Elephants in Captivity

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3rd Mar – Breakfast was hoppers which are made of rice flour and milk. They are shaped like a bowl and are very thin. The man had given us about 17 hoppers. He we piling more onto the plate then he returned to put even more on. In the end we had about 35 and he was sad that we couldn’t manage them all! Then we crammed into a tuk tuk and travelled to an elephant orphanage. It brings injured elephants from the age of 5 down out of the wild. They may have got lost from their herd or their mother had died. The orphanage doesn’t want them to become domesticated because they send them back into the wild when they are older. They feed them by putting a tube into their mouth and then pouring milk into a funnel. This happens 4 times a day and always the little ones first. They were so cute becaue they all came running out for the food and it was fun watching them eating leaves and bamboo. Sophie

Daft Dad – thought that we would be able to hand feed the baby elephants with bottles. Aside from the practicalities of this human contact is kept to a minimum. It’s real name is a Transit Centre and elephants are re-introduced into national parks all over Sri Lanka.

Clever Mum – besides the ears there are a number of evolved differences between African and Indian elephants; trunk, toe nails, back, ribs, weight, height, humps on forehead …

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