That Crow on Horton Plains will stay there much longer……….

Ever since the Horton Plains was declared a National Park in 1988; so was the influx of  busloads of visitors to view the famous escarpment named the World’s  End. Its a pity that most visitors only come here to view the precipices and the Baker’s Fall. They seem to be ignorant of the fauna and flora that is unique to the plains and its pre-history.

People come here  in buses, vans, cars

Be that as may ……..with the human visitor there came on the plains the Jungle Crow that is known to  keep company with humans. The crow is also known as an indicator species on the changing environment. A close ally with trash and garbage . 

Little World's End Escarpment

Food and water was permitted on the 9 km trek to the World’s End and back for the weary traveller who was hungry and thirsty. Part of this  food was left on the plains as waste on which the crows feasted.

Today the authorities are more concerned and they do not allow food in wrappers in the park and much of the unconsumed food come back in the backpacks the visitor carries along.  Thus the crow is not directly dependent on  the waste food.

It has now adapted a new survival strategy………………..

Animals are said to make strange and odd partnerships. These strange relationships are needed for their safety and to overcome the struggle for existence. They are know as Symbiotic Relationships in the study of Field Biology. One animal helping the other to meets its needs. 

A Symbiotic Relationship

Looking for the tick

The Jungle Crow that came on the plains has now made a symbiotic relationship with the Sambar Deer. It is interesting to note that the tick on the Sambar Deer that guzzles its blood is also a symbiotic relation, but the ticks do not help their host; instead they  pass germs that cause disease.

On the other hand the symbiotic relationship of the crow with the sambar deer  is a favourable one as the crow consumes the disease causing tick. 

 The crow on the Plains will adapt to its needs

The Jungle Crow being a omnivore would adapt to most conditions and this Jungle Crow in the plains is going to stay there for a very long time. This is because animals know best, the means of survival living together with other species of animals.

The Heron that Flew Higher

Horton Plains has fascinated me ever since my school days at Gurutalawa. Many were the weekends spent on the plains in the 60’s when we hiked up there from school. 

July 13, 2012 was more like a family reunion when we spent the night at the Anderson / Ginihiriya Bungalow in Horton Plains.

We scanned the Ohiya side of the plains from 6.00 a.m in the morning of July14,2012 and decided to walk to the Big Worlds End before returning for home. 

The walk was not the best  I’ve had…………just at the summit of World’s End heaven came down to greet us in a very liberal way..... Need I say how we looked after that.

While changing into dry clothes  we spot a large bird fly low and perch on the Gorse Shrubs  The light was very dull after the heavy rain that fell on the planes after 21/2 months they said. Having dried ourselves we venture closer  to the bird….. on to the Black Bride on the Ohiya Road.

Observed Location

It was Identified as a Purple Heron [Ardea purpurea.]

The only other close call based on colour would be the Goliath……but it was definitely not …… and not the Grey Heron either.

The Low Flying Purple Heron in Horton Plains

Obviously the next question was, if it had been recorded in this location before. This needed time for reference. I have now perused  records as appearing in    http://www.worldbirds.org/v3/srilanka.php and the entries based on elevation are as below.

Displayed are the highest elevation  records. 

Location	Date	Count	Activity	Purpose	Observer	Elevation
Diyatalawa	17-08-2009	1	Feeding	Birding	Chandanie	1258 m
Dunuwila / Matale	09-02-2009				Rahula Perera	561 m
Nuwara Eliya Victoria Park & Lake Gregory	13-11-2008	1	Feeding	Birding	S J R N Fernando	1885 m

Based on these records it has been in Nuwara Eliya since 2008. A period of four years is sufficient for It to expand up to Horton Plains [Elevation 2112 m] given the amount of clearing of land from Mipilinana / Ambewela / Pattipola for vegitable cultivation. Kande-ela too is found to be highly exploited. Most water ways have gone dry for them having been diverted for agriculture.

However it would be interesting to study its development  if it sticks on the plains; for its presence in the plains would  impact  the  amphibian and other invertebrate fauna.   

Two Countries in one Country…..?

Those of us who went to school before 1972 would recall when many specimen applications for government employment [self made Bio-Data’s was not the order then] had a question asking if you belonged in the “Up-Country or Low-Country”.

This confused me ever since a schoolboy; I was born in Kandy in the so called Up-Country and my father too was born in Kothmale again a locality in the Up-Country, but I was listed as a Low-Countryman as my grandfather was born in Wadduwa a township in the Low-Country.

It becomes funnier when my son  born in Galle the main city in the Low-Country is listed as a Up-Countryman for his grandfather was born in Kotmale  in the hills.

This stupidity in living in a different country within Ceylon was done away with, once Sri Lanka became a Republic on May 22, 1972. [Sri Lanka was officially Ceylon before 1972]

History records that Sri Lanka has been invaded by foreign forces from time to time. It was under Parakramabahu VI of Kotte that it was last united under one flag. 

In 1505 Don Lourenço de Almeida, son of the Portuguese viceroy in India, had to find refuge in Galle, [Southern Port City] when his fleet looking for Moorish ships to attack and plunder are forced to dock at Galle to overcome rough weather. 

It is this incident that sends news to the throne in Kotte  Parakramabahu VIII (1484-1508), of strangers who "eat hunks of white stone [white bread] and drink blood [presumably wine]. . . and have guns with a noise louder than thunder. . ."  The king suspecting danger of another invasion, offers  gifts of cinnamon and elephants while permiting the building of a residence in Colombo for trading purposes. With the building of this heavily fortified "trading post" in Colombo their militaristic intentions became apparent. 

Ever since 1505 we have records of the Dutch outdoing  the Portuguese in 1658 and the British takeover from the Dutch in 1798 and subsequently the whole country under the British throne in 1815.

With the maritime regions of  the South-West coming under the rule of the Europeans the life style and the social structure of the Low-Country peasantry was to change both economically and politically. Many even converted religiously. The economy controlled by the King  was now  in the hands of the Dutch East India Company later the British East India Company. With the British takeover from the Dutch all the maritime provinces around the country is lost to the Kandian Kingdom. 

Map showing Kandian Territory with the Maritime provinces under the British

The impact of the loss of territory is noted  when the ship commandeered by the  Knox’s is impounded in the eastern shores and sixteen of the crew, including the Knoxes, are taken captive by the troops of Rajasinghe II. There is historic evidence of attacks on the Galle Port and the Matara Fort by the armies of  Rajasinghe II to take them over as the intended taxes were not honoured. 

Later the British fought many a battle in the hills at Gannoruwa and Lewella [so named to symbolise the bloodletting on the shores of river Mahaveli ]  against  Ragasinhe II to gain control of the Kandian kingdom. Unsuccessful on the difficult terrain they looked for other means and wait until Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe is installed.

Finally they take control in 1815 through cunning. They set the Adigars of Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe,  [Adikarm in Sinhala, was a feudal title associated with high office in the Kandian Kingdom]   against the King who revolt to their advantage to capture the fleeing King and Queen;… finally fooling the Adigas as well. 

From hereon the division of the Up-Country and the Low-Country……. The Low-Countryman who had adopted much of European culture was used as the middlemen in affairs with the interior. 

In Kandyan times, all those living in the Kandyan territories were subject to the Kandyan law. Some of these legal factors in marriage and land use the British also continued with. The Kandyan attitude of aristocratic superiority toward the Low-Country Sinhalese precluded marriage between them. But with the increase in wealth and sophistication of the latter with other outside contacts, these barriers are no more.   

The extent of the Kandian Kingdom comprised of the Central Province, Uva and Sabaragamuwa Provinces, North-Central Province and the greater part of the North Western Province roughly up to the Sandalankawa. 

The landmarks dividing these boundaries would have been many, that may have vanished with development. 

The Marker Rock on the 55th km on the Kandy Road at Danowita

There is but one such landmark on the 55th Kilometre on the Kandy Road at Danowita.,,,,,,,,,,,  known as the “Danowita Rock” ………….still sacred to the older Kandian. One notable signature is the women's dress code of the “Kandian Osariya” taking dominance to the “Indian Saree” of the Low-Country beyond this point to this day.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Danowita Rock [Pics by Author]

However there lingers much pun in social gatherings of the Kandian attitude to this day…..they say the Kandian's would  still be stuck in the hills, if not for the ‘Suddha’ [white man]  tunnelling the rock at Kadugannawa on the Kandy road. [ No Malice Intended ]

Kadugannawa Tunnel [Sudha Gala Viddha]