Help save the elephants on this Sri Lanka trip of a lifetime
Elephants face mortal threats in Sri Lanka, but one tour operator is letting visitors help save them, by Annabel Venning
Sipping champagne, looking across the waters of the Nachchaduwa reservoir as the light fades, we watched birds swoop in for their evening roost: herons, storks and eagles, along with a host of smaller, colourful birds from red-vented bulbuls to barbets, shrikes and swifts.
Peacocks shrieked in the distance – we had passed several on our way here from our hotel, the nearby Uga Ulagalla, which organises these scenic drives to the perfect sundowner spot where you can watch the fiery blaze set over the water. Several couples have come back from this drive engaged, unsurprisingly. It’s a ridiculously romantic setting.
No proposals were forthcoming among our small group. But something just as exciting happened. We heard what sounded like a bellow. Was it a water buffalo? Katharina Raaben, the head naturalist at Uga Ulagalla, gave us binoculars as a trio of great beasts wandered into view. Not water buffalo but three elephants on the far side of the reservoir, cavorting happily in the shallows, splashing, wallowing, and trumpeting joyfully. We were transfixed.
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Earlier in the day, Katharina had warned us we were unlikely to see any elephants, as they were generally elsewhere at this time of year. We were lucky indeed. However, not everyone in Sri Lanka is so happy to see these graceful animals. At Uga Ulagalla’s own Elephant Research Centre, set up in 2022, scientists monitor fifty wild elephants who are regularly seen in and around the hotel’s 58-acre grounds. Katharina explained the escalating issue of human-elephant conflict in Sri Lanka, the beautiful South Asian country famous for its tea gardens, historic cities, and beautiful beaches for surfing or whale-watching.
Last year 176 people died, and 470 elephants were killed, more than double the number of elephant deaths in 2010. The deaths keep rising as human settlement, farming, roads, and railways encroach upon their habitat. Forced to trek through villages and farms to access dwindling food and water supplies, elephants unwittingly destroy crops or, if they smell fruit stored indoors, whole houses, sometimes with people inside them.
To protect themselves and their livelihoods, villagers fight back with firearms, gun traps triggered by trip wires, and even booby-trapped fruit: melons are laced with explosives that detonate in the elephant’s face, causing terrible injuries. Unable to eat, the elephants starve to death. Bullet wounds also become infected causing infection, frequently fatal.
It’s a heartrending situation: Sri Lanka has the world’s densest elephant population, with some 5,000 on an island smaller than Scotland, but their numbers are plummeting as the human population rises. At Ula Ulagalla, Katharina and the team are working with the CCR – Centre for Conservation and Research – to reduce the problem in their area. One village that had suffered greatly from elephants agreed to the construction of a fence – paid for by Uga – to keep the animals off their land. Maintained and monitored by the villagers, it delivers a mild shock to scare elephants off, rather than killing them as many illegal electric fences do.
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Since the fence went up, the village hasn’t had any elephant or human deaths, and farmers are now able to harvest fields without fear of elephants trampling either them or their crops. Peaceful co-existence has been achieved. A few months ago, wildlife officials informed Katharina that they had spotted a regular visitor to Uga, a handsome bull and rare tusker, and that he was injured. He needed help, but how to find him when elephants wander over a 50km2 range?
He solved the problem by appearing days later in one of his favourite spots, Ulagalla lake. “It was as if he knew where to come for help,” smiles Katharina. But he was near death. Bullets had riddled his body, penetrating the bone. A local vet and wildlife team sedated him and treated the deep wounds. After five months of receiving regular medication, he had recovered and went on his way. But he remains in mortal danger. The community around Ulagalla tolerate him, but when he seeks food further afield, people will likely shoot him again. Katharina knows that, while she and her team can make a difference locally, the problem is nationwide.
Sri Lanka lags behind Africa when it comes to conservation. For example, there are no wildlife corridors to allow elephants and other animals to travel between national parks and conservancies. Around 70 per cent of elephants don’t live in these safe areas, so measures to defuse humanelephant conflict are urgently needed. Uga Ulagalla is a perfect base for exploring Sri Lanka’s ‘Cultural Triangle’ of sights such as the ancient city of Anuradhapura, the cave-temples at Dambulla, and the impressive Sigiriya fortress rock which, if you climb to the top, rewards you with 360 degree views of the countryside.
But the natural world around Ulagalla is captivating too. Its varied habitat of lakes, paddy fields and woodlands is abundant with wildlife – aside from elephants – such as palm and ring-tailed civet cats, grey slender lorises, porcupines, mouse deer, and snakes. Choirs of birds sing from the treetops. Cycling from the restaurant, housed in a 150-year-old mansion, to your villa, you see endangered species such as brown fish owl, black headed ibis and Indian pond herons fishing in the paddy fields. One morning, I was woken by peacocks fighting on the roof of my villa and opened the door to find a mongoose on the porch.
Later, lying in a hammock by the pool, my Merlin bird app identified fourteen species singing in the treetops in a ten minute window. You can kayak through lilies on the lake, or ride right into it on one of the hotel’s two horses. I hadn’t ridden a horse for thirty years, but Rolex and his handler Suresh looked after me so well that I relaxed and admired the scenery, spotting hornbills and monkeys in the treetops.
Hard as it was to tear ourselves away – the villas were sumptuous with four poster beds and swanky bathrooms and the food was glorious, too – there was more of Sri Lanka to see. On the southwest coast we stayed in Uga Chena Huts, another wonderfully luxurious resort that also focuses on conservation and sustainability. It’s on the edge of Yala National Park and wildlife often wanders into the grounds – you might spot an elephant disappearing into the bushes or drinking from the lily pond. Turtles can sometimes be spotted laying their eggs on the beach.
Yala also has the region’s largest concentration of leopards, although we were warned that most visitors don’t get to see one. We saw peacocks – common as pigeons here – crocodiles, elephants galore and even sloth bears, notoriously tricky to spot. One was hoovering up termites from a mound with its long snout, another lay on the ground eating honey – they are also known as honey bears although their favourite treat is the Palu fruit. If the fruit is fermenting and they eat too much, they become ‘drunk’ and fall out of the trees.
Then, in the final fifteen minutes of our final day, our ranger Vibushana halted the land rover and pointed to the treetops where monkeys were frantically leaping and screeching. ‘They’re raising the alarm, they’ve seen a leopard,’ he told us. Sure enough, a low growl emanated from nearby bushes. We froze. And waited. But no leopard emerged. The park was about to lock its gates for the night so we reluctantly headed for the exit. Then our vehicle suddenly stopped again.
Stalking across the road a few feet in front of us was a large male leopard, muscles rippling beneath his glossy spots, long tail trailing behind. As we fumbled for our cameras he helpfully stopped, dropping to the ground beside the road, and stayed there, haunches tensed, tail switching. ‘He is hunting,’ Vibu whispered. Would we see a hapless monkey torn apart? Luckily for us, but unluckily for the leopard, his prey escaped, and he slunk away, leaving us delirious.
Yala had more than delivered. So had Sri Lanka. There wasn’t time to sample all its treasures, But this conservation experience was a delicious first taste. I will certainly be back for more.
Visit Sri Lanka yourself
Nightly rates at Uga Ulagalla from £377 two adults sharing an Ulagalla Pool Villa, bed and breakfast ugaescapes.com/ulagalla. At Uga Chena Huts rooms are from £970 for two adults sharing a Luxury Pool Cabin, all-inclusive basis ugaescapes.com/chenahuts
Nightly rates at Uga Residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital, from $305, two adults sharing a Park Suite, bed and breakfast ugaescapes.com/residence
Kuoni offers three nights Uga Ulagalla (breakfast& dinner included), three nights Chena Huts (all inclusive), one-night Uga Residence (breakfast included), plus chauffeur and guide and direct flights with Sri Lankan Airlines (Economy) £3825 per person, selected departure dates in October 2024. Contact Kuoni Personal Travel Experts – 0800 086 8776 or visit one of their stores or kuoni.co.uk for more details