The Udawalawe Elephant Transist Home () is a

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

protection facility within

Udawalawe National Park Udawalawe National Park is a national park on the boundary of Sabaragamuwa Province, Sabaragamuwa and Uva Province, Uva Provinces in Sri Lanka. The park was created to provide a wildlife sanctuary, sanctuary for wild animals displaced by the cons ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

that was established in 1995 by the Sri Lanka

Department of Wildlife Conservation The Department of Wildlife Conservation ( Sinhala: වනජීවී සංරක්‍ෂණ දෙපාර්තමේන්තුව ''Vanajivi Sanrakshana Departhamenthuwa'') is a non-ministerial government department in Sri Lanka. It is the ...

in Sri Lanka.

History

Sri Lankan elephants (''Elephas maximus maximus'') are an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

. The Elephant Transit Home within

was established by the Department of Wildlife Conservation together with the

Born Free Foundation The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild". It protects wild animals in their natural habitat, campaigns against the keeping of wild animals in captivity and rescues wild animals i ...

. The facility was established under the 29th Amendment to the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance Part II.

Facilities and care

Up to three elephants per week are killed in Sri Lanka due to conflicts with humans, often leaving behind orphan calves. The elephants are kept at part of the Udawalawe National Park to maintain familiarity with their habitat. The center houses information on elephants. Additionally, a solar heater was set up at the facility by Dilmah Conservation to heat the water used to make the milk fed to the orphaned elephants.

References

{{Reflist Tourism in Sri Lanka Elephant sanctuaries Wildlife rehabilitation and conservation centers Wildlife conservation in Sri Lanka Buildings and structures in Sabaragamuwa Province Environmental organisations based in Sri Lanka

History

Facilities and care

See also

References