Udawalawe - Day 14

After a wonderful day of eating and napping with Asanka's family in central Sri Lanka for New Years, Asanka and I began our way back to Colombo. We drove 3 hours through storms and the dark, passing no fewer than 5 car accidents ranging from minor to fatal. Despite the ominous feeling conveyed from the wrecks and the lightning, Asanka was blasting Paul Simon and the Police the whole way back, so it was hard to feel too dispirited.

There are certain sweets that, I'm told, one can only find during the weeks surrounding New Years. As that's the only time I've been here, I eat a lot of these things. Obviously, they're delicious. 

When we got back, Asanka received a phone call from Dr. Vijitha Perera, the chief veterinarian at Udawalawe. He asked if he could get a ride the next day. Asanka was happy to oblige as it just meant pushing my arrival date up a day early. We picked up Doctor V (as I hope to someday call him) at 7:00 am and then drove straight to his mother's house. As it was the beginning of the new Sinhala year and Vijitha's observes Buddhist customs, we needed to be anointed with traditional oils before our departure. One by one we sat staring at a single candle while Vijitha's mother spoke prayers and rubbed various lubricants on our temples. Probably nothing to it but I was certainly ready to seize the day after the ritual.

The Abayakoon clan! Left to right is Asanka's father, mother, Asanka, and his uncle.  

Asanka velcro'd up the old back brace and we began the 2.5 hour journey to my new hometown. Upon my arrival, I got a quick tour and met some of the staff. I also met Ajed, master potter and my landlord. He and his students provide the products that will be sold in the souvenir shop I'm tasked with setting up. Most importantly, I was introduced to the calves. Ranging from 1-5, the elephants at ETH were gathering, anticipating their 12:00 feeding. Two-by-two the calves were permitted into the corral for milk, much to the delight of the 300 people assembled to watch. After drinking, one came over to where we were watching and took in my peculiar white boy stench. Even though he was only about four, he'd accumulated a couple thousand pounds. I'll grab some photos of the calves int he next couple days.
After some lunch, Asanka, Ajed, Dr. Vijitha and his intern, Mallek, and I drove to a site where an elephant was being monitored.

The 25 year old bull was lying on his side on the bottom of a pond outside the national park. One could see the side of his torso and hip protruding from the water. I thought they were rocks until I saw his trunk surface for air - this happened every 15 seconds or so. According to Vijitha, the bull had been hit twice from a shotgun blast in the back. Poachers often rig up shotgun-snares for wild boars but elephants occasionally set them off. Vijitha feared one bullet had broken the right femur. When an elephant sustains an injury this serious, he will seek out deep water to reduce pressure on himself and cool down. Apparently this bull had been here for a day already.

As the staff fed the disembodied trunk banana stocks, Vijitha and Mallek waded into the waist-deep water and attached an IV bag to a makeshift stand made from a branch planted in the pond bottom. They injected antibiotics around the entry points and stuck the IV into his ear - the thinnest skin on an elephant with veins easily discernible. After 4 bags of fluid and as many hours, Vijitha decided it was time to try to move the elephant.

Here, Mallek is putting the IV into the elephant's ear. The guy in green is holding banana stocks to hand the trunk as soon as it surfaces. 

From the injured leg and the angle he was lying at, the elephant would have no chance of getting up on his own in his current position. Ideally, he would be flipped so his right legs would be on the bottom and his body closer to short to provide leverage, Vijitha told me.

Speaks for itself. 

Therefore, no longer needed for war, the Sri Lanka Air Force was recruited to help move the animal. About thirty young men showed up and were given two ropes - each about four inches in diameter. For the next couple hours, the dedicated group knotted, roped, pulled, twisted, and walked the elephant in an effort to flip him. Flipping an elephant who does not want to be flipped is not only difficult, but dangerous. 250 lb legs flailed at them as they tried to secure them. Putting a pin the in the flipping, the team switched gears and attempted to pull the elephant towards the banks of the pond. This was much easier and they had him in two feet of water quickly. At this point, Asanka volunteered his Toyota Land Cruiser for the job. One of the ropes was hooked to the back of the truck while the Air Force held the other. Both opposite ends were tied to the legs of the elephant on the far side of his body. Unfortunately, the ropes kept slipping to the side and eventually, led by Vijitha, the team surrendered. Not entirely in vain, the elephant was deposited far up on the beach and might be able to roll onto his feet in the next day or two. The exhausted elephant gratefully received hundreds of pounds of grass put in and around his mouth and one last round of antibiotics was given. Vijitha's prognosis is grim, but they gave him a fighting chance. We'll know if the elephant will live by Wednesday.

Tired and hungry, the big guy's been through a lot. Hopefully he can pull through.