Elephants in Sri Lanka are not only an iconic symbol to the Sri Lankan wildlife but also of economic and cultural importance. Thus, the importance of elephants to this island nation cannot be measured. Today’s “Wild Elephant” brings you actual, unedited footage of a typical elephant herd in Sri Lanka.
Water sources such as rivers, lakes, ponds, and reservoirs are places where elephant herds flocks in at dusk. Therefore, it is an ideal location to see the elephant behaviors in the wild.
The “Kala wewa” is an irrigation reservoir built in 460AD by king Dhathusena who ruled the Anuradhapura kingdom in the country’s north-central region. Since then, this reservoir helped in flourishing the lush paddy fields and quenched the thirst, and provided comfort to the surrounding wildlife, including elephants.
This video provides an excellent footage captured from the banks of Kala wewa to observe the wild elephant’s lifestyle.
The elephants are herbivores who adopt various foraging habits. They can consume plant matter from various sources, including grass from the ground, to fruits and leaves from tall trees, and even cultivation crops from nearby villages. Observe how these elephants consume their meal selectively by removing the dirt and soil from the grass by dusting them off with the help of its trunk.
Another essential behavior to note is their social behavior. That is how elephants interact with one another. The matriarch, other females, and the calves in a herd form a complicated social structure. Social interactions, therefore, takes an essential role in an elephant herd. The way the calves and young elephants play is always a lovely sight to watch. These play sessions help develop their social bonds and are a great way of learning to become an “elephant.”
When talking about social behaviors, one thing that cannot be neglected is their sexual behavior.
The males or the bulls are chased away from the herd when they reach puberty. Therefore, all the males are visitors to the herds. This behavior will prevent inbreeding among related individuals as it can give rise to unsuitable traits and anomalies. Therefore, at this time, males make their opportunities to visit the herd to find potential mates, thus providing this time to observe their mating behavior.
Elephant behavior is not limited to what we mentioned today. Like humans, they too have very complicated behaviors. One thing to note is that this complicated natural lifestyle is seriously hindered when they are in captivity and also interfered due to human activities.
