, but certainly not in Omanthai where operations are intense.

"We hope to send the bear to the Udawalawe or Wasgamuwa National Park,"Mr. Jayasekera said.

Grooming for freedom trot

By Tharuka Dissanaike

The new arrivals were relaxing in their sta- bles when we visited them. The 24 horses flown down from France for the Independence Day parade had got over the excitement of arriving in a new country and the glare of publicity on their first day here, and were quite calm and ready for photographs as they lunched on bran, and crushed barley and oats.

OIC K.A.R. Perera of the Police Mounted Division invited us to come forward and pet the horses. "They are well trained and not excitable like the thoroughbreds we already have," he said. They are also much larger than the horses we are used to seeing manning pedestrian crossings in Fort during rush hour. They are taller and bigger built, with large heads and hoofs. "These animals must be weighing around 600 to 700 kilograms."

The 24 animals arrived in Sri Lanka on a cargo flight last Monday. They are in quarantine for six weeks, the duration of which they will spend in Nuwara Eliya, acclimatizing themselves to living and working in Sri Lanka. On Tuesday the first group of six animals had been transported to the Nuwara Eliya Race Course. Here, a special trainer who also came from France will help them mould into their roles in the Police Department. They will be especially trained for the ceremonial squad that will lead Prince Charles to the Independence Day celebrations to be held in Kandy.

Later on these animals will take part in an exhibition of the services by the Police Department at the BMICH from February 2 to 20.

OIC Perera, who has had over 20 years of service at the Mounted Division, said that the imported animals, costing Rs. 750,000 each are all young animals ranging from two to five years. The normal life span of a horse is around 25 years."Some of the animals we now use are close to 15 years, almost at the end of their useful life period." OIC Perera said the older animals are auctioned off when they cannot work any longer.

The Thoroughbreds that were imported from Australia had the tendency to be excitable and sometimes even uncontrollable on the roads whilst on duty. Many a time the policemen atop them or pedestrians were given rough treatment by the nervy, high strung horses. This problem is expected to be somewhat resolved by the introduction of the new horses from France. These are "half-breeds" or mixed breeds who are less nervous and excitable and possess calm and quiet characters.

The inception of the Mounted Police Division dates back to the Colonial era- 1921 to be exact. The stables and quarters built then still stand, serenely, in a large garden where the horses are exercised every morning amidst the hub and bustle of commercial Pettah. The Division at present consists of 70 staffers, 38 of whom are riders, trained locally by the Division's seniors.

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