Artificial insemination for Sri Lankan elephants?

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*Sri Lanka planning artificial insemination of elephants

*11 Nov 2007, 1033 hrs IST ,PTI

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KANDY(SRI LANKA): As part of its efforts to boost the population of

elephants, which are facing an uncertain future in the wake of rapid

deforestation, Sri Lanka is planning to undertake artificial insemination

process at its unique elephant orphanage in Pinnawela, about 80 kms

northeast of Colombo enroute to this heritage city.

 

The orphanage, which came into being with just seven elephants in 1975 with

the aim of helping deserted baby elephants, now has 82 elephants, including

40 male, and has become one of the most popular tourist attractions of Sri

Lanka.

 

Assisted by foreign and local elephant experts, the 25-acre facility has

also turned out to be a successful scientific captive breeding centre, and

has a total of 46 captive berths to its credit since the first birth in

1984. The youngest of the elephants here is just three months old while the

eldest is 65 years.

 

" We are planning to take up artificial insemination and our experts have

undergone training in Thailand, where the latest successful artificial

insemination had been carried out in March this year, " Assistant Director of

the orphanage Anoma Priyadarshini told a group of visiting Indian

journalists recently.

 

" The process was very complex as preservation of elephant semen was a

difficult task and the present lab in the orphanage would also have to be

upgraded. We plan to do it in six months to one year, " she added.

 

R Chandana Rajapaksa, one of the Veterinarian in Pinnawala Orphanage, who

has undergone training in artificial insemination of elephants in Germany

and Thailand, said some staff members had also been trained by the Zoo

Outreach Organiastion, an NGO, in India.

 

" Our aim is not to make money by the artificial insemination but to increase

the number of elephants, " he said.

 

Rajapaksa said another vet surgeon would also be sent for training in

artificial insemination and they would in turn impart training to other

staff members.

 

According to the Department of Zoological Gardens, which manages the

orphanage, all the elephants in the orphanage belong to sub species of

Elephas maximus maximus.

 

Rajapaksa said the orphanage was set up primarily to help baby elephants

which get lost from their herds.

 

These baby elephants often fall into abandoned irrigation wells or get

injured while being chased away by villagers when they stray into their

fields.

 

Stating that diminishing habitat made the wild elephants to stray into

fields, Rajapaksa said the forest cover of Sri Lanka had come down from 70

per cent at the start of the 20th century to a precarious 17 per cent,

severely affecting the elephant herds.

 

Elephants are part of Sri Lanka's religious and traditional activities and

often they are sent from the orphanage to nearby temples for festivals like

Kandy's 10-day pageant, the Esala Perahera in which the caparisoned

elephants lead the procession.

 

There are an estimated 3,000 wild elephants in the country and about 150

under private ownership.

 

The orphanage, which has 10 'friendly female' elephants assigned to take

care of new arrivals of baby elephants, provides the much needed moving

space for the largest terrestrial animals.

 

Besides the feeding of baby elephants, the other chief attraction is the

spectacular 500 metre journey of the herds for their two-hour bath in the Ma

Oya river at the appointed time of 10 am and 2 pm every day.

 

The elephants roam freely during the day in a herd. But, there is also a

protective electric fence to dissuade the pachyderms from going out,

Rajapaksa, who had been to India for workshops and seminars on elephant

conservation, said.

 

There is also an elephant which had fallen a victim to the ethnic strife in

the country as it lost the lower part of one of its legs after stepping on

to a landmine but still it had been making it to the waters by walking on

three legs all the way.

 

On their return from the river in the evening, the elephants are taken to

their sheds for the night and given their food. The young animals are being

fed with milk and subsequently change into supplementary food and later on

foliage.

 

The average daily expenditure of the orphanage is around Rs 75,000 which is

met from government funding.