The Sad Story of Wasantha the Tusker

The Sad and tragic story of Wasantha, dates back to 2003. I was the president of the S.Thomas College wildlife society, this was the time of the peace talks between the government and the LTTE. Wilpattu had been closed for many years due to the war, and finally opened up in 2003 during these peace talks. The park was not what it is now, and there were very few animals to be seen, and the facilities of the park were yet to be re developed.

I went on a day trip recce to the park beforehand and was astounded by the beauty and scale of the park. But we hardly saw any wildlife, and any we did see were very shy.

The tour with the whole society combined occured during the August school holidays, and we were to camp in the now derelict Kokmotte bungalow.

After heading to the site, which is very far from the main office we set up operations and after lunch headed to the Moderagam Aru to cool off.

During which time, we got an urgent message from a park jeep which arrived that the park warden the late Mr Wasanth Pushpananda wanted to meet me and my master in charge Mr Nirmal Fernando to discuss some conservation projects we were hoping to do.

Knowing we will miss our first game drive myself and Nirmal Sir headed to the park office. We met Wasantha, who was a very impressive man, who seemed determined to bring the park back to its former glory. The next few days as well we saw him in the field with the laborers and workers developing the road and physically involved in operations which most senior officers in the department never do.  In the next few years he did tremendous work to bring up the park. Sadly he met his end when he was ambushed and killed by LTTE terrorists in 2007. He was a great loss to Wildlife conservation and the department.

Moving back to our story, after discussing some projects we headed back into the park and drove towards the campsite.


Reaching Percy Bendhi Wewa, we were astounded to come across a big elephant on the bund of the lake. Its head was in the bushes, but when it pulled out, we saw two gleaming shafts of ivory. It was a Tusker ! . He turned towards us, and raised its trunk feeling us out, and then slowly slid into the bushes and dissapeared from sight. I managed to get some photographs from my old film camera. And I treasured this moment ever since.

The years passed an I always wondered about this tusker whom I encountered so long ago, but did not get any positive update on him, until 2014, when a young boy from the village posted an image on facebook, hence I contacted him and he said he saw him in a chena deep in the village. I analyzed the photographs and compared with my old photos and realized this was truly the big tusker I had seen way back in 2003. It was 11 years from our first encounter, and it was heartening to know this tusker was still alive.

I made plans with him to head there one day and try and find him once again. We reached Wilpattu late at night as we left after office. Spending overnight at a village guest house we headed to the area hes known to be seen in the morning. Note even the village is a mix of forest, jungle, paddy cultivation and chena cultivation, hence its a scattered area with a mix of wilderness and human habitats. We looked everywhere by jeep and foot but couldnt locate any signs.

That evening we went to an abandoned chena cultivation , and waited until some village boys who were helping us went far into the bush looking for the tusker .We had stationed them in different areas to try and get a glimpse. Finally we go the call and we began to walk towards some harvested paddy fields. One of the village boys said hes on the way to this area and for us to remain out of sight as the tusker is very shy. It began to rain for a few minutes and we took shelter at a small coconut thatched hut which was abandoned. Waiting for over 30 -45 minutes we saw the head of the tusker as he came out into the open. He was the same beautiful bull I had see so long ago, and it was heartening to see him again. I noticed hes much older and abit worse for wear this time around plus I noticed his left eye didnt seem too good and we presume hes blind on that side.

He gently walked past us, and headed deeper into the bush. We were happy to see him alive after so long. Back home I decided to name him Wasantha in memory of the late park warden, and someone whose done so much for the park before his untimely demise.

Sadly few months later, we got news that a poacher was caught in Eluwankulam area with tusks similar to Wasantha's, and awhile later they found the location of the body. I was devastated to know of this , and heartbroken that such a peaceful animal met his demise at the hands of a greedy coward.

Unfortunately this is the sad fate of tuskers in this country. May his memory live on along with the legacy of the late Mr Wasantha Pushpananda.