Thai elephant flown home after alleged abuse in Sri Lanka
Muthu Raja was in pain and covered in abscesses when removed from the temple last November
BBC July 2, 2023
A Thai elephant given to Sri Lanka in 2001 has returned to its birthplace after a diplomatic row over its alleged abuse.
The 29-year old Muthu Raja arrived in Thailand on Sunday on a 19 million baht (£425,000; $540,000) commercial reparation flight.
Bangkok had demanded the return of the animal after claims it was tortured while kept at a Buddhist temple.
Sri Lanka's prime minister said he had formally apologised to the Thai king.
The 4,000kg (8,800 pounds) elephant was airlifted to Chiang Mai in a specially-built steel cage, accompanied by four Thai handlers and a Sri Lankan zookeeper.
It will undergo hydrotherapy to treat an injury on its front left leg.
Both Sri Lanka and Thailand consider elephants to be sacred animals.
In 2001, the Thai royal family gifted three elephants, including Muthu Raja, to Sri Lanka's government to be trained as carriers of religious relics.
Muthu Raja was placed in the care of a temple in the south of the country.
Animal rights groups allege it was made to work with a logging crew in the temple, adding that it developed a stiff leg from a long-neglected injury.
Sri Lanka-based activist group Rally for Animal Rights and Environment (RARE) lobbied last year for Thai officials to intervene after months of unsuccessful attempts to get Sri Lanka's government to act, the group's founder Panchali Panapitiya said.
Ms Panapitiya said the failure of Sri Lankan wildlife officials to act had brought "disrepute" to the country, The Independent reported. RARE has also petitioned for authorities to prosecute those responsible for the elephant's neglect.
Sri Lankan wildlife minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi told local media Thailand had been "adamant" in demanding that Muthu Raja be returned after its ambassador in Sri Lanka found it to be in poor health during a visit last year.
Muthu Raja was in pain and covered in abscesses when removed from the temple last November, AFP reported. Activists claim its handler inflicted some of those wounds.
It was temporarily transferred to Sri Lanka's National Zoological Garden and most of its wounds have healed in recent months.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told his parliament in June that he had conveyed his regret to the Thai king Maha Vajiralongkorn over Muthu Raja's alleged abuse and was able to "re-establish trust between the two countries".
The Thai government stopped sending elephants overseas about three years ago following protests from activists, Thai environment minister Varawut Silpa-archa said in June.
Bangkok's wildlife department said it is monitoring the condition of Thai elephants already sent overseas.
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A Thai elephant given to Sri Lanka in 2001 has returned to its birthplace after a diplomatic row over its alleged abuse.
The 29-year old Muthu Raja arrived in Thailand on Sunday on a 19 million baht (£425,000; $540,000) commercial reparation flight.
Bangkok had demanded the return of the animal after claims it was tortured while kept at a Buddhist temple.
Sri Lanka's prime minister said he had formally apologised to the Thai king.
The 4,000kg (8,800 pounds) elephant was airlifted to Chiang Mai in a specially-built steel cage, accompanied by four Thai handlers and a Sri Lankan zookeeper.
It will undergo hydrotherapy to treat an injury on its front left leg.
Both Sri Lanka and Thailand consider elephants to be sacred animals.
In 2001, the Thai royal family gifted three elephants, including Muthu Raja, to Sri Lanka's government to be trained as carriers of religious relics.
Muthu Raja was placed in the care of a temple in the south of the country.
Animal rights groups allege it was made to work with a logging crew in the temple, adding that it developed a stiff leg from a long-neglected injury.
Sri Lanka-based activist group Rally for Animal Rights and Environment (RARE) lobbied last year for Thai officials to intervene after months of unsuccessful attempts to get Sri Lanka's government to act, the group's founder Panchali Panapitiya said.
Ms Panapitiya said the failure of Sri Lankan wildlife officials to act had brought "disrepute" to the country, The Independent reported. RARE has also petitioned for authorities to prosecute those responsible for the elephant's neglect.
Sri Lankan wildlife minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi told local media Thailand had been "adamant" in demanding that Muthu Raja be returned after its ambassador in Sri Lanka found it to be in poor health during a visit last year.
Muthu Raja was in pain and covered in abscesses when removed from the temple last November, AFP reported. Activists claim its handler inflicted some of those wounds.
It was temporarily transferred to Sri Lanka's National Zoological Garden and most of its wounds have healed in recent months.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told his parliament in June that he had conveyed his regret to the Thai king Maha Vajiralongkorn over Muthu Raja's alleged abuse and was able to "re-establish trust between the two countries".
The Thai government stopped sending elephants overseas about three years ago following protests from activists, Thai environment minister Varawut Silpa-archa said in June.
Bangkok's wildlife department said it is monitoring the condition of Thai elephants already sent overseas.
Uncertain fate awaits Thailand's elephant tourism
Published
3 January
'Record number' of elephant deaths in Sri Lanka
Published
11 January 2020
Emaciated 70-year-old Sri Lankan elephant dies
Published
25 September 2019
The tragic lives of India's mistreated captive elephants
Published
24 April 2018
Elephant tourism is 'fuelling cruelty'
Published
6 July 2017
Jintamas Saksornchai
The Associated Press
Staff
Published July 2, 2023
A veterinarian gives water to "Sak Surin," an ailing elephant that had allegedly not been well cared for in Sri Lanka, which had received it as a gift from the Thai government, but was returned to its home country and taken to the Thai Elephant Conservation Center in Lampang province in northern Thailand, July 2, 2023.
(AP Photo/Nareerat Chaywichain)
BANGKOK -
An ailing elephant that Thailand had presented to Sri Lanka more than two decades ago returned to his native land for medical treatment Sunday following allegations that the animal was badly abused while living at a Buddhist temple.
The male elephant, known in Sri Lanka as Muthu Raja, or Pearly King, and as Sak Surin, or Mighty Surin, in Thailand, was flown directly from the South Asian island nation's capital to Chiang Mai province in northern Thailand on a Russian Ilyushin IL-76 cargo plane.
A six-person team, including two veterinarians and four mahouts, or professional elephant trainers, accompanied the elephant on the flight, which took about six hours.
A special container was built to hold the 275-centimetre- (9-foot-) tall, 4-ton pachyderm. Several mahouts went to Sri Lanka in advance to accustom the animal to being caged so he wouldn't panic during the trip to Thailand.
Video footage of his arrival in Chiang Mai showed the elephant conscious and appearing calm.
Thai Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa was at the airport and said the elephant landed in perfect condition. He said earlier that Thailand spent at least 19 million baht (US$540,000) for the animal's repatriation.
The pachyderm could be heard trumpeting from inside the container that was loaded onto a truck's flatbed trailer to transport him to the government's Thai Elephant Conservation Center in nearby Lampang province, where he will be quarantined for at least 30 days and stay for rehabilitation.
The elephant was sent to Sri Lanka in 2001 when he was around 10 years old as a gift from the Thai royal family. He was one of three elephants that Thailand gave to Sri Lanka's government for training as a carrier of religious relics. Mathu Raja was placed in the care of a Buddhist temple.
A Sri Lanka-based animal rights group, Rally for Animal Rights and Environment group, alleged in 2020 that the animal was in bad health due to years of hard labor and abuse, and needed urgent medical care. The group started a petition calling for him to be rescued and later called for the elephant's return to Thailand after the Sri Lankan government allegedly ignored the activists' complaints.
Thailand's Foreign Affairs Ministry released a statement in November 2022 saying a preliminary investigation was conducted by the Thai Embassy in Sri Lanka concluded that the elephant "was not in good health and was in poor living conditions." The statement said Thailand would seek Sri Lanka's approval to bring the elephant back for treatment.
The elephant was reported to be underweight, have rough skin and abscesses on both hips, thinning foot pads, and a stiff left foreleg, making it difficult for him to walk and stand.
He was moved from the Buddhist temple to Sri Lanka's National Zoological Garden for preliminary treatment and appeared healthier before his flight to Thailand.
Sri Lankan Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told members of Parliament last month that while visiting Thailand in May he had expressed his regret to his Thai counterpart over what had happened to the elephant.
Thai officials have said the main purpose of bringing the animal back was for medical care and whether he returns to Sri Lanka remains a subject to be discussed with the Colombo government.
During a press conference in Bangkok last month, Thai Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said authorities would start surveying the health condition of other Thai elephants in foreign countries. He said exporting Thai elephants was already banned for conservation reasons.
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