ELEPHAS MAXIMUS MAXIMUS
Elephas maximus maximus,
Sovereign servant to majesties.
Mammoth in stature and lineage,
Shielding your great sensitivity.
Elephas maximus maximus,
Robed in that silvery gabardine.
Dust covered wrinkles and bristly hair
Guard you from heat and the unforeseen.
Elephas maximus maximus,
Renowned for roseate speckled skin.
Mega-ears like ragged triangles,
Tubular trunk lets you drink all in.
Elephas maximus maximus,
Emblem of wisdom and bravery.
Teach us to honour and care for you,
Vanquishing toil and all slavery.
This poem was inspired by Raja, a majestic elephant at the Millennium Elephant Foundation in Rambukkana, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1999, MEF is a charitable organisation that provides proper care-taking facilities and medical services for captive Asian elephants. It is rather like an elephant hospital, as well as a foster or retirement home.
I had the great opportunity to spend two days on the Foundation's 15-acre estate where elephants roam freely in the luscious green vegetation. Each elephant is assigned to a mahout/handler to be fed, washed and exercised. I assisted Raja's mahout, which involved waking at dawn to wash Raja in the river – which also has a moisturising effect. Raja lay on his side in the shallow water allowing me to scrub and douse his surprisingly soft skin using half a coconut shell. It was interesting to see and feel the wrinkles and bristles that act as a cooling system; the former traps water whilst the latter conducts heat outwards away from the body. Raja's ears equally help to keep him cool, acting like a fan to create a breeze and a radiator to lose excess heat. They also funnel sound into his inner-ear giving him an acute sense of hearing. This is particularly important given that Raja's tiny watchful eyes are myopic, only allowing him to see up to 8 metres.
When feeding Raja bananas I noticed his long tapered lip, which is peculiar to Asian elephants. Inside his mouth are four grinding molars, which are used for chewing vegetation foraged in the forest. This consists of grass, bamboo, lianas, shrubs, the leaves and bark of trees as well as soil. This provides Raja with essential energy and vital nutrients; nevertheless his diet is supplemented with vitamins and minerals 'hidden' in balls of tamarind, rice husk flour and bananas, which not only makes them palatable but also aids digestion.
Water is a fundamental part of an elephant's diet, requiring a minimum of 150 litres per day. It was fascinating to watch Raja drink water from a running tap, sucking the water part of the way up his trunk to then spray it into his mouth. He likewise uses his prehensile trunk, with its finger-like tip, to reach for food that he places in his mouth. Raja also uses his trunk to ward off flying insects, whereas his swishing tail protects the back half of his body and adds stability when he is running.
Asian elephants commonly have pink speckled skin on their ears and trunk, which is due to a loss of skin pigmentation with age. While this does not cause any discomfort, the Foundation brings visitors' attention to the pain and damage inflicted upon an elephant by a howdah/seat. An elephant's back is not designed to be ridden, it thus suffers permanent deformation as well as non-healing pressure wounds.
Elephants hold symbolic, cultural and economic importance in Sri Lanka, thus the tradition of privately owning elephants continues. Owners are generally monks, temples, businessmen, politicians and wealthy families, or sometimes an elephant is handed down through generations. It is very expensive to keep an elephant (food, medical supplies and mahout wages, if applicable); and it is now difficult to make money from an elephant, particularly since the imposition of legal limits in the logging industry. This leads to neglect and subsequently increases the number of elephants looked after by organisations such as MEF.
Furthermore, the human-elephant conflict is problematic in Sri Lanka. Urbanisation has decreased the natural territory available to wild elephants forcing them onto cultivated land. There are a series of measures to increase harmony, namely to encourage farmers/landowners to use elephant-friendly deterrents: crops that repel elephants, electric fencing or alarms. Another idea is to create ‘corridors’ through private land. Additional action includes restrictive breeding programmes or the relocation of wild elephants to national parks.
The Millennium Elephant Foundation performs a vital role in looking after elephants such as Raja, giving them a better quality of life. It welcomes visitors in order to raise awareness about the plight of Sri Lankan elephants and to raise funds to maintain the elephants’ sustenance and care. I certainly learned a lot during my brief stay, giving me further respect for these noble animals.
