His Majesty the King has granted financial support for the medical treatment of repatriated jumbo, Sak Surin, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa said on Tuesday.
The 30-year-old elephant is currently under the care of the Elephant Hospital of the Thai Elephant Conservation Centre in Lampang province, having been flown home from Sri Lanka on Sunday after living there for 22 years.
Mr Varawut added that Sak Surin is eating well and can lie down and stand up by himself. However, the veterinarian found that the elephant could not bend his front left leg and had abscesses on both sides of his hip and a cataract in his right eye during an initial check-up.
"We will take good care of Sak Surin until he is strong again," he said.
Sak Surin is currently undergoing a 30-day quarantine at the centre, and veterinarians will also check for other diseases before allowing him to associate with others at the centre and before allowing the public to visit.
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Sak Surin lived at the Kande Viharaya temple in Aluthgama, in Sri Lanka's south, where the tusker was allegedly abused and neglected before being taken to the National Zoological Gardens in Dehiwela last November, according to Rally for Animal Rights and Environment (Rare), a Sri Lanka-based animal protection organisation, which ran a campaign to rescue the elephant.
Meanwhile, the ministry will work with the Royal Thai Embassy in Colombo to help locate Pratu Pha, another elephant ambassador who was moved from Wat Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy a day before a scheduled visit from a team from Thailand.
Kanchana Silpa-archa, an adviser to the ministry's strategy working team, said on Tuesday that the team consisted of officials from the ministry and the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) who wanted to check on other animals while on the mission to repatriate Sak Surin.
Pratu Pha, 45, was sent as a gift to Wat Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy in 1988.
Ms Kanchana said the team had an appointment with the abbot, but they had to cancel the inspection after being told that the jumbo was too temperamental for a visit.
She said the Thai team believed that Wat Sri Dalada Maligawa staff were afraid that the elephant would be repatriated.
"We still have no idea where the abbot took the elephant, but we have asked the ambassador to help coordinate," she said.
The team also visited another elephant sent as a gift at the same time, Sri Narong, living at Kiri Vihara temple in Polonnaruwa. She said the jumbo is healthy and has been taken good care of.
