Ailing elephant comes home
published : 3 Jul 2023 at 15:01
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Post Reporters
Ailing Thai jumbo Sak Surin is in quarantine in Lampang province after being flown from Sri Lanka to Chiang Mai on Sunday.
Sak Surin landed at Chiang Mai airport at 2.03pm on Sunday, and was taken by truck to the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang that evening.
The male elephant was immediately put in quarantine and will be closely monitored for disease for at least 30 days.
An official said the elephant appeared normal when he arrived at the centre.
The elephant will also have the time to adjust to the Thai mahouts, the Thai language and the environment he had been away from for over 20 years.
People who want to see Sak Surin can do so at the centre in Lampang, but only on closed-circuit television.
After completing quarantine and fully recovering, the elephant will be available for public viewing.
Sak Surin is one of three Thai elephants gifted to Sri Lanka in 2001 as a goodwill ambassador for the country.
A Sri Lanka-based animal protection organisation learned that the elephant was being kept in leg chains and had injuries all over his body. It insisted the Thai government bring the elephant back for treatment and sanctuary.
His repatriation took six months of planning and cost about 19.5 million baht.
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Vocabulary
- ailing: ill and weak - ป่วย
- chain (noun): a series of connected metal rings, used for pulling or fastening things; a length of chain used for a particular purpose - โซ่
- closed-circuit television: a television system that works within a limited area, for example a public building, to protect it from crime - โทรทัศน์วงจรปิด (ซีซีทีวี)
- conservation (noun): the protection of plants and animals, natural areas, and interesting and important structures and buildings, especially from the damaging effects of human activity - การอนุรักษ์ธรรมชาติ, การป้องกันความสูญเสีย, การสงวนไว้
- Goodwill Ambassador (noun): a well-known and respected person who supports a particular organization or cause -
- injury (noun): physical damage done to a person or a part of their body - อาการบาดเจ็บ
- mahout: someone who trains and drives elephants - ควาญช้าง, คนเลี้ยงช้าง
- official: someone with an important position in an organisation - เจ้าหน้าที่
- quarantine (noun): a situation in which a person or animal that might have a disease is kept separate from other people or animals so that they do not catch the disease - การกักบริเวณ, การจำกัดบริเวณ
- repatriation (noun): sending someone back to a country that is legally their own - การส่งกลับประเทศ
- sanctuary: a safe place, especially one where people who are having problems of some kind - ที่หลบภัย
