Working hand-in-hand with experts to bring quality veterinary care to Sri Lanka’s captive elephants.
For millennia, the people of Sri Lanka have maintained a sacred fellowship with Asian elephants. Elephants are an important part of the country’s culture, traditions, ecology, and economy. Yet there is a paradoxical reality behind this long-standing relationship. Captive elephants—including many taken from the wild—are forced into a lifetime of chained servitude often characterized by chronic pain, isolation, and suffering.
EleVETS is a groundbreaking initiative and its main objective is to enhance the health and welfare of Sri Lanka’s captive elephants through veterinary care, training, mentorship, and capacity-building.
More than 200 Asian elephants, used primarily in the tourist industry and for religious ceremony and personal prestige, live in captivity in Sri Lanka. Many receive no professional veterinary care.
Lack of adequate veterinary care often leads to chronic disorders: irreversible joint damage, painful foot abnormalities, parasitic disease, intestinal illness, dehydration, infections and abscesses, and stereotypical behaviours—common symptoms of neglect of the most basic biological, emotional, and physical needs of elephants.
The ASEAN Captive Elephant Working Group issued critical findings and recommendations for the humane treatment and care of captive elephants in its February 2016 report. Click here to read the report.
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