China s elephants are running out of room to roam
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The Final Nail in the Coffin of the Wild Elephant
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Photo courtesy of Maximus
Rambo, the mature male elephant that has become an icon of the Uda Walawe National Park, was doomed to be captured from within the park and imprisoned in a so-called Elephant Holding Ground at Horowpathana to live the remainder of his life deprived of freedom and, possibly, of food. Why? At political behest because Rambo had begun to venture out of the park and into adjacent cultivations in search of food.
The human conditioning of Rambo
Most have heard of Pavlov’s dogs and their classical conditioning using food and a bell. In Rambo’s case, food came with the sounds of humans passing, so he began to associate humans with food. A decade or more ago, Rambo was presented with food by someone going by when he was by the fence. He liked it, as did the humans watching and soon others joined in. Rambo learnt that if he stood by the fence, he would be gifted with tidbits from passers-by, high in nutrition in comparison to his natural diet. Although what he r