Pratupa, one of the two Thai elephants still in Sri Lanka, is in good health at a temple in Kandy city and was recently visited by the Thai ambassador to Sri Lanka, H.E. Poj Harnpol, according to the Voice for Elephants Sri Lanka group.
The ambassador was invited by the caretaker of Suduham Pola Temple to visit Pratupa, known as “Thai Rajaa” in Sri Lanka. It is being looked after by a vet.
According to Ambassador Poj, the Thai elephant is housed in an open yard, which is half concrete and half earth. Its two front legs and one hind leg are chained to trees, because it is in rut, but the chains are not tight. The elephant is in good health and there is no plan to bring it back to Thailand, said the ambassador.
Officials of Thailand’s Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and the Forest Industry Organisation are trying to locate 20 Thai elephants, gifted as “goodwill ambassadors” to Denmark, Japan, Sweden and Australia, by past Thai governments to know their conditions.
Prasert Sornsathapornkul, chief of the Wildlife and Plant Conservation Division, admitted that, in the past 2 years, there had not been a follow-up on the conditions of the gifted elephants, until the plight of Sak Surin, one of the three elephants gifted to Sri Lanka, came to light.
As for Pratupa, Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Varawut Silpa-archa said that, since the elephant is quite old, about 50, it would be too risky for it to be flown back to Thailand.
He said that his sister, Kanchana, who is one of his advisors, and a team of vets will visit Sri Lanka in September to discuss cooperation and exchange of knowhow on the treatment of elephants with Sri Lankan officials.
According to records since 2001, the Forest Department sent three elephants to Sri Lanka, three to Denmark and two to Japan. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation sent two to Sweden. The Surin provincial administration sent two to Japan, while the Zoological Park Organisation of Thailand sent eight to Australia.
