Almost 6 weeks ago, I was informed that there was a new elephant birth outside the Wasgamuwa National Park closer to a bordering village. This news brought excitement to the villagers who started to go there to see the baby. My informer told me that the mum was alone and no other elephants were around her. The mum was not happy being disturbed and she chased the people who came to visit them. The visitors kept coming so she decided to leave the area. Since then no one has seen them. I was a bit worried as she was her own with the baby.
A week after (07 December 2017) I went to the National Park with my crew and some of our volunteers to collect elephant population data. As usual, I went down to the Mahaweli river to take a small break. After spending about 15 min by the river we decided to start our work again. Suddenly, we spotted an elephant walking down to the river in the distance from the river bank. I got my binoculars out and checked it. It was a female and to my amazement, I saw a very small baby elephant following the female – the mum. I showed them to my friend from the wildlife department and asked him whether that was the mum and infant that we had been searching and worrying for. He nodded his head yes and said“the lump on her right front leg is her individual identification character”. She is “Leela”’ an adult female in her 30s. Her body condition is not great – shoulder and pelvic girdles are visible along with some ribs.
According to our information, the infant is about10 days old and about two feet in height. It was trying to keep up with the mum and although its legs were not wobbly yet she looked very weak. The mum reached the river and quenched her thirst. While she was drinking I slowly took some steps towards them to get closer. I was expecting to see other family members of her family unit coming down and joining her but none came down. After drinking some water, she started to walk into the river but I was expecting her to turn back and stay in the national park.
The river is currently half-dried. She continued to walk into the much deeper area of the river and the infant followed her. The infant started off behind the mum when it was fully submerged but later moved to the right side of the mum and easily paddled down with her. It poked its trunk above the water to breathe while submerging most parts of its body. From an early age, elephants are very well physically adapted for swimming. Among modern is the only mammal that can be submerged well below the surface water while snorkeling. Compared to other mammals elephants have thicker tissue around their lungs enabling them to breathe while fully submerged.
Just before reaching the river bank, the mum stayed still to check the area for any danger. After making sure it was safe she walked to the other side of the river and climbed the bank and got disappeared – now she was outside the National Park.
It was a bit strange to see the mum elephant alone with her newborn. Usually, close family members such as daughters and sisters stay with mothers. This mum is old and it is unlikely this would be her first child so she should have a family. Other females in the family group play an important role in caring for the newborn and it is very important for the survival of the newborn. Allomothering has been very well documented among elephants.
Sometimes females move away from their family units to give birth and re-join the group with the newborn. When this happens the family unit doesn’t wonder far away from the laboring female. It appears to me this mum was searching for her family group. In some situations, mum’s will join a new family group which has infants of the same age as her infant.
I was hoping this would find her family group and I was looking forward to seeing them again. After a week, she returned to the National Park with her family group unfortunately the little baby elephant was not with her, It was heartbreaking for me.
