Muthu Raja….the traumatised Captive Elephant

Srilal Miththapala

There is a lot of hype lately in the news regarding the return of this tame elephant in Sri Lanka, to Thailand

This elephant who has a magnificent pair of tusks,?Muthu Raja, was a gift from Thailand to the former President Mrs. Chandrika Kumaranatunga in 2001 with the hope that the elephant would be trained to carry the sacred casket of Relics in the famous Kandy Perahera. However it was later handed to the Aluthgama Kande Viharaya.

But it has been revealed that the elephant faced severe distress due to the abuse by mahout who was in charge of the elephant.

Due to pressure from animal rights groups and some NGOs, the Thai government got involved, and after discussions, decided to airlift the animal back to Thailand for proper care?

I don’t really get too involved with matters related to tame?elephants. But thought I would give my two cents worth.

Transporting a four ton elephant is not an easy task. Even by road , loaded on to a specially designed truck, ?the elephant is subject to great stress. In translocating wild elephants, the animal is tranquillised and sedated during the road transportation.?

But this is always fraught with danger as was seen in the blotched translocation attempt where one of our most magnificent Tuskers, Galigamuwe Raja, who died while being transported on road.

?

In this case?a full grown elephant ( who is said to have various wounds and ailments) is going to be repatriated to Thailand by air. It will be at least a three hour flight plus another several hours of pre and post flight preparation and acclimatising and loading and unloading the animal, totalling to about 10 hours. ( if all goes well) ?

?There are numerous ?‘nice’ social media posts being posted?showing the tusker being trained to fit into the tight enclosure that would?be used in the transportation. Myopic animal rights activists are cheering and encouraging the project.

But the bottom line is that the animal is going to go thru great trauma during this relocation to Thailand. Period. The risks are enormous and God forbid, could be even fatal.

So would it be not better to set up a good facility in Sri Lanka itself where the elephant would be properly cared for, and given a peaceful time to spend the rest of his life ? All the money that is being spent on this extravagant endeavour in the media spotlight, could be used to build a proper elephant ‘bomass’ ( elephant paddock ) where Muththaiya Raja could roam freely under constant care of properly trained mahouts and veterinary doctors, and live the last days of his life in relative peace and tranquillity?