Sri Lanka, April 17 -- The practice of capturing wild Asian elephants and then taming and training them for work originated approximately 4000 years ago. Originally used as war elephants on battlefields, they came to be used extensively as draught animals in the logging of forests, in timber yards, in clearing land for development and in temples.The Matangaleela, a rendition of the Gajashastra, by the Sanskrit poet Nilakanta, talks of five different techniques that can be used for capturing elephants- stockades; using female elephants as bait; noosing the elephant; following the animal till it tires out and then restraining it; placing a noose in a small pit and attracting the elephant to the pit using food.

Realms have been written abou...