News
Thailand assures return of tusker after full recovery
While religious ceremonies were held at the Zoological Gardens in Dehiwala on Friday for the safe return of Sak Surin to Thailand, Thai Ambassador Poj Harnpol assured that the tusker will be returned to Colombo after the animal fully recovers.
Officials of the Thai embassy will visit the animal before it is repatriated.
The Thai elephant’s previous custodian, Chief Incumbent of Aluthgama Kande Viharaya, Ven Kokkavita Wipulasara Nayaka Thera on Friday morning said his final farewell to the tusker by chanting Pirith in the presence of Mr Harnpol, Thai officials and zoo staff.
Thai officials also handed over a souvenir to Wipulasara Thera on Friday morning.
Following the event, Mr Harnpol, in an interview with the Sunday Times said the tusker will be in Thailand until full recovery is achieved and until it is confirmed that the mission of improving the animal’s health is achieved.
He said the elephant will be flown out at about 7.30 a.m. today. The animal needs urgent medical treatment, he said.
Bidding farewell to Sak Surin: Thai ambassador and Ven Kokkavita Wipulasara Nayaka Thera. Pix by Indika Handuwala
The tusker will be in quarantine for 14 days before it is sent to the National Elephant Institution, forest industry organisation in Lampang province in northern Thailand.
At the institution, the animal’s behaviour and health will be monitored, while full body checkups, blood tests, and X-rays would be taken to find the cause of the stiffness of the leg. Treatment methods such as hydro therapy, and laser therapy will be used.
Mr Harnpol thanked the National Zoological Garden’s staff and authorities for complying with their request by taking care of the 30-year-old tusker, and for healing the two pus-filled abscesses on its rear end.
He said the decision to take the animal back to Thailand came after discussions with Sri Lankan Zoo authorities and Thai veterinary teams, and an understanding was reached that Thailand is better equipped to care for the tusker.
“The sole purpose of this mission is to improve the quality of life of the animal and improve its condition,” he said.
Mr Harnpol said the situation of the animal was unfortunate, but with the incident both Sri Lankan and Thai authorities as well as mahouts got more awareness about animal rights and welfare of captive animals.
He confirmed that the documentation required to airlift the animal was handed over to relevant authorities and cleared. The animal is responding to the Thai mahouts.
When queried about the action the Thai Government would take on the previous custodian of the tusker and caretakers, who allegedly mistreated the animal, Mr Harnpol said there was no evidence on how the animal’s health declined.
“There is no need to dwell on the past, we have to look into the future and ensure the tusker’s good health,” he said.
Thai Ambassador Poj Harnpol
“The Muthu Raja (Sak Surin) incident strengthened the bilateral relations as both Governments, zoo authorities worked very closely. We have planned to have some animal exchange programmes with the Dehiwala zoo.
“We even requested one of the Zoo’s mahouts to be sent to Thailand with the elephant. He will accompany our three Thai mahouts.”
Two Thai veterinary surgeons will fly with the tusker, he said. Trials of the ground transport process were held on Wednesday.
He said a mobile X ray machine has been gifted to the zoo’s hospital.
Dr Visit Arsaithamkul
He declined to comment on the view of the Thai Royal family regarding the incident.
The assistant director of conservation and research, the Zoological Park of Thailand, Dr Visit Arsaithamkul who is representing the organisation is working with the vet team to get the animal to Thailand safely.
In Thailand, the animal will be checked.
Zoo DG Thilak Premakantha
“X-rays will be taken to see if the animal’s ailment is in its bone or in the tendons and thereafter provide hydrotherapy, laser treatment and acupuncture,’’ he said.
Zoological Gardens Director General Thilak Premakantha said that zoo’s chief elephant mahout Upul Jayaratne will be going to Thailand.
The director of animal health and nutrition at the zoo, Dr Rajapaksalage Chandana Rajapaksa and Dr Madusha Perera as well as three or more mahouts and staffers will drive to Bandaranaike International Airport to assist Thai officials and the movers.
The tusker can handle the long journey. The Thai Embassy as well as the National Zoological Gardens have requested police security for the journey to Katunayake, he said.
Animal rights activists, too, held their own ceremony on Friday afternoon to bless Sak Surin. The members of Rally for Animal Rights and Environment (RARE) Sri Lanka, Animal Welfare Trust and Baw Baw, as well as environmentalist Nayanaka Ranwella took part, along with two Buddhist monks.
The director of RARE Sri Lanka, Panchali Panapitiya said activists brought tickets and entered the zoo and held a Pirith chanting programme near the pen which held the elephant.
She said the Government should take action against the state officials who neglected and mistreated the animal, those who abused the animal, and brought disrepute to the country.
“If we are to pay our respects to Thailand, we should take action against the persons who mistreated the animal,’’ Ms Panapitiya said.
She called on President Ranil Wickremesinghe to cancel the ‘sannasa’ which gives the temple the ownership of the animal.
Additional reporting
Thusitha Kumara de Silva
| Plan laid to haul the crate with minimal fuss | |
 Tantri Trailer manufacturers which fashioned the crate used to house Sak Surin said a less stressful programme has been devised to transport the animal.The Biyagama-based company’s Research and development engineer Milinda Kodagoda, who designed the crate, told the Sunday Times that two specially-designed trailers will be used to transport the animal from the Dehiwela zoo to the airport and then to the aircraft, a Russian cargo flight model IL-76. The special crate has been mounted on top of the GooseNeck trailer (special hydraulic trailer which can be lowered to the ground) to give easy access to Sak Surin to climb into the crate, he said. Thereafter, the trailer is suspended via a hydraulic system until it is linked to a truck.  Milinda Kodagoda The internal part of the crate is padded to avoid any injury to the animal. The plan is to transport the elephant to the airport from Dehiwala between 9.30 pm and midnight with the expectation that the the trip to BIA would take two hours, he said. At the airport, the five ton crate will be transferred to a high bed trailer, which will move the animal to the aircraft. This is done to provide easy access to the aircraft’s inbuilt mechanism to hoist the crate and place it in the cargo hall of the flight. Mr Kodagoda said the cargo flight had reached Sri Lanka on Friday but the pilot had informed them to bring the tusker four hours before the 7:30 am flight take off time to load the crate safely. “We hoisted the crate to simulate the scenario of hoisting the animal and crate into the aircraft to familiarise the animal,’’ he said. He added that the crate which has organic padding on both sides and rubber carpets to give the animal comfort would have its front parts metal bars covered with padding to ensure the safety of the tusks. The expense of the crate and its specifications is Rs 6 million.
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