COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Veterinarians are getting ready to airlift an Asian elephant from Sri Lanka again to its residence nation of Thailand this weekend after it spent greater than 20 years at a Buddhist temple the place activists alleged it was abused.
The Thai royal household gave the elephant as a present in 2001 to Sri Lanka’s authorities, which in flip gifted it to the temple the place it was named Muthu Raja and given honored roles in spiritual processions.
However, the activist group Rally for Animal Rights and Environment, or RARE, raised allegations it was being mistreated, together with that it had a stiff leg from a long-neglected harm. It lobbied final 12 months for the intervention of Thai officers, who requested Kande Viharaya temple officers to permit the animal’s return to Thailand for medical therapy.
“This is not the end, but the beginning of a new life for Muthu Raja,” RARE group founder Panchali Panapitiya stated.
The temple agreed to switch the elephant final November to Sri Lanka’s National Zoological Garden, the place it has been receiving therapy and preparation for the airlift to Thailand deliberate for Sunday.
Madusha Perera, a veterinary surgeon on the zoo, stated two huge abscesses the elephant was affected by when it arrived have largely healed. However, the zoo has not been in a position to absolutely deal with the animal’s leg due to a scarcity of services, she stated.
“Once he gets back to Thailand the experts there will attend to the conditions so that one day we will be able to see him walk the normal way,” Perera stated.
Visit Arsaithamkul, a visiting Thai veterinarian, stated the therapy in Thailand might embrace hydrotherapy, laser therapy and acupuncture.
At the zoo, Muthu Raja’s morning routine has included veterinarian check-ups, bathing in a small pond and observe entering into the container that may carry him on the almost six-hour flight to Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The container is cushioned and has home windows for feeding – which is able to embrace bananas, pumpkin and sugar cane. Zoo officers have hoisted the 9-foot-tall, 4-ton creature in trial lifts to check the container’s power.
Muthu Raja will likely be sedated if wanted, and two vets will monitor him through the journey. Three Thai and one Sri Lanka elephant tenders additionally will likely be on the airplane.
Panapitiya stated her group had unsuccessfully sought to boost the problem of Muthu Raja’s neglect with the Sri Lanka authorities for months earlier than turning to the Thai authorities, and stated the failure of Sri Lankan wildlife officers to behave had introduced “disrepute” to the nation.
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena instructed Parliament earlier this month that he expressed his remorse to the Thai prime minister over the therapy of the elephant throughout journey to Thailand in May.
Panapitiya stated her group is also pushing for the discharge of one other elephant on the Kande Viharaya temple.
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