Yala visitors urge caution during elephant mating season
11 Feb 2022
Yala visitors urge caution during elephant mating season
11 Feb 2022
Bull elephants in ‘musth’ blamed for aggressive behaviour
BY Pamodi Waravita In light of recent incidents of elephants attacking safari jeeps in the Yala National Park, the Wildlife Conservation Department noted that these incidents coincide with the “musth” or mating season of the bull elephants, and stressed that extra caution needs to be practised during those times. Wildlife Conservation Department Director General (DG) Chandana Sooriyabandara, speaking to The Morning yesterday (10), said: “These bull elephants usually come out in the park only during their musth season which is when they are more aggressive. Thus, people may only see them during those aggressive moments. This is a common challenge in national parks. Experienced jeep drivers know how to respond to the situation and how to react to ensure the safety of the humans. Caution must be exercised when encountering these elephants.” Last month, video footage of Sando the tusker approaching a line of vehicles at the Yala National Park circulated on social media. On Wednesday (9), video footage of another tusker – Nandimithra – was released to the media, where he attacked a safari jeep carrying three French tourists. Although the vehicle was heavily damaged, there were no reported injuries. Senior officials at the Yala National Park raised concerns with The Morning last month about the number of vehicles entering the park at a given time, noting that vehicle blocks could lead to dangerous situations such as the recent incident of Sando approaching a long line of vehicles. Commenting on these concerns, Sooriyabandara said that although attempts were made in the past to limit the number of jeeps entering the park, this was met with opposition by the jeep drivers themselves. “We tried to introduce a scientific solution to the problem but they were not satisfied with it. So, we have now gone down alternate routes, where the entry of jeeps is controlled depending on the time and where some routes inside the national park are made one way in order to reduce traffic.”According to an official at the Yala National Park, there are many jeep drivers who depend on the income brought in by the tourists, especially these days, after tourism has been halted for the past two years.
