European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 28, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The sri Lanka orphanage has 150 elephants including 20 babies that Are bottle fed by hand. Washington Post rare Lor beleaguered asian pachyderm by Molly Moore the Washington Post he orphans arrive at Pinadella from across sri Lanka rescued from re tote villages where they have lost their mothers to Quarry accidents shootings or Lynch mobs. At the ram Lukkana elephant orphanage deep in the tropical Hill country of Central sri Lanka the Motherless calves Are raised by human Foster parents who ply them with bottled milk five times a Day and give them an occasional swig of Beer in. An Effort to help preserve Asia s dwindling wild elephant population Quot without the orphanage most of them would be left to die or be killed said Wije Pala ran Banda curator of the elephant orphanage. In sri Lanka and throughout Asia some of the world s larger remaining Wiki elephant herds a about 50,000 animals across the continent a face threats to their survival from burgeoning human populations that Are bulldozing forests into Farmland and severing centuries old migration routes with highways and Urban development. In recent months the Competition for space Between Man and beast has led to unprecedented clashes As the giant pachyderms squeezed out of their native habitat have attacked villagers raided farm crops and recently formed the outskirts of the Indian City of Calcutta. India is Home to an estimated 40 percent of the world s asian elephant population which is overwhelm ugly wild with Only a few thousand  religious purposes. Quot the scenario is rather Bleak Quot said j. C. Daniel a member of the steering. Committee of India s project elephant a new government Effort to protect wild elephants. Quot the main problem facing us today is habitat destruction. There is frequent straying into human settlements where they raid the crops and people shoot  a single rogue elephant was blamed for the deaths of 27 villagers during a �10-Day rampage in the northeastern Indian state of Assam last fall. Other marauding elephants also attacked Farmers razed crops and guzzled barrels of Rice Beer stored in Village huts. The government dispatched mounted troopers to Hunt Down the beasts. In january panic stricken residents of Calcutta erected giant wails along the City s Borders to Stop a Herd of elephants that had strayed from customary migration paths in sri Lanka a Small Island nation that is Home to an estimated 3,000 wild elephants the problem of diminishing habitat is even More acute. The Island has been stripped of 50 percent of its Forest land in the last three decades dramatically affecting the elephant herds. Quot they want to roam and they a overlap with the people Quot said curator. Ran Banda of the ram Lukkana elephant orphanage Winch was created in 1 cd 5 by government Iii oils worried about habitat encroachment. In the or a 19 years the number of deserted maimed and impaired elephants that Are provided Foster care has jumped from about 10 a year to 56. The ram Lukkana orphanage s newest arrival Aurada a Gray Brown bristly haired baby weighed about 132 pounds when she was born nearly two. Months ago. She will drink about 6 Gallons of milk a Day until she s weaned after it a i years. When full grown at. About age 30, she could be 8 feet tall weigh  2 tons and eat More than 200 pounds of Palm leaves and other vegetation each Day. At the first sight of ran Banda on a a recent morning dozens of elephants lounging beneath he tall spindly Palm Trees of the preserve ambled toward the curator. Several nuzzled his Arm with their trunks. A a. Quot they think i m their Mother Quot the 38-year-old ran Banda said l in and other human Foster parents bottle feed about 20 baby elephants five times each Day Quot whenever they Start making noise Quot a not All of the 150 elephants now living Here Are youngsters. The oldest is. 50-year-old Kadira who came to the facility in 1975 with a Nail in his foot. Vie remained in Foster care because of a congenital Bone disease that makes him too weak to work. The orphaned elephants Are donated to Buddhist temples where they Are used primarily for show in religious festivals or to foreign zoos at the  of the sri lankan president. Quot they Are never released into the wild Quot  . Quot it would be very Duffit us to for them to survive in the june after living with  closer look types of elephants asian elephant pay tical characteristics arched Back i Small ear two humps. On forehead. Small Jav u5ks height at shoulder 9 to 1 ova Leet weight 4 tons mates3,3 tons females most elephants trained to do heavy tasks or to entertain in circuses Are asian. 50,000 where Toad Forest and Jungles of India sri Lanka China Indonesia and Southeast Asia sources world both it Zilinek s animal encyclopedia. A compiled by Jeannette Boqi Hvam _. African elephant Fth pal characterise Lar be is tha. R cover shoulders smooth forehead a a f dip in Back height at shoulder 1heet weight 6 tons males4 tons females Tempe Rantt african elephants Are More difficult to tame. Number about 750,000 where found Bush elephants live m most countries South of the Sahara Forest elephants Rve in Cameroon. Congo Ivory coast and other Central and West african nations.  m a a a cd 1 or s i j tuesday june 28, 1994 the stars and stripes