Adorable baby elephants practice play-fighting with each other

Two baby elephants at the Pinnawala Elephant Camp in southern Sri Lanka were filmed playfighting with each other, nudging each other and wrestling with their trunks. The two calves, one male and one female, were filmed at the elephant sanctuary on August 10

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* 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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CDA declines another offer to shift ‘Kavaan’

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) once again declined a request from 'Free the Wild' to immediately shift 'Kavann' the elephant into a safe elephants' sanctuary abroad. However, the authority asked foreign experts to visit the Margazar Zoo.

A three-member delegation led by Mark Cown, a representative of 'Free the Wild', a United States based organisation working for animals' rights, met Islamabad Mayor Shaikh Anser Aziz on Tuesday in this regard.

Sources told Daily Times that the delegation had requested CDA to allow them to shift 'Kavaan' into a safe sanctuary anywhere in the world. "They also offered to give another new pair of elephants for the zoo in Islamabad," sources said.

The 33-year-old Asian elephant Kavaan has lived in the Islamabad zoo since he was a calf. He was gifted to General Zia by the Sri Lankan government. The elephant has been kept in chains for more than two decades.

The campaign to free him by animal lovers across the country and abroad last year led to a series of Senate hearings and the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat took up Kavaan's issue after the media reported on the terrible conditions under which he is being kept at the zoo.

In July 2016, the committee's chairman Senator Talha Mehmood and other members recommended that Kavaan be sent abroad to an elephant sanctuary. A sanctuary in Cambodia has offered to fly him out there free of cost and to keep him in a natural environment for the rest of his life.

However, the city managers have been reluctant to send the elephant abroad, fearing the loss of funds that are being used on the name of Kavaan's rehabilitation.

When contacted, Islamabad Environment Metropolitan Corporation Director General Dr Sheikh Suleman said: "It is too early to say that why we did not make a commitment with the delegation regarding shifting Kavaan."

"We have asked them to first visit the zoo and assess the present situation of the elephant and then we will discuss a suitable option in this regard," he said.

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