Category Archives: elephant tales

March 31, 2024 · 2:30 am

Elephant Orphanage & Elephant Lore: Dilmah Initiative at Uda Walawe

Kamanthi Wickramasinghe, in Daily Mirror, 25 March 2024, where the title reads thus: “Üda Walawe ETH: A home away from home for baby elephants”

Spectators witnessing another busy feeding hour at the Uda Walawe ETH —Pix courtesy: Dilmah Conservationh

Inauguration of ‘Elephant Knowledge Walk’ 

In a bid to spread more awareness among visitors to the Uda Walawe ETH, Dilmah Conservation in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Conservation renovated the ‘Elephant Knowledge Walk’ to educate local and international visitors on why the Asian elephant needs to be protected. Apart from that a souvenir shop was also opened to support local communities.

The Uda Walawe ETH was set up to rehabilitate elephants that were orphaned due to various reasons including the Human-Elephant Conflict. At the ETH, elephant calves have very little contact with humans which is vital to boost their chances of survival in the wild. Here, human interaction is only limited to feeding hours. The calves are being fed every three hours with infant milk but also encouraged to develop natural foraging habits including grazing.

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March 21, 2024 · 6:14 pm

Experiences: Working on the Gal Oya Project in Ceylon, 1950-61

Andreas Szechowycz, presenting a Memoir-cum-Report entitled “Gal Oya Project (1950-1960): Dr. Roman W. Szechowycz & the Gal Oya Development Board”

Dr. Roman W. Szechowycz was employed by the Gal Oya Development Board from 18 July 1950 to 1961. He arrived in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) with his wife Sabina (nee Czekan) Szechowycz and their 3-year-old daughter Maria. I was born in October 1951 in Colombo. During the time in Sri Lanka, we lived in Inginiyagala next to the post office.

My parents were displaced people who after World War II ended were in Hanover Germany in the British Sector. My father’s home was in northwest Ukraine and my mother’s home was in southwest Poland. These areas were occupied by Russians after the conclusion of World War II.

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February 5, 2024 · 1:09 am

Wild Animals & Luxury at Yala National Park in Sri Lanka

Jeremy Bourke: “The new Sri Lankan resort where wildlife roam free,” in The Weekend Australian Travel + Luxury Magazine, 3/4 February 2024 …….

Buffalos in pools, elephants on footpaths and an escort needed when you leave your pavilion – the fenceless Hilton Yala is quite the experience.

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October 29, 2023 · 12:31 am

Savouring Sri Lanka Today, 2023: A Glorious Ride

Paddy Hintz in The Weekend Australian, 25 October 2023, bearing this title “Jungles, curries and wild elephants: why Sri Lanka is a ride”

We’re just in time to climb into Kandalama’s beautiful infinity pool and be” mesmerised by fireflies as monkeys sift through the trees beside us.

The morning tour is spectacular. Sigiriya Rock Fortress features cascading water gardens, a vertigo-inducing climb to find the remnants of a paranoid and murderous king’s domain (complete with ancient swimming pool) and a cliff-face cave full of frescoes of scantily clad concubines.

Sigiriya rock fortress, Sri Lanka. Photo: Dylan Shaw

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May 30, 2023 · 1:05 pm

Beauties … & Their Prances, Calls & Love-Life in the Wild

Courtesy of Mahinda Gunasekera

 

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January 28, 2023 · 9:41 pm

Mack & Tessa’s Glorious Cinematic Pictures of Sri Lanka Today

Two Weeks in Sri Lanka | A Recent Cinematic Travel Video: 

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August 19, 2022 · 4:24 pm

Aussie Testosterone for Arabia! Australian Camels in High Demand

Noah Yim, in The Australian, 18 August 2022, where the title reads “Aussie mums for richest pickings of camel crop” …. while the highlighting is the hand of The Editor, Thuppahi

These mums could give birth to the Arabian Peninsula’s next top models. Wild Australian camels are highly sought after as surrogate mothers to the most prized beauty pageant and racing camels in the Middle East, courting millions of dollars from kings and sheiks in order to continue the progeny free of diseases.

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July 21, 2022 · 5:52 pm

The American & IMF Bear in Sri Lanka’s Drawing Room

Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake, in InDepthNow,  July 2022 ….. https://www.indepthnews.net/index.php/opinion/5466-the-elephant-in-the-room-geopolitics-and-the-great-reset-in-sri-lanka …. where the title is “The  Elephant in the Room: …”

“But to watch cricket, there has to be a country left for us to watch it in, no?” A fan at the Galle Test Match that ended with an innings victory for Sri Lanka. July 11, 2022.

Spirits were high on July 11 when the Sri Lankan cricket team beat the visiting Aussies by an innings even though the country was in its worst economic crisis ever due to a lack of Dollars to buy fuel caused by an International Sovereign Bond (ISB), debt trap and Staged Default.

The cricket victory followed a magical weekend in which the Aragalaya, or peoples’ struggle, exceeded all expectations, staging multiple coups to peacefully claim both the Presidential Palace and the Prime Minister’s official residence. Massive waves of protestors unseated the island’s President and PM without a single person killed in the gunfire. Later the protestors cooled off in the Presidential pool and had impromptu concerts celebrating what appeared to be a successful regime change operation.

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July 19, 2022 · 1:49 pm

Wunderbar! Reviving a Wounded Tusker Elephant

#ElephantZone #elephanttreatment #elephantrescue

Tusker elephant fallen lifelessly with severe injuries brought back to life with proper treatment

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March 9, 2022 · 3:03 pm

Sri Lanka’s Jungles: Many Attractions & Curiousities

Jayantha Jayewardene, in The Island, 20 February 2022, where the ttile runs thus  “The lure and the lore of our jungles” **

Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, and even before that as Serendib and Taprobane, has different types of jungle that are of great interest to naturalists. The island has montane cloud forests, wet and dry zone forests – some of which are secondary forests – and savannahs. The coastal areas have a variety of mangroves. The extent of forest-land in the country has of late reduced to a large extent, mainly due to the demands for land from a rapidly increasing population. With three climatic zones in the island, the jungles have different types of vegetation.

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