Thailand to offer medical assistance for another elephant in Sri Lanka

By Easwaran Rutnam

Thailand is to offer medical assistance for another elephant in Sri Lanka, just days after airlifting an ailing animal from Colombo to Lampang.

The second elephant was also gifted to Sri Lanka by Thailand but concerns have been raised over its health.

According to the Thai media, the elephant named ‘Pratu Pha’ which is currently in Kandy, cannot be moved to Thailand because of its age.

As a result a Thai medical team is expected to travel to Sri Lanka in a few weeks to offer medical training and assistance which will help Sri Lankan experts to deal with the animal.

On Sunday Thailand airlifted Sak Surin, a 30-year-old elephant which was in Sri Lanka for 22 years.

Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn had also granted financial support for the medical treatment of the repatriated jumbo.

Sak Surin is currently undergoing a 30-day quarantine at a centre, and veterinarians will also check for other diseases before allowing him to associate with others at the centre before allowing the public to visit.

Sak Surin lived at the Kande Viharaya temple in Aluthgama, in Sri Lanka’s south, where the tusker was allegedly abused and neglected before being taken to the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwela last November, according to Rally for Animal Rights and Environment (Rare), a Sri Lanka-based animal protection organisation, which ran a campaign to rescue the elephant. (Colombo Gazette)