The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka (WNPS), in partnership with the China Merchants Foundation (CMF), Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) and the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), has imported a specialised elephant milk formula for orphaned calves being rehabilitated at the Elephant Transit Home (ETH) in Udawalawe.
The formula, produced by Australian wildlife nutrition specialist Wombaroo, is designed for calves under eight to ten weeks of age — the most vulnerable period of an orphaned elephant’s early life. It replicates the nutritional profile of elephant mother’s milk, including fatty acids, proteins and carbohydrates, while omitting micro-elements that very young calves struggle to process.
Until now, orphaned calves at the ETH have relied on modified human milk substitutes, which veterinarians say frequently cause digestive complications during the critical first weeks of care. WNPS said the new formula addresses a gap that has long challenged caregivers and is expected to improve survival rates for the youngest arrivals.
The Elephant Transit Home has rehabilitated and released more than 190 orphaned elephants over the past two decades, making it one of the world’s most successful rewilding programmes for the species. The WNPS Past President and Chair of its Elephant Coexistence Subcommittee handed the consignment to ETH Head Veterinarian Dr. Malaka Abeyawardana.
The delivery is part of the second phase of the HIPG-WNPS-DWC partnership, which also covers community education, farmer awareness programmes and broader work on human-elephant conflict mitigation. WNPS said the selection of Wombaroo followed extensive DWC veterinary consultation and a review of global best practice in elephant calf nutrition.
The donation lands as Sri Lanka grapples with renewed human-elephant conflict pressures, including two wild elephants killed by an illegal electric fence in Maligawila and a national wild elephant population of 7,451 confirmed in the 2024 survey. It complements continuing work to free up elephant corridors at Wetahirakanda, Hadapanagala and Koholankala and the breeding and research mission of the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.
