Skip to main content
Wednesday, November 11, 2026Nov 11
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

A temple elephant in Sri Lanka will be airlifted back to Thailand after allegations of neglect

Asian elephant Sak Surin, gifted by the Thai Royal family and named Muthu Raja or pearly king in Sri Lanka, stands by a water pond at the national zoological garden in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, June 30, 2023. Sak Surin, or the honor of the Thai province of Surin, spends its last hours in Sri Lanka its adopted home, awaiting to be airlifted back to its country of birth after alleged abuse. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)
Asian elephant Sak Surin, gifted by the Thai Royal family and named Muthu Raja or pearly king in Sri Lanka, stands by a water pond at the national zoological garden in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, June 30, 2023. Sak Surin, or the honor of the Thai province of Surin, spends its last hours in Sri Lanka its adopted home, awaiting to be airlifted back to its country of birth after alleged abuse. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena) Asian elephant Sak Surin, gifted by the Thai Royal family and named Muthu Raja or pearly king in Sri Lanka, stands by a water pond at the national zoological garden in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Friday, June 30, 2023. Sak Surin, or the honor of the Thai province of Surin, spends its last hours in Sri Lanka its adopted home, awaiting to be airlifted back to its country of birth after alleged abuse. (AP Photo/Eranga Jayawardena)

By KRISHAN FRANCIS / Associated Press 3 min read

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Veterinarians are preparing to airlift an Asian elephant from Sri Lanka back to its home country of Thailand this weekend after it spent more than two decades at a Buddhist temple where activists alleged it was abused.

The Thai royal family gave the elephant as a gift in 2001 to Sri Lanka’s government, which in turn gifted it to the temple where it was named Muthu Raja and given honored roles in religious processions.

However, the activist group Rally for Animal Rights and Environment, or RARE, raised allegations it was being mistreated, including that it had a stiff leg from a long-neglected injury. It lobbied last year for the intervention of Thai officials, who asked Kande Viharaya temple officials to allow the animal’s return to Thailand for medical treatment.

“This is not the end, but the beginning of a new life for Muthu Raja,” RARE group founder Panchali Panapitiya said.

The temple agreed to transfer the elephant last November to Sri Lanka’s National Zoological Garden, where it has been receiving treatment and preparation for the airlift to Thailand planned for Sunday.