An ailing elephant calf known as “Thal-etaya” is being moved to the Udawalawe Elephant Transit Home for further medical treatment, wildlife authorities say.
The Daily Mirror reported at 2.25 p.m. on Thursday that steps are being taken to transport the calf, with the operation carried out under the guidance of the Assistant Director of Wildlife for Polonnaruwa.
Officers and staff from the Manampitiya Wildlife Office are involved in the transfer. Veterinarians from Giritale and other areas are also taking part, to provide urgent medical care and to ensure the calf travels safely.
Why Udawalawe
The Udawalawe Elephant Transit Home, in the south of the island, is the Department of Wildlife Conservation’s facility for orphaned and injured calves. Animals are treated and reared there with the intention of releasing them back into the wild rather than keeping them in permanent captivity — which is what distinguishes it from an orphanage.
The distance involved is substantial: Manampitiya sits in Polonnaruwa district in the North Central dry zone, while Udawalawe is in the island’s south, which is why veterinary staff are accompanying a sick animal rather than treating it where it was found.
This desk reported in June on the transit home’s switch in milk formula for the calves in its care.
Against a wider picture
The transfer comes during a period of sustained strain on Sri Lanka’s elephant population. The Department of Wildlife Conservation opened a nationwide investigation into sick and injured elephants earlier this month, and security forces were deployed to an elephant rescue in Anuradhapura a fortnight ago.
Not reported
The filing does not say what is wrong with the calf, how long it has been ill, or how it came to the attention of wildlife officers. It gives no age, and does not say whether the animal was orphaned or separated from a herd.
Nothing is reported on where exactly the calf is now, when the transfer will take place, how it will be transported, or what treatment is planned on arrival. No official is named, and no veterinarian is quoted. The filing does not explain the name “Thal-etaya” or say whether the animal has been under observation previously.