Sri Lanka told: Don’t give elephant to the Philippines

Colombo—An international animal rights group warned Sri Lanka Friday against giving the Philippines a baby elephant, saying the creature would face a “lifetime of confinement, boredom and abuse”.

The Asian unit of US-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) wrote to Sri Lanka’s Prime Minister D. M. Jayaratne saying the donation would sentence the elephant to a life of “misery at the Manila Zoo”.    The plea comes a day after Sri Lanka announced it was marking 50 years of diplomatic relations with the Philippines by giving the Manila Zoo an animal from its state-run elephant orphanage.

Sri Lanka’s acting information minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardene told reporters that the cabinet approved the gift after it was proposed by the prime minister.