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by E. Desmond White

In the late 1960s I was the second in command at Yala. In the course of time I came to know that one 'Baba Kitchel' or 'Bakijil' of Kirinda village used to poach on the coastal borders of the park and that he had been told enough to warn the Wildlife staff that they would be shot and killed if they dared interfere with his nefarious activities. This challenge had been embarrassing to the Wildlife personnel at Palatupana but no action had been taken to deal with this man.

This character's son was a village headman of old whilst his other son was a Game Guard in the Department but not at Yala. I wanted some definite information about this man's unlawful movements in the Park. One night I was rewarded when a person from Amaduwa came and informed me that he had heard gunshots from the Mahaseelawa area of the Park. I was more or less sure this to be 'Bakijil' as no one else would dare to enter and shoot in the Park, this close to Palatupana (H.Q.). When I conveyed this news to my boss he requested me to take appropriate action availing of available facilities. The time was about 11.30 p.m.

when I left for Amaduwa by jeep with a staff of six persons including H.Q. Game Guard Alfred Perera. We parked the jeep by the 'irish drain' leading to Amaduwa and lay in ambush by the Park boundary track as this was the route the culprits had to take. We anticipated the sound of gunshot but this did not happen, however we did not have to wait long when we noticed the flash of lights approaching us. As the lights got closer we heard voices in the Malay language. As the lights got within my reach I pounced on the person in front locking his arms. I also felt this man had a gun in his arms and had to use force to disarm him.

At this stage this man told me in English 'Sir please don't hit me'. Then my staff informed me that this person was the notorious 'Bakijil'. 'Bakijil's' companion was carrying a pingo and was identified as the brother of Game Guard Sabun, who was a member of our raiding party. Game Guard Sabun was very embarrassed and angry and started abusing his brother, of course in the Malay language.

The gun in question happened to be licensed in 'Baba Kitchil's' name. The pingo was empty and the culprits were lucky enough not to have shot any wild animals. However the accused and productions were produced before Courts and both the accused were severely warned and ordered to pay fines. The redeeming feature of all this was that 'Bakijil' and the other poachers of the Kirinda village ceased their unlawful activities within the Park, at least for the time being.

Miscellany

I was Game Ranger, Yala, on two occasions and also Game Ranger, Kataragama when it was under the administration of Yala. I was Park Warden, Yala, from the year 1980 to 1987 and once again in 1988, I was sent back to Yala, on Presidential orders accompanied by a STF Battalion following the presence of a group of LTTEers in Block II of the Ruhunu National Park. This group on seeing the Deptl. vehicle had hurled hand grenades and had shot at and damaged the head lights of the vehicle. The driver had turned the vehicle around in the nick of time thereby avoiding a catastrophe.

A few days later, on my return to Yala, I accompanied these STF personnel via Block II of the Park to Kumana and Okanda and on the way arrested a man from Panama with an unlicenced gun. He was accompanied by four other persons including a female and was detected in the area between Okanda and Panama. They were travelling in a double - bullock cart half filled with bags of salt collected from the several dried up lagoons in the vicinity.

He informed us that a group of about seven LTTEers had left the area about two days earlier on their return from Kataragama, via Block II of the National Park. Inquiries revealed that this group of LTTEers had purchased a second hand bicycle from Panama to enable them to carry a load they had in a gunny bag, which included a pair of tusks, reportedly stolen from Wedahitikanda in Kataragama, where they had killed the brother-in-law of the priest in their bid to loot the temple.

My predecessors at Yala the late M/s G. N. Q. de Silva and Percy de Alwis had made exploratory trips into the Yala Strict Natural Reserver and I was fortunate enough to obtain the Director's permission to enter the remain in the Yala S.N.R. on two occasions. On these trips I was accompanied by Game Rangers M/s A. B. Fernando, Shirley Perera and the late Game Guard Kirineris, a few other Game Guards and the late 'Bedi Somapala' our companion in the jungles. These exploratory trips were carried out during the dry season and at night we had to camp in the open air, carrying only bare necessities to enable easy travel in difficult terrain.

On one occasion our base camp was Kebilitta in Okanda Range in the Yala east N. P. and on the other occasion was Lunatugalge in Block III of the R. N. P. We climbed rocky outcrops such as Damatagala, Mandagala, Talaguruhela, etc. Some of the other hillocks in the area are Mahapilimagala and Mayagala in Block III and Namaknethigala and Kimbulgala in Block IV of the R.N.P. This area is rich in ruins of historical and religious value and places of archaeological interest.

There were only animal paths in this region and we had to guide ourselves using a compass. We nearly lost our way on a few occasions and at times had to camp in uninhabitable places and sometime forced to use discoloured impure water. The animals we came across stared at us before disappearing maybe as they had not seen human beings earlier.

As Game Ranger, Kataragama, I was in charge of the three shooting blocks in the Yala intermediate Zone, namely, Warahana, Talaguruhela and Galge. Interested parties had to obtain permits from Head Office, Colombo, on payment of a nominal fee.

The permits were valid for a period of 10 days during the open season (November 1st to April 29) each year, with one party per block at a time. Permit holders were allowed to shoot a restricted number of animals which included leopard, bear, deer, pig, peafowl, jungle fowl, etc. I had a specialised team of Game Guards who were detailed to these parties as they had to be adept at skinning and preserving skins for trophies to suit the needs of individuals. These Guards were M/s G. M. D. Hendrickappuhamy (father of the late beauty queen Kataragama) A. W. Siridias, the late Babunappuhamy and S. M. Wahidu. Invariably permit holders had to use 4 wheel drive vehicles as these blocks had only jeep tracks.

I used to visit and check on these parties with a couple of Game Guards. Of course our mode of transport was the bicycle and the journey lasted about three days via Katagamuwa, Warahana, Rugantota, Banawalkema Galge and back to Kataragama H.Q. These trips were made through thorny scrub jungle and invariably had many tyre punctures, and when we ran out of necessary material for repairs we stuffed the tyres with "keppitiya" leaves and carried on regardless.

Many visitors to the Yala jungles believed in 'charms' when confronted by wild animals, mainly wild elephants. Visitors who believed in these charms would request the services of their favourite. Guards, as they had faith in these charms. I do not know the wording of these charms nor have I tried to learn them.

I personally do not have faith in these charms and prefer to rely on the loud, high pitched voice and the nerve to face a situation. When using your vocal chords any sort of vocabulary is permitted as long as it has the desired effect. Fearlessly facing an aggressive wild elephant, with outstretched arms whilst uttering odd sounding words should surely have a dramatically hypnotic effect on the animal, as it may not expect this sort of a challenge from a puny human being.

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