* Pinnawala elephant orphanage earns Rs. 68 mn in August from visitors

Sept 09, Colombo: Sri Lanka's world famous elephant sanctuary at Pinnawala has attracted over 138,000 local and foreign tourists in the month of August, according to the management.

Accordingly, the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage has earned Rs 68.2 million from the sale of tickets in the last month.

The Assistant Director of the orphanage Mihiran Medawala said local tourist arrivals increased during August due to school vacations and a large number of foreign tourists have also visited the sanctuary.

According to the travel agents, about 80 percent of foreign tourists to the island visit the elephant orphanage. Because of the increase in arrivals to Pinnawala, the income of the hotels and other businesses has also increased.

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PETA urges boycott of famous Sri Lanka attractions

The international animal rights organisation PETA has urged tourists to avoid Sri Lanka’s elephant attractions, including the famous state-run Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage and celebrations of the Buddhist festival of Esala.

Sri Lanka’s rapid increase in tourism has led to a massive rise in the “shameful abuse” of elephants in the country, PETA said,

Elephant “attractions” that chain the animals, use bullhooks, and offer elephant rides often describe themselves as “sanctuaries” or “orphanages” in order to dupe tourists into believing that they’re ethical, PETA said.

“Until tourists stop paying to ride them, elephants will continue to face exploitation and abuse. If you’re visiting Sri Lanka, please refuse to ride elephants, avoid visiting any attraction that offers or endorses elephant rides, and steer clear of festivals in which elephants are paraded. This includes the Pinnawala Elephant “Orphanage”, Dehiwala Zoo, and Kandy Esala Perahera festival.”

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Fonseka raises concerns over use of elephants at pageants

Fonseka says new ways must be looked at on using elephants for temple pageants without hurting them.

“We see elephants moving from side to side at peraheras and are really happy to see that. We assume they are dancing as the dancers in the perahera are also dancing,” he said.

However Fonseka says after visiting the elephant orphanage and other locations where elephants are kept and after speaking to experts, he found that the elephants move from side to side at peraheras as they are in pain.

Fonseka said that while there is a need to protect Sri Lankan culture there is also a need to protect the animal.

The Minister said that the shortage of elephants for temple pageants must be addressed but it should not be done so to meet the personal agendas of some individuals. (Colombo Gazette)

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Council approves new $1.6m elephant despite Sri Lankan court hold up

The only thing stopping Auckland from getting a third elephant is a court case in Sri Lanka.

In May 2011 Auckland Council approved $3.2m to transport two gifted elephants from Sri Lanka to New Zealand.

Anjalee joined veteran elephant Burma at Auckland Zoo in 2015.

Before arriving to New Zealand in 2015, Anjalee spent three months quarantined in Niue.

But protests from animal rights activists and cultural and religious groups in Sri Lanka stopped second elephant Nandi from leaving Sri Lanka for New Zealand.

During the 2017/2018 Annual Plan process council allocated only $1.1m for the relocation of the second elephant instead of the $1.6m required, due to an oversight.

At Auckland Council's finance and performance committee meeting on Tuesday, 15 councillors approved a correction of $549,000 to the $1.6 million needed to move Nandi to New Zealand.

A hearing about whether Nandi can be moved to New Zealand is underway after campaigners in Sri Lanka petitioned the Sri Lankan Court of Appeal.

At the committee meeting, Auckland Zoo deputy director Kevin Burley said the court case in Sri Lanka was not about Nandi specifically, but rather the gifting of elephants as a whole. 

Anjalee had thrived under the zoo's care and he thought Nandi would thrive also, Burley said.

Councillors Cathy Casey, Efeso Collins, Mike Lee, Wayne Walker and John Watson voted against the decision.

"It's a lot of money to transport an exotic, endangered animal from one part of the world to this part of the world," Casey said.

"Two elephants are enough."

$1.6m could go a long way for community groups and the council's homelessness programme, she said.

Collins said he was voting against the correction because $549,000 could be used to double council's commitment to homelessness.

"We would pay the Christmas parades in Ōtara, Papatoetoe, Otahuhu and Māngere for 15 years with half a million dollars," Collins said.

"We could fly around civil servants of this council business class with half a million dollars."

Regional facilities Auckland board external relations director Paul Brewer said it was delighted at the correction of $549,000.

"There was good robust debate," Brewer said.

If the court in Sri Lanka ruled in its favour, getting Nandi to New Zealand would be quickly underway, he said.

A spokeswoman for Auckland Zoo said it was confident it could give Nandi an excellent home and life but her arrival was ultimately up to the Sri Lankan courts.

"If we subsequently hear definitively that she will have to stay at Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, then we will then explore what other options are for our elephant programme," the spokeswoman said.

SAFE campaign director Mandy Carter said Nandi had established her own family at the orphanage and an "artificial group" at Auckland Zoo could cause issues, she said.

Alongside the one-off cost of $3.2m for Anjalee and Nandi, there would be high ongoing costs of $100,000 each to look after three elephants at the zoo, Carter said.

Instead she thought the money could go to looking after native animals, she said.

Residents commented on community website Neighbourly about Auckland Council spending $1.6m on an elephant.

Remuera resident Zoe Spinks said having another elephant at the zoo would attract more visitors.

"I see this as an investment to bring more interest and funding toward conservation, including our own native species," Spinks said.

Grey Lynn resident Jo Ryan said she wondered what Auckland Council's perspective was on spending money on an elephant rather than safe and affordable housing.

"$1.6m could change the lives of many of those who are homeless," Ryan said.

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A Sri Lankan Mission To Save Endangered Elephants

Deforestation, poaching and civil war have had a devastating impact on Sri Lanka’s elephant population. One orphanage for elephants is working to bring the species back from the brink of extinction.

SABARAGAMUWA — As the sun rises over the lush mountains in the Sri Lankan province of Sabaragamuwa, a team of veterinarians prepare very large bottles of milk. The babies, Pandula and Migara, are orphans and they are definitely hungry. Once presented their breakfast, they impatiently consume it.

The babies are two calves at the Pinnawala Elephants Orphanage.

Chandrika Priyadhashani, the research and education assistant at the orphanage, says, "They come from the wild, so we have to look after them during their lifetime. And their ages are below five."

Pandula and Migara were rescued from the Ritigala forest several years ago.

Over recent decades, massive development has seen elephant habitats in Sri Lanka shrink. Thousands of acres of thick forest have been cut down to make way for residential areas and agricultural land.

"So many wildlife animals lives were damaged, especially the elephants. They need big forests," Priyadhashani says. "So many of our elephants’ babies were orphaned."

As their habitat has been drastically reduced, elephants now wander into farms in search of food. Hundreds have been killed by people in surrounding communities because they are seen as a nuisance even though they are endangered.

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Sri Lankan court case against gifting elephant to New Zealand shifts focus to conservation

On a writ petition filed by animal rights activists and Buddhist and Christian organisations, the Court of Appeal has stayed the export of the baby elephant “Nandi” and fixed May 26 as the next date for hearing the case.

Meanwhile, the Attorney General had appointed two committees to revise the regulations relating to the export of baby elephants to other countries. The committees are expected to give their reports before May 26.

It was in 2016, when the then New Zealand Prime Minister John Key visited Sri Lanka, that President Sirisena had announced that he would gift to New Zealand the baby elephant Nandi kept in the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. But opposition to this rose both in Sri Lanka and in New Zealand. The grounds were similar.

The New Zealand animal rights organisation SAFE said in a statement that it was “deadly opposed” to bringing another elephant into the country.

The first of many reasons for this being that transporting and caring for an elephant in captivity is extravagantly more expensive than maintaining them in the wild.

However, the most important reason is that female elephant often never leave their mothers or mother figures. Even though Nandi was orphaned, she will be brutally ripped away from her family and sold to solidify foreign relations.

'Nandi' is not the first elephant to be sent to New Zealand from Sri Lanka, as another was sold to them last year,” SAFE said.

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