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by Florence Wickramage

Eight Jumbo babies, Thamali, Mihiri, Hema, Thrima, Madara, Padavi, Jayendra, and Mahesh will be released to the wilds at a special ceremony at the Elephant Transit Home (Ath Athuru Sevana) at Uda Walawe on Friday, in keeping with the ideals of the Home when it was founded.

The Ath Athuru Sevana has been in operation for several years in a section of the Uda Walawe National Park. It is a transit home for orphaned jumbos.

Officials at the Home and generous benefactors who adopt these babies as their "charges" look after them till they reach the age of five, when they are considered able to fend for themselves.

Thamali (6) is the eldest of this group which came to the transit home when she was one year old. An electronic monitoring collar will be tied to their necks before departure to enable officials at the Transit Home to keep track of their babies and monitor their progress for quite some time thereafter.

Director Wildlife Dayananda Kariyawasam told the Daily News that eight more jumbo babies out of the 24 now left behind are in need of Foster Parents.

Minister of Environment and Natural Resources Rukman Senanayake will participate in and will witness the release of the baby elephants. The Director of the Wildlife Conservation Department, officials and Foster Parents will also participate in the ceremony.

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