The Sri Lankan authorities repatriated an elephant to Thailand this weekend due to the pachyderm's health problems due to not having received proper care in the temple where it was used in ceremonies.
Nak Surin, a 29-year-old male elephant given to Sri Lanka by Thailand in 2001, left Colombo by plane on Saturday and landed on Sunday in Chian Mai, in northern Thailand, where he will receive medical care, the Parks Conservation Department said. Nature, Wildlife and Plants in Thailand, reports Efe.
In a live video on its Facebook page, the Department broadcast the arrival of the elephant, also known as Muthu Raja, inside a cage on a Russian-made Ilyushin Il-76 aircraft.
When the pachyderm was donated more than 20 years ago, the Sri Lankan authorities transferred it to the Kande Vihara temple, some 79 kilometers south of Colombo, where it was used to participate in Buddhist ceremonies.
In May last year, the Thai authorities received complaints from the NGO Animal Rights
According to animal protection groups, some 3,000 wild elephants now live in Thailand's forests threatened by habitat loss and human activity, compared with 300,000 pachyderms that roamed the country more than a century ago.
A similar population of domestic elephants is also estimated in the Southeast Asian country, many of them used in parks and shows for tourists.
In the past, thousands of elephants were used in the logging industry, but when logging was banned in 1989, pachyderms began to be displayed on the streets to beg and used in recreational activities.
