by Coomerene Rodrigo
Imagine hundreds of elephants converging on the shores of a tank,
paying no heed to the sun in their search for water, walking across the
land with their steady, majestic gait, forming one of the most splendid
spectacles of wildlife?
If this sounds like a scene from ‘The Lion King’, it may come as a
surprise to many that it is something much closer to home. This is none
other than ‘The Gathering’, an annual conference of over three hundred
Asian elephants, which takes place in the North Central province of Sri
Lanka during the mid-year dry season.
As the heat turns water holes into cracked patches of mud and parches
the atmosphere, the elephants move on in search of food, water and
shelter. Leaving from Cinnamon Lodge Habarana, I travelled about 45
minutes with my safari group to their chosen meeting place, the banks of
the Minneriya irrigation tank, located in the Minneriya National Park,
where they get together each evening.
Though a seasonal movement of the herd, it is not a migration in the
actual sense of the word, as defined by zoologists - hence, it is
famously known as ‘The Gathering’. The season lasts from July to
October, each year.
 The naturalist at Cinnamon Lodge Habarana had duly informed us that
it would be a truly magnificent sight, but nothing had prepared me for
the indescribable beauty of these majestic animals as they traversed
across the land.
The gathering is a much hailed world phenomenon, and little wonder.
It is said that nowhere in the world could one find such a high
concentration of Asian elephants in so few a number of square kilometres,
as during this time. As they are not blessed with the naturally
air-conditioning, large-sized ears of their African cousins, the
gathering takes place in the cool of the dusk.
They emerge from the scrub - first, in small herds of ten that
usually band together with other herds and form larger groups, sometimes
numbering over a hundred.
Not only are elephants the largest terrestrial mammals - they are
also renowned for complex group dynamics. Of all species, the Asian
elephant is famed for being highly social animals. Watching them at the
reservoir clearly demonstrated this fact. The elephants obviously met,
not just to fulfil the basic necessities, but also to flirt and mate!
When travelling to the water, matriarchs go first, proving leadership
and direction to the rest of the clan.
The adorable baby elephants are never left to fend for themselves and
are always flanked by protective adults. Mothers encourage their
off-springs towards the water, making sure that no calf is left
stranded. Young males wrestle each other with their trunks, while adult
bulls sniff the air to scent fertile females.
At the meeting, they drink and chat, bathe and play, greet old mates
and renew acquaintances with elephants they have not seen in nearly a
year. Definitely a regular party, albeit with friends of rather gigantic
proportions!
The Cinnamon Lodge naturalist, Nilantha Kodituwakku, also gave us
some details about the area. Providing the gathering with a meeting
place is the Minneriya tank or reservoir, an ancient man-made lake
constructed by King Mahasen in the third century AD. Before, these
lowlands were farmed for agriculture by an ancient civilisation whose
mastery of hydraulics was remarkably sophisticated.
Today, the ancient reservoir fills up during the North-east monsoon
rains and gradually shrinks as the dry season claims the lowlands. But
instead of running dry, as Nilantha, the naturalist explained, the
receding water leaves behind a fertile, moist soil from which lush,
nutritious grass quickly sprouts, attracting elephants in search of food
from jungles as far away as Wasgomuwa and Trincomalee. The Gathering of
Sri Lanka’s very own Asian elephants is a great spectacle! |
