Elephant is an intelligent animal. The colonial period was a period of great suffering for the people as well as the animals of Sri Lanka. At that time, elephants were captured in herds and exported abroad. Or elephants were used for road construction, heavy pulling, etc. Even though the people of Sri Lanka stood against the elephants being kept and captured, the elephant of Panamure mainly influenced the export of elephants in Sri Lanka. The Panamure elephant barn and the sacrifice of that elephant started in Panamure in 1950 and managed to stop the export of elephants from Sri Lanka.
Trapping elephants in a certain area is one of the ways of catching elephants. A reservoir for wild elephants is separated and covered with a fence. The poles are planted there by cutting deep holes and lowering the poles so that poles do not get stuck in them. Elephant sightings should be done after the elephant fence has been prepared for a long time and the poles have been properly fixed. An elephant barn has space for wild and domesticated elephants. After allocating that space, another space was allocated for the people coming to see the trapped elephants at the Panamure elephant barn.
At that time, Panamure’s elephant barn was also known as a place of entertainment for British people and nobles in Sri Lanka. A large number of spectators came to see how wild elephants are tamed by taming elephants.
In the elephant barn, wild elephants are tethered to each other by taming elephants close to each elephant. Although this is a dangerous job, there are experienced personnel for it. But one elephant was a big obstacle in catching these elephants. The tame elephants could not even come close to the place where the elephant was. This great elephant, which sometimes attacked the tame elephants, tried to break the fence of the elephant barn for two or three days. This elephant did not want to leave the forest without his tied companions, even the gate was opened for him. The incident ended tragically in the death of that great elephant. Later that tragedy was famous not only in Sri Lanka but also all over the world as the elephant king of Panamure.
27 elephants entered the elephant barn. Those were 14 elephants to be tamed and tied. Like the tame elephants, the expert elephant handlers also trembled with fear from the sudden attacks of the leader elephant. Even the wild elephants who were caught and tied up seemed unable to control due to the boldness of this leader elephant. A group of dignitaries such as Solebury Sami who was the Governor of Sri Lanka at that time, Army Commander Roseand, and Dr. Spital also came to visit the elephant barn. The leader elephant chased after them also. The elite jumped from a moat and barely survived.
This animal, named the elephant king of Panamure, was an extraordinary elephant. About 9 feet tall and 25 years old, this elephant was taller than all the other elephants in the stable. Apart from the leader, the herdsmen were able to capture the rest of the wild elephants, i.e. 26 elephants, and tie them to trees within three days.
Image credits: https://roar.media
To finish the work in the elephant barn, the leader elephant needs to be caught. Three days have passed. Everyone is tired. The wild elephants, tied to trees, were suffering from leg injuries. The tamed elephants were watching to see if that ferocious leader elephant would come and attack at any moment. This news spread around the country.
The owner of the elephant barn did not want to lose the 26 elephants that he had worked hard to capture for months after building the elephant barn because of the leader elephant. Tame elephants or workers were afraid to even approach wild elephants, let alone tame them. The leader elephant tries to break the ropes of the other herd elephants that are tied up to free them. If a stranger came to the elephant barn, it was no big deal for this leader elephant to pick him up and throw him on the ground without any hesitation. The leader elephant decided to stand up for the other elephants in the group and not go to the forest even when the door of the elephant barn was opened.
Finally, the owner of the elephant barn informed the Ratnapura Police about this. But they said that it is difficult to kill the elephant with one shot. Therefore, he assigned it to a person named Kadiragamar Advakat, who was one of the best shooters in the Ceylon Navy. A skilled shooter, he did not miss his aim. The elephant could not bear the shot that hit the forehead. The elephant fell to the ground and breathed last. The elephant king of Panamure was a brave animal who sacrificed his life for the freedom of his companions born later. There are many stories about elephants who went to war for people and made people work. But more than all of them, this elephant king is special because he stayed with his herd until the end, and even after his death, he performed a historic mission for the entire elephant race.
