Sri Lanka said Wednesday it would allow rich individuals and temples to adopt baby elephants, overturning a ban put in place to protect the animals.
Elephants are revered as holy in mainly Buddhist Sri Lanka, where the high-maintenance beasts have become a status symbol for the wealthy elite.
But they are also kept by temples for use in religious ceremonies, and the ban had led to worries there would not be enough tame elephants for Buddhist pageants.
“Wildlife conservation is good, but we also need to conserve our cultural pageants,” said government spokesman Rajitha Senaratne after the cabinet overturned a ban on adoptions.
Senaratne said the government decision had been motivated partly by overcrowding at Pinnawala, which was set up as an elephant orphanage and now runs a successful breeding programme.
He said strict conditions would be put in place to ensure the animal’s welfare. Individuals would have to pay 10 million rupees ($66,000)for an elephant, while temples would get them for free.
-AFP
-Agencies
