Features

The BANDARANAIKES and the BEVENS of HORAGOLLA

Published

5 years ago

2020/09/27

by The Rambler

Horagolla is well known as the location of Horagolla Walauwwa, the home of the Bandaranaike family. As the country seat of the Bandaranaikes it was brought into national prominence with the election of SWRD Bandaranaike as Prime Minister in 1956. A lesser known fact is that Horagolla was also the location of another family, perhaps much less known locally, but with an interesting history, who were the only other land owners of significance in Horagolla. They were the Bevens who owned a 250 acre coconut estate called Franklands and who were the neighbours of the Bandaranaikes in the village of Horagolla.

Local folk lore seem to suggest that the village of Horagolla came to be so named for the forest land dominated by Hora trees (Dipterocarpus Zeylanicus) which grew in the area prior to it being cleared for the cultivation of coconut. It is believed that the original Horagolla Walauwwa was built nearly 200 years ago, around 1820, by SWRD’s great grandfather Don Solomon Dias Bandaranaike (born in 1780) who was granted a 175 acre land by the British Government for his assistance in the construction of the Kandy Road, particularly the section between Colombo and Veyangoda. Sir James Emerson Tennent who was Colonial Treasurer of the time published his monumental two volume treatise “CEYLON” in 1859. In referring to the then existent Horagolla Walauwwa he said “the most agreeable example of the dwelling of a low country headman, with its broad verandahs, spacious rooms, and extensive offices, shaded by palm groves and fruit trees”.

According to Don Solomon’s grandson Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranaike, the building was located on the site where his grandfather found an albino tortoise (kiri ibba) which he thought was a good omen and a suitable site to build his home. Don Solomon and his son and grandson later expanded their land holdings to cover over 3,000 acres of land some of which were maintained as hunting grounds as the area abounded in elephant, elk, and deer. The property portfolio included the Weke Group of about 900 acres of coconut, paddy, and forest land including a hunting lodge.

The wheel turned its full circle over 150 years later when the wife of Don Solomon’s great grandson SWRD Bandaranaike Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of the time in 1974, engaged in a national programme of land reform and reduced the Bandaranaike land holdings to 150 acres.

The progenitor of the Beven family in Ceylon was Drum Major Thomas Beven who arrived in Ceylon from England in the late 18th Century and was part of the 19th Regiment in Ceylon, a unit which was involved in several campaigns to oust the then reigning King of Kandy, Sri Wickreme Rajasinghe, who was finally captured with the help of Adigar Ehelapola. Interestingly, when the British together with Kandyan Chieftain Ekneligoda Dissawe took Rajasinghe as prisoner, among the low country chieftains present was Don William Adrian Dias Bandaranaike, a close kinsman of Don Solomon. Although there is no evidence on record of the role played by Thomas Beven in the regime change that unfolded at the time, the family that he founded has certainly played a significant role in the country in the 19th and 20th centuries.

His only son John married Sophia Maria Koertz whose forbears lived in Ceylon from the 17th century. He fathered a brood of 17 children of whom the fourth in order of birth was John Francis. Popularly known as Francis Beven he was born in 1847 and educated at the Colombo Academy (later renamed as Royal College).where he won the coveted Turnour Prize. He was enrolled as an Advocate at the age of 23 and at the time was one of only 21 advocates practicing in the island. * His mother being of European descent, Francis Beven was a member of the then dominant Burgher community. Beven commanded a lucrative law practice from his early days. He was also associated with the Exaniner newspaper, a bi weekly founded in 1846. It was purchased in 1859 by Charles Ambrose Lorenz reputedly the most highly regarded and famous member of the Burgher community of all time.

At the age of 23, Francis Beven became a co proprietor of the Examiner together with Lorenz and Leopold Ludovici. He was also its Editor for many years developing the paper to be a very influential and powerful voice for the Burgher community at a time when the country was under total British rule. Later the paper took a “pro Ceylonese” stance and was the voice for the entire community. The Examiner together with The Observer and Times were the only English newspapers of that era. As a busy lawyer and Editor of an influential newspaper he was both well known and powerful.

He was acting member of the First legislative Council and in the words of JR Weinman writing in 1918 “Francis Beven who hurls his thunderbolts from the Olympian heights of Veyangoda in the form of letters to the various Colombo journals, acted for some time for the late Mr Loos (in the Legislative Council). “F.B” as all Ceylon knows him is a man of great capacity. He is one of the most distinguished old boys of Royal College . Everybody who came in contact with him had the highest opinion of him.”

At the age of 34 Francis Beven had already made a fortune at the Bar especially at the Courts in Kandy where he commanded an extensive practice. A hearing impairment however impeded his further progress at the bar and in 1881, when 34 years old, he chose to try his hand at agriculture. He had earned enough at the bar to purchase a 250 acre coconut and cinnamon property near the Bandaranaike homestead. It is believed that the property was purchased from Mudaliyar DCDH Dias Bandaranaike the father of Sir Solomon and the only son of Don Solomon. Francis named his property “Franklands” and built a comfortable house to which he moved soon thereafter. The Bandaranaikes and the Bevens became firm family friends and neighbours.

Sir Solomon in his memoirs “Remembered Yesterdays” recalls his visit to Europe in 1914 where he met Mr and Mrs Francis Beven also holidaying in London. The family connection may have been so close that Francis Beven’s youngest brother H.O. Beven negotiated with Sir Solomon to lease the latter’s Weke Estate. That transaction soured later and Sir Solomon wrote “I was also compelled to go to law at this period (1915) as a result of some differences with HO Beven, who was the lessee of my Weke Estate. I was very sorry, as we had been friends for a long time. The late Mr W. Wordsworth tried the case (which was decided in my favour, with Beven cast in stiff damages), and I was represented by Mr EJ Samarawickrema (now KC) instructed by Messrs FJ and G de Saram while Mr EW Jayawardene (also now KC) instructed by Messrs Mack appeared on the other side. The case went up in appeal, and the damages were a little reduced.”

Francis Beven seemed to have lived in style emulating the life style of his illustrious neighbour Sir Solomon who was the confidante of successive Governors of Ceylon and known for his lavish entertainment of visiting royalty. With a palatial residence served by a string of domestic staff, Francis was also in the lap of luxury. He had married at the age of 23 and had seven children. The eldest son Francis Lorenz was educated at Royal College (as were his other sons). who on his return from England in 1895 was admitted to Holy Orders and served as Curate of St Paul’s Church, Kandy and later appointed Archdeacon of Colombo. Another son Osmund was a Medical doctor. The third son Alan Karl took to planting and was in charge of Franklands although Francis was still its owner and chief occupant. A smaller bungalow was built on the property where Alan resided with his family. Family lore suggests that despite father and son living in separate houses on the same property, relationships were formal as was customary in Victorian times. When Francis had Alan and family over for a meal for instance, the invitation was on a hand written card served on a silver platter delivered by a liveried butler!!

A brief reference to another sibling of Francis Beven may not be out of place here. The eldest sibling was John George James born in 1843 and died before he was a year old. The next was Thomas Edwin who was later a well known Proctor in Kandy and a Lieut Colonel in the Ceylon Light Infantry. He fathered 10 children among whom were the two daughters Harriet and Florence who occupied the family home “Rose Cottage” on Victoria Drive, Kandy after Edwin died in 1919. In October 1947 the two sisters, then in their late seventies met with tragedy. They employed four servants including a gardener and on that fateful night two intruders broke into their home with the aim of robbing the house. The sisters were strangled and Florence succumbed to her injuries while the elder Harriet recovered miraculously. She however died the following year. Two servants including one named KG Siyadoris who was a trusted servant for over 12 years were charged with their murder but were acquitted after a trial at the Kandy Assizes presided over by Justice C. Nagalingam.

Francis passed away in 1921 at the age of 74 and elder son Lorenz moved into the property which upon Lorenz’s death in 1947 passed on to Alan. Alan’s daughter Molly married Douglas Hennessy, Superintendent of Police better known as the author of the popular memoir “Green Aisles” which wistfully recounted their life in a home built in the middle of the jungle in Horawapotana. The Hennessys later moved to Quetta in Baluchistan after bidding a tearful farewell to their jungle home and pets including a pet bear, and finally retired in Australia.

With the death of Anura Bandaranaike the last surviving direct male descendant of Don Solomon, Horagolla Walauwwa would presumably be now owned by lateral descendants. As for Franklands, Alan willed the property to the Anglican Church and there ended the Bevens’ century old connection with Horagolla. For some years the legal firm of Julius and Creasy managed the property on behalf of the church.

The Bandaranaikes and the Bevens have in their own way played dominant roles in the development of Sri Lanka during colonial days and their generational triumphs and vicissitudes seem to mirror to some degree the hey day of British colonial rule and its ultimate demise. Three generations of Bevens could be identified in the accompanying photo viz Francis, his son Alan Karl and grandson Francis Vandersmagt. The descendants of the Bevens have since chosen to seek greener pastures overseas for their future generations. Francis Vadersmagt, Beven’s son Francis Hildon who migrated to Australia in the 1960s now lives in retirement after a successful career in Melbourne. Hildon like his forbears attended school at Royal College and in his youthful days in Colombo was a skilled spear fisherman and skin diver and prominent member of the old Kinross Swimming and Life Saving Club. The Bandaranaike family however for their part continued to play a dominant role in post independent Sri Lanka, their well known contribution being indelibly marked in the recent history of the country.

* The other advocates in 1870 were James De Alwis, C. Britto, R. Cayley, Muttu Coomaraswamy, Harry Dias, W.D. Drieberg, J.H.Eaton, J.W. Ferguson, Nicholas Gould, C.S.Hay, C.A. Lorenz, R.F.Morgan, O.W.C. Morgan, R.H.Morgan, P.P.Mutukrishna, Louis Nell, P de M Ondatje, D. Purcell, J. Van Langenberg, and C.C. Wyman.

(Courtesy elanka, Australia’s premier website for Lankans Down under)

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Features

The Venezuela Model:The new ugly and dangerous world order

Published

1 day ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

The US armed forces invading Venezuela, removing its President Nicolás Maduro from power and abducting him and his wife Cilia Flores on 3 January 2026, flying them to New York and producing Maduro in a New York kangaroo court is now stale news, but a fact. What is a far more potent fact is the pan-global impotent response to this aggression except in Latin America, China, Russia and a few others.

Colombian President Gustavo Petro described the attack as an “assault on the sovereignty” of Latin America, thereby portraying the aggression as an assault on the whole of Latin America. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva referred to the attack as crossing “an unacceptable line” that set an “extremely dangerous precedent.” Again, one can see his concern goes beyond Venezuela. For Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum the attack was in “clear violation” of the UN Charter, which again is a fact. But when it comes to powerful countries, the UN Charter has been increasingly rendered irrelevant over decades, and by extension, the UN itself. For the French Foreign Minister, the operation went against the “principle of non-use of force that underpins international law” and that lasting political solutions cannot be “imposed by the outside.” UN Secretary General António Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed” about the “dangerous precedent” the United States has set where rules of international law were not being respected. Russia, notwithstanding its bloody and costly entanglement in Ukraine, and China have also issued strong statements.

Comparatively however, many other countries, many of whom are long term US allies who have been vocal against the Russian aggression in Ukraine have been far more sedate in their reaction. Compared to his Foreign Minister, French President Emmanuel Macron said the Venezuelan people could “only rejoice” at the ousting of Maduro while the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz believed Maduro had “led his country into ruin” and that the U.S. intervention required “careful consideration.” The British and EU statements have been equally lukewarm. India’s and Sri Lanka’s statements do not even mention the US while Sri Lanka’s main coalition partner the JVP has issued a strongly worded statement.

Taken together, what is lacking in most of these views, barring a negligible few, especially from the so-called powerful countries, is the moral indignation or outrage on a broad scale that used to be the case in similar circumstances earlier. It appears that a new ugly and dangerous world order has finally arrived, footprints of which have been visible for some time.

It is not that the US has not invaded sovereign countries and affected regime change or facilitated such change for political or economic reasons earlier. This has been attempted in Cuba without success since the 1950s but with success in Chile in 1973 under the auspices of Augusto Pinochet that toppled the legitimate government of president Salvador Allende and established a long-lasting dictatorship friendly towards the US; the invasion of Panama and the ouster and capture of President Manuel Noriega in 1989 and the 2003 invasion of Iraq both of which were conducted under the presidency of George Bush.

These are merely a handful of cross border criminal activities against other countries focused on regime change that the US has been involved in since its establishment which also includes the ouster of President of Guyana Cheddi Jagan in 1964, the US invasion of the Dominican Republic in 1965 stop the return of President Juan Bosch to prevent a ‘communist resurgence’; the 1983 US invasion of Grenada after the overthrow and killing of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop purportedly to ensure that the island would not become a ‘Soviet-Cuban’ colony. A more recent adventure was the 2004 removal and kidnapping of the Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, which also had French support.

There is however a difference between all the earlier examples of US aggression and the Venezuelan operation. The earlier operations where the real reasons may have varied from political considerations based on ideological divergence to crude economics, were all couched in the rhetoric of democracy. That is, they were undertaken in the guise of ushering democratic changes in those countries, the region or the world irrespective of the long-term death and destruction which followed in some locations. But in Venezuela under President Donald Trump, it is all about controlling natural resources in that country to satisfy US commercial interests.

The US President is already on record for saying the US will “run” Venezuela until a “safe transition” is concluded and US oil companies will “go in, spend billions of dollars, fix the badly broken infrastructure, the oil infrastructure, and start making money” – ostensibly for the US and those in Venezuela who will tag the US line. Trump is also on record saying that the main aim of the operation was to regain U.S. oil rights, which according to him were “stolen” when Venezuela nationalized the industry. The nationalization was obviously to ensure that the funds from the industry remained in the country even though in later times this did lead to massive internal corruption.

Let’s be realistic. Whatever the noise of the new rhetoric is, this is not about ‘developing’ Venezuela for the benefit of its people based on some unknown streak of altruism but crudely controlling and exploiting its natural assets as was the case with Iraq. As crude as it is, one must appreciate Trump’s unintelligent honesty stemming from his own unmitigated megalomania. Whatever US government officials may say, the bottom line is the entire operation was planned and carried out purely for commercial and monetary gain while the pretext was Maduro being ‘a narco-terrorist.’ There is no question that Maduro was a dictator who was ruining his own country. But there is also no question that it is not the business of the US or any other country to decide what his or Venezuela’s fate is. That remains with the Venezuelan people.

What is dangerous is, the same ‘narco-terrorist’ rhetoric can also be applied to other Latin American countries such as Columbia, Brazil and Mexico which also produce some of the narcotics that come into the US consumer markets. The response should be not to invade these countries to stem the flow, but to deal with the market itself, which is the US. In real terms what Trump has achieved with his invasion of Venezuela for purely commercial gain and greed, followed by the abject silence or lukewarm reaction from most of the world, is to create a dangerous and ugly new normal for military actions across international borders. The veneer of democracy has also been dispensed with.

The danger lies in the fact that this new doctrine or model Trump has devised can similarly be applied to any country whose resources or land a powerful megalomaniac leader covets as long as he has unlimited access to military assets of his country, backed by the dubius remnants of the political and social safety networks, commonsense and ethics that have been conveniently dismantled. This is a description of the present-day United States too. This danger is boosted when the world remains silent. After the success of the Venezuela operation, Trump has already upended his continuing threats to annex Greenland because “we need Greenland from the standpoint of national security.” Greenland too is not about security, but commerce given its vast natural resources.

Hours after Venezuela, Trump threatened the Colombian President Gustavo Petro to “watch his ass.” In the present circumstances, Canadians also would not have forgotten Trump’s threat earlier in 2025 to annex Canada. But what the US President and his current bandwagon replete with arrogance and depleted intelligence would not understand is, beyond the short-term success of the Venezuela operation and its euphoria, the dangerous new normal they have ushered in would also create counter threats towards the US, the region and the world in a scale far greater than what exists today. The world will also become a far less safe place for ordinary American citizens.

More crucially, it will also complicate global relations. It would no longer be possible for the mute world leaders to condemn Russian action in Ukraine or if China were to invade Taiwan. The model has been created by Trump, and these leaders have endorsed it. My reading is that their silence is not merely political timidity, but strategic to their own national and self-interest, to see if the Trump model could be adopted in other situations in future if the fallout can be managed.

The model for the ugly new normal has been created and tested by Trump. Its deciding factors are greed and dismantled ethics. It is now up to other adventurers to fine tune it. We would be mere spectators and unwitting casualties.

Features

Beyond the beauty: Hidden risks at waterfalls

Published

1 day ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

Bambarakanda waterfall. Image courtesy LANKA EXCURSIONS HOLIDAYS

Sri Lanka is blessed with a large number of scenic waterfalls, mainly concentrated in the central highlands. These natural features substantially enhance the country’s attractiveness to tourists. Further, these famous waterfalls equally attract thousands of local visitors throughout the year.

While waterfalls offer aesthetic appeal, a serene environment, and recreational opportunities, they also pose a range of significant hazards. Unfortunately, the visitors are often unable to identify these different types of risks, as site-specific safety information and proper warning signs are largely absent. In most locations, only general warnings are displayed, often limited to the number of past fatalities. This can lead visitors to assume that bathing is the sole hazard, which is not the case. Therefore, understanding the full range of waterfall-related risks and implementing appropriate safety measures is essential for preventing loss of life. This article highlights site-specific hazards to raise public awareness and prevent people from putting their lives at risk due to these hidden dangers.

Flash floods and resultant water surges

Flash floods are a significant hazard in hill-country waterfalls. According to the country’s topography, most of the streams originate from the catchments in the hilly areas upstream of the waterfalls. When these catchments receive intense rainfalls, the subsequent runoff will flow down as flash floods. This will lead to an unexpected rise in the flow of the waterfall, increasing the risk of drowning and even sweeping away people. Therefore, bathing at such locations is extremely dangerous, and those who are even at the river banks have to be vigilant and should stay away from the stream as much as possible. The Bopath Ella, Ravana Ella, and a few waterfalls located in the Belihul Oya area, closer to the A99 road, are classic examples of this scenario.

Water currents

The behaviour of water in the natural pool associated with the waterfall is complex and unpredictable. Although the water surface may appear calm, strong subsurface currents and hydraulic forces exist that even a skilled swimmer cannot overcome. Hence, a person who immerses confidently may get trapped inside and disappear. Water from a high fall accelerates rapidly, forming hydraulic jumps and vortices that can trap swimmers or cause panic. Hence, bathing in these natural pools should be totally avoided unless there is clear evidence that they are safe.

Slipping risks

Slipping is a common hazard around waterfalls. Sudden loss of footing can lead to serious injuries or fatal falls into deep pools or rock surfaces. The area around many waterfalls consists of steep, slippery rocks due to moisture and the growth of algae. Sometimes, people are overconfident and try to climb these rocks for the thrill of it and to get a better view of the area. Further, due to the presence of submerged rocks, water depths vary in the natural pool area, and there is a chance of sliding down along slippery rocks into deep water. Waterfalls such as Diyaluma, Bambarakanda, and Ravana Falls are likely locations for such hazards, and caution around these sites is a must.

Rockfalls

Rockfalls are a significant hazard around waterfalls in steep terrains. Falling rocks can cause serious injuries or fatalities, and smaller stones may also be carried by fast-flowing water. People bathing directly beneath waterfalls, especially smaller ones, are therefore exposed to a high risk of injury. Accordingly, regardless of the height of the waterfall, bathing under the falling water should be avoided.

Hypothermia and cold shock

Hypothermia is a drop in body temperature below 35°C due to cold exposure. This leads to mental confusion, slowed heartbeat, muscle stiffening, and even cardiac arrest may follow. Waterfalls in Nuwara Eliya district often have very low water temperatures. Hence, immersing oneself in these waters is dangerous, particularly for an extended period.

Human negligence

Additional hazards also arise from visitors’ own negligence. Overcrowding at popular waterfalls significantly increases the risk of accidents, including slips and falls from cliffs. Sometimes, visitors like to take adventurous photographs in dangerous positions. Reckless behavior, such as climbing over barriers, ignoring warning signs, or swimming in prohibited zones, amplifies the risk.

Mitigation and safety

measures

Mitigation of waterfall-related hazards requires a combination of public awareness, engineering solutions, and policy enforcement. Clear warning signs that indicate the specific hazards associated with the water fall, rather than general hazard warnings, must be fixed. Educating visitors verbally and distributing bills that include necessary guidelines at ticket counters, where applicable, will be worth considering. Furthermore, certain restrictions should vary depending on the circumstances, especially seasonal variation of water flow, existing weather, etc.

Physical barriers should be installed to prevent access to dangerous areas by fencing. A viewing platform can protect people from many hazards discussed above. For bathing purposes, safer zones can be demarcated with access facilities.

Installing an early warning system for heavily crowded waterfalls like Bopath Ella, which is prone to flash floods, is worth implementing. Through a proper mechanism, a warning system can alert visitors when the upstream area receives rainfall that may lead to flash floods in the stream.

At present, there are hardly any officials to monitor activities around waterfalls. The local authorities that issue tickets and collect revenue have to deploy field officers to these waterfalls sites for monitoring the activities of visitors. This will help reduce not only accidents but also activities that cause environmental pollution and damage. We must ensure that these natural treasures remain a source of wonder rather than danger.

(The writer is a chartered Civil Engineer specialising in water resources engineering)

By Eng. Thushara Dissanayake ✍️

Features

From sacred symbol to silent victim: Sri Lanka’s elephants in crisis

Published

1 day ago

2026/01/9

Thilina Walpola

The year 2025 began with grim news. On 1st January, a baby elephant was struck and killed by a train in Habarana, marking the start of a tragic series of elephant–train collisions that continued throughout the year. In addition to these incidents, the nation mourned the deaths of well-known elephants such as Bathiya and Kandalame Hedakaraya, among many others. As the year drew on, further distressing reports emerged, including the case of an injured elephant that was burnt with fire, an act of extreme cruelty that ultimately led to its death. By the end of the year, Sri Lanka recorded the highest number of elephant deaths in Asia.

This sorrowful reality stands in stark contrast to Sri Lanka’s ancient spiritual heritage. Around 250 BCE, at Mihintale, Arahant Mahinda delivered the Cūḷahatthipadopama Sutta (The Shorter Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant’s Footprint) to King Devanampiyatissa, marking the official introduction of Buddhism to the island. The elephant, a symbol deeply woven into this historic moment, was once associated with wisdom, restraint, and reverence.

Yet the recent association between Mihintale and elephants has been anything but noble. At Mihintale an elephant known as Ambabo, already suffering from a serious injury to his front limb due to human–elephant conflict (HEC), endured further cruelty when certain local individuals attempted to chase him away using flaming torches, burning him with fire. Despite the efforts of wildlife veterinary surgeons, Ambabo eventually succumbed to his injuries. The post-mortem report confirmed severe liver and kidney impairment, along with extensive trauma caused by the burns.

Was prevention possible?

The question that now arises is whether this tragedy could have been prevented.

To answer this, we must examine what went wrong.

When Ambabo first sustained an injury to his forelimb, he did receive veterinary treatment. However, after this initial care, no close or continuous monitoring was carried out. This lack of follow-up is extremely dangerous, especially when an injured elephant remains near human settlements. In such situations, some individuals may attempt to chase, harass, or further harm the animal, without regard for its condition.

A similar sequence of events occurred in the case of Bathiya. He was initially wounded by a trap gun—devices generally intended for poaching bush meat rather than targeting elephants. Following veterinary treatment, his condition showed signs of improvement. Tragically, while he was still recovering, he was shot a second time behind the ear. This second wound likely damaged vital nerves, including the vestibular nerve, which plays a critical role in balance, coordination of movement, gaze stabilisation, spatial orientation, navigation, and trunk control. In effect, the second shooting proved far more devastating than the first.

After Bathiya received his initial treatment, he was left without proper protection due to the absence of assigned wildlife rangers. This critical gap in supervision created the opportunity for the second attack. Only during the final stages of his suffering were the 15th Sri Lanka Artillery Regiment, the 9th Battalion of the Sri Lanka National Guard, and the local police deployed—an intervention that should have taken place much earlier.

Likewise, had Ambabo been properly monitored and protected after his injury, it is highly likely that his condition would not have deteriorated to such a tragic extent.

It should also be mentioned that when an injured animal like an elephant is injured, the animal will undergo a condition that is known as ‘capture myopathy’. It is a severe and often fatal condition that affects wild animals, particularly large mammals such as elephants, deer, antelope, and other ungulates. It is a stress-induced disease that occurs when an animal experiences extreme physical exertion, fear, or prolonged struggle during capture, restraint, transport, or pursuit by humans. The condition develops when intense stress causes a surge of stress hormones, leading to rapid muscle breakdown. This process releases large amounts of muscle proteins and toxins into the bloodstream, overwhelming vital organs such as the kidneys, heart, and liver. As a result, the animal may suffer from muscle degeneration, dehydration, metabolic acidosis, and organ failure. Clinical signs of capture myopathy include muscle stiffness, weakness, trembling, incoordination, abnormal posture, collapse, difficulty breathing, dark-coloured urine, and, in severe cases, sudden death. In elephants, the condition can also cause impaired trunk control, loss of balance, and an inability to stand for prolonged periods. Capture myopathy can appear within hours of a stressful event or may develop gradually over several days. So, if the sick animal is harassed like it happened to Ambabo, it does only make things worse. Unfortunately, once advanced symptoms appear, treatment is extremely difficult and survival rates are low, making prevention the most effective strategy.

What needs to be done?

Ambabo’s harassment was not an isolated incident; at times injured elephants have been subjected to similar treatment by local communities. When an injured elephant remains close to human settlements, it is essential that wildlife officers conduct regular and continuous monitoring. In fact, it should be made mandatory to closely observe elephants in critical condition for a period even after treatment has been administered—particularly when they remain in proximity to villages. This approach is comparable to admitting a critically ill patient to a hospital until recovery is assured.

At present, such sustained monitoring is difficult due to the severe shortage of staff in the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Addressing this requires urgent recruitment and capacity-building initiatives, although these solutions cannot be realised overnight. In the interim, it is vital to enlist the support of the country’s security forces. Their involvement is not merely supportive—it is essential for protecting both wildlife and people.

To mitigate HEC, a Presidential Committee comprising wildlife specialists developed a National Action Plan in 2020. The strategies outlined in this plan were selected for their proven effectiveness, adaptability across different regions and timeframes, and cost-efficiency. The process was inclusive, incorporating extensive consultations with the public and relevant authorities. If this Action Plan is fully implemented, it holds strong potential to significantly reduce HEC and prevent tragedies like the suffering endured by Ambabo. In return it will also benefit villagers living in those areas.

In conclusion, I would like to share the wise words of Arahant Mahinda to the king, which, by the way, apply to every human being:

O’ great king, the beasts that roam the forest and birds that fly the skies have the same right to this land as you. The land belongs to the people and to all other living things, and you are not its owner but only its guardian.

by Tharindu Muthukumarana ✍️
tharinduele@gmail.com
(Author of the award-winning book “The Life of Last Proboscideans: Elephants”)