Jeewan: The tool user

The Forest is My Memory

I am fifty years of age. My skin is the colour of the earth I walk upon, and my mind is a library of every stream, every fruiting tree, and every ancient path between Udawalawe, Pokunuthanna, Neraluwa and the surrounding area. For half a century, I have known no boundaries—only the rhythm of the seasons and the call of the land.

Then, in the year you call 2008, the "sting" appeared.

You built a line of wire that bites with fire. You called it a fence. You thought that by marking a line on a map, you could erase the memory in my feet. You tried to tell me that this small square of forest was now my only home, while the rest of the world—my world—was now yours....

You think you are the only ones who can think. You are wrong.

I watched your fence. I felt its bite, and I learned. I saw that while my flesh is vulnerable, the fallen trees are not. I began to pick up the heavy logs you left behind. I learned to drop them with precision, feeling the wires snap and the fire in the metal go cold. I do not do this out of anger; I do it because I must eat, I must roam, and I must be who I was born to be.

I am a tool-user. I am an engineer of my own freedom...

We are smart enough to change our strategies to overcome every 'solution' you build. For every wire you electrify, we will find a new way to break through. We will continue to outpace your technology with our inherited intelligence until you realise that we cannot be outsmarted—only understood. We will not stop until you come to a truce and accept that this land belongs to both of us.

...My Question to You

You consider yourselves the most intelligent beings on this Earth. Yet, I must ask: Why can you not understand the simplicity of my life?

When the mosquitoes come at night, do you try to hang a net over the entire jungle? No. You hang a net around your bed to protect your sleep. When you fear a thief, do you wall off the entire city? No. You put a wall around your own house to keep what is yours safe.

So why, when it comes to us, do you try to fence the forest? Why do you try to cage a giant in a garden?

...The Path to Peace

You want to stop the conflict? Then stop trying to stop me.

Put your fences where they belong: around your homes and your precious crops. Protect yourselves, but let us use our traditional lands. Until you understand our ecology—our need to move, our need to remember—you will struggle to live alongside us.

We do not want war. We want co-existence.

Think outside your boxes. See my presence not as a threat, but as a gift—a resource that can bring life and income to your villages. Accept that I am not an intruder; I am a part of the soul of this land.

I am Jeewan. I am still here. I am still walking. And I am asking you: Will you finally learn to live with me, or will you keep trying to build a net around the world?

If you believe Jeewan is right, it’s time for a new model of co-existence. Support EPIC to change the way we see and manage elephants to protect both people and elephants.