A Thai zoo keeper feeds Muthu Raja elephant in an enclosure at Dehiwala Zoo in Colombo on June 30, 2023 (Ishara S. KODIKARA)
A Thai elephant gifted to Sri Lanka two decades ago was flown back to its birth country on Sunday after a diplomatic row over alleged mistreatment of the animal.
The Thai authorities gifted 29-year-old Muthu Raja – also known as Sak Surin in his birthplace – to Sri Lanka in 2001.
But they reclaimed it last year after allegations that it had been tortured and neglected while housed in a Buddhist temple in the island nation’s south.
The 4,000-kilogram (8,800-pound) mammal flew on a one-way commercial flight from Colombo Airport on Sunday morning in a repatriation that had cost $700,000, according to Thai authorities.
The Ilyushin IL-76 cargo plane carrying Muthu Raja took off around 7:40 am (02:10 GMT), the airport manager said.
After landing in Chiang Mai, the elephant will be quarantined at a nearby wildlife sanctuary.
It was brought from its temporary home at a zoo in Colombo before dawn in a special steel cage the size of a shipping container.
Four Thai handlers and a Sri Lankan zoo keeper will accompany the elephant on the flight, and two surveillance cameras will monitor its health status during the journey.
Dehiwala Zoo’s chief veterinarian Madusha Perera told AFP that Muthu Raja was in pain and covered with abscesses when it was rescued from its previous location last year.
Animal rights groups said the elephant was forced to work with a logging team and its wounds – some allegedly inflicted by its handler – were neglected.
The elephant will undergo hydrotherapy to treat a remaining injury on its left front leg on its return to Thailand, Perera said.
– return refused –
Elephants are considered sacred in Sri Lanka and are protected by law.
The organization Rally for Animal Rights and Environment (RARE), which led a campaign to rescue Muthu Raja from the temple, has expressed dissatisfaction with the animal’s passing.
RARE organized a Buddhist blessing for the elephant on Friday before the trip and the group are now asking the authorities to prosecute those allegedly responsible for the animal’s neglect.
The story goes on
A nationalist group held a demonstration outside the Thai embassy in Colombo on Thursday, demanding the animal stay in Sri Lanka for another six months.
“We were unaware of the elephant’s plight,” the group’s leader, Dan Priyasad, told AFP.
“We can nurse it back to health in six months, and if we fail, they can take the animal back.”
Wildlife Minister Pavithra Wanniarachchi said Thailand has been “relentless” in its calls for the elephant’s return.
Prime Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told Parliament in June that he had personally expressed Sri Lanka’s regret over the elephant’s condition to the King of Thailand.
Thai Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa declined to comment on whether Muthu Raja had been mistreated last month, but noted that the Thai government has stopped sending elephants abroad.
Bangkok’s diplomatic missions are now checking the condition of those already posted abroad, he said.
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