Postcard #3: Waking a Sleeping Elephant
January 25-26, 2005 | Yala National Park, Sri Lanka
Leaving the crowded, inhabited coast we journeyed into Yala National Park – a quarter million acres of protected dry scrub forest, grasslands, and estuaries.
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Sanjayan recently answered questions about his journey to Sri Lanka to assess the impact of the tsunami on the environment and people.
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It has 50 miles of coastline, mostly undisturbed, since only the southern third is open to visitors. Yala has all the big “tooth and claw” wildlife of Sri Lanka. Mugger crocodiles live in the freshwater ponds and large saltwater crocs cruise around the estuaries and coastline. Sloth bears, wild boars, mongoose, civets, three species of deer, and lots of leopards call this place home.
Then, of course, there are the elephants. More on that later.
As we went deeper into the jungle, the signs of obvious destruction and human loss receded. My mood lifted. Now, it is easier to be impressed rather than dismayed, by the power of the tsunami.
At our camp, on the sandy banks of the Manik Ganga River, we start to watch for wildlife again.
Tim is an obsessive birder. I feel sorry for him as he searches the trees for birds in the mornings before work begins. He is after the Indian pita – a spectacular migrant bird that winters in Sri Lanka and summers in the Himalayas. It’s not easy being a birder in the tropics. On the equator, dawn and dusks are equally brief affairs.
I am on the lookout for a sloth bear – the only large mammal here I have never seen.
In the Yala National Park, there are a few small hotels and bungalows. The ones on the coast were utterly demolished by the tsunami. When we visit these sites all we find is a debris field of rubble. The only things recognizable as structures are the large red-tiled floors. Small rings of porcelain, about an inch high, periodically punctuate the tile. It takes us a while to realize that we were standing in hotel rooms. The porcelain rings are all that remains of toilet bowls ripped off at the base by the tsunami.
The Wildlife Department has asked us to survey the extent and nature of the impact of the tsunami on the coast of Yala. Our Conservancy team is surprised to find out there are many areas of the park, the entire northern coast, that have not been visited since the tsunami – and we were about to find out why.
We have to finish our assessment soon. Our deadline is a meeting called by the head of the Department of Wildlife and Conservation. There's still much coastline to survey.
We sketch out a rough plan over pots of wonderful Sri Lankan tea. We'll rent a boat in Kirinda and survey the coast by mapping areas where we see a lot of impact.
Our plan, which had seemed so reasonable the day before, disintegrates upon arrival in Kirinda. Boats are hard to come by in this town since most have been smashed. The small ones we do find struggle in the eight-foot swells. Landing is tricky business. Casting off is impossible without a small miracle. After an entire day’s worth of work, we only manage to survey one site and there are dozens more in much remoter areas.
We abandon our sea efforts and draw up plans for a land attack.
But here too, we find that we cannot get far enough, fast enough. Mud, streams, and stands of trees obstruct our passage. So finally we take to foot, driving as far as we can and then hiking through the jungle to likely sites of impact.
We were on our way to an area near the mouth of the Manik River, when through the jungle, right in front of us, a woodpecker-sized bird flew and alighted on a branch.
The Indian pita is about as gorgeous a bird as I have ever seen. The pita preened in a little spot of sunlight, a jewel against a dark green background. The sight reduced us to silence.
Tim watched in awe. His dream had come true. After the pita flew off, we resumed our march.
We were a noisy group, trekking through the jungle. I was talking to one of our crew about the sandy forest floor when we ran right into a sleeping elephant.
You would never guess elephants were such sound sleepers.
The elephant, a lone male, was asleep in a sand depression about 20 feet away. It awoke just as our guide, who had a gun but was far behind, spotted it and yelled out. He wanted to alert us to the fact that this was not a giant boulder. Of course, in the process he managed to awaken the sleeping boulder.
I started saying, “Don’t run, don’t run, don’t run,” more to convince myself rather than anyone else. Of course, no one listened to me, least of all the elephant. With a trumpet of rage, it crashed through the thicket.
Most of us scattered in roughly the opposite direction.
“Many elephants,” the guide said, somewhat after the fact. “Too dangerous, many elephants sleeping in this area."
He was unconvinced by my argument that if we were really quiet, the elephants would remain asleep.
Back at camp we hatched out another plan. We had tried surveying by land and by sea. Air was all that was left to us.
“We really should do this from the air,” Ravi declared. It seemed sensible enough. Never mind that the Sri Lankan Department of Defense did not like helicopters flying about and that there was only one helicopter in the country not belonging to either the Air Force or the US Marines.
Or that the Air Force and the Department of Wildlife would have to give us permission.
Or that we were going dangerously close to territory held by guerrillas fighting the government for autonomy.
Never mind that we needed everything to be taken care of within 24 hours.
We went to sleep happy with the ingeniousness of our solution while Chandeep, our intrepid operations guy, worked the cell phone. Tomorrow we would take to the air: a chopper. Brilliant!
For more information:
- In The News: Tsunami relief that will last
Denver Post, March 4, 2005
As M.A. Sanjayan, lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy, surveyed the environmental toll from the Dec. 26 tsunami, he saw that although the destruction had been uneven, it wasn't necessarily random.
- In The News: Nature Bounces Back on Sri Lanka's Coast
NPR Morning Edition, February 24, 2005
In a two-part series of reports for the NPR/National Geographic co-production Radio Expeditions, Elizabeth Arnold journeys to the island nation of Sri Lanka with one of the first teams to assess the environmental aftermath.
- Press Release: First Environmental Survey of Tsunami Damage Shows Sri Lankan Coasts and Forests Hurt but Rebounding
The tsunami has left Sri Lanka's marine areas dangerously clogged with debris that could cause long-term damage to coral reefs and marine species, but scientists say there are many signs of hope: trees are regenerating, wildlife is returning to damaged areas, and coral reefs are largely intact.
- In The News: Sea and jungle life bounce back from the tsunami's battering
The Independent (London), February 16, 2005
The first assessment of the damage to wildlife caused by the Asian tsunami found nature has been surprisingly resilient to the effects of the giant waves.
- Press Release: Tsunami Leaves Behind Human Devastation and Environmental Damage that May Take Decades to Recover
As aid arrives to countries hit by the tsunami to provide much-needed food, shelter and medicine for the survivors, scientists are beginning to focus on the longer-term environmental damage that will affect the livelihoods of fishermen and coastal communities for years to come.
- Donate: Support The Nature Conservancy's ongoing efforts in the Asia-Pacific region
Your gift today will enable our science-based conservation of coral reefs, rainforests and other threatened areas throughout the region.
- Our Partner: Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society (SLWCS)
The Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society is the first organization to be established outside Sri Lanka for the sole purpose of helping to conserve and preserve the dwindling biodiversity of Sri Lanka.
- Statement from Nature Conservancy President Steve McCormick on the Tsunami Disaster and Relief Efforts
The world has begun the New Year facing the ravages of one of the most severe natural disasters in history.
- Relief Organizations Working in the Disaster Area
A list of non-governmental organizations working throughout the disaster area from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
- Aid Groups Accepting Donations for Victims
A list of ways to donate from CNN.
