Nurturing Love: NKAR Adopts Motherless Baby Elephant

On the 4th of Nov 2023, a mother elephant and her little baby had fallen into a man-made agricultural well in Bulathgomuwa-wewa, Ethiliwewa, Wellawaya. As in normal practice, the Department of Wildlife and Conservation (DWC) was called to rescue the pair. On completion of a successful rescue mission, for reasons unknown, the mother elephant didn’t accept the baby back into her care. That left this little baby elephant orphaned and stranded.

Until 4-5 years of age baby elephants need the care, guidance and nourishment from their mother and the herd. This meant that this little newly orphaned baby of 3-4 months had no chance of survival if left alone to fend for herself.

The ”Elephant Transit Home” (ETH) was established in 1995 under the preview of the DWC. The main objective of the ETH is taking the initial care for such orphaned baby elephants, until they can be rehabilitated back into the wild. This process of bringing them into a stable condition and to ensure they can survive on their own takes approx 5-6 years. (The ETH is the only orphanage in Sri Lanka that rehabilitates elephants back into the wild).

This traumatized, weak and exhausted, orphaned baby elephant, was re-homed the very next day ( 5th Nov 2023) into a totally new environment ( the ETH ) which was going to be her home for the next few years. Elephants are very social animals and love the company of others, however when a new orphan is brought to the ETH, they are left in solidarity, under the vigilant supervision of human care until they are nursed well into a stable condition and fit enough to mingle with a new herd.

All elephants at the ETH are fed on formula milk powder (Lactogen). At the initial stage depending on their condition elephant to elephant the milk formula would differ. Until the suitable formula is derived and the baby elephant is brough to a stable condition, he/she is under the vigilant care and supervision of the careers. This trial period could go on for a couple of weeks.

This little baby seemed to have developed an on-going indigestion problem. Hence her trial period continued longer than usual. This little jumbo proved that she is a survivor, and after much care and supervision from her careers, her condition improved.

On the 15th March 2024 , When Mr Nilmin Nanayakara Chairman/ Managing Director of NKAR Travels & Tours (Pvt) Ltd was given a choice from 4 baby elephants , that were ready for Fostering, It was love at 1st sight, there was no hesitation that Mr Nananyakara’s eyes and heart were set on little fellow. It seemed like love at 1st sight. She stole the show, won the heart of her new foster father/ company.

Documentation for the agreement for Fostering this baby elephant between the Department of Wildlife Conservation and NKAR Travels & Tours (Pvt) Ltd, took approximately a week. Immediately the team at NKAR working on sustainable management aspects named her as ‘’Adira’’, deriving from a Sanskrit – the one who is brave.

From end March 2024, the cute little jumbo – Now named ‘’Adira’’ had been slowly introduced into her new extended family, ‘’the herd’’ at the ETH. She happily ventures out with the herd from 10:30am to 12:30pm and comes back to her familiar surroundings of her little pen for the rest of the day. This continued for a while and once she seemed comfortable and strong enough, she gradually increased the time spent with the herd. When she is fully integrated into the herd at the ETH, the human contact will decline, giving her time to customize herself to a semi wildlife life.

Now this little ‘’Adira ‘’ wanders around in ETH carefree, happy and safe. The team of NKAR is fully committed to supporting the welfare of ‘’Adira’’ until she is rehabilitated back to the wild and even beyond.