The decision last week overturning a ban on elephant adoption came as a surprise

You don’t have a Sri Lanka souvenir until you have one sporting an elephant. The Asian tusker has made it to nearly all memorabilia — from t-shirts to tea packets and stationery. Traders possibly believe that you can’t sell a souvenir without the elephant validating its ‘Sri Lankan-ness’.

My first encounter with a Sri Lankan elephant was four summers ago at an elephant orphanage — one that had 88 of them — in Pinnawala, some 100 km northeast of Colombo. I went up a raised wooden platform to feed a piece of watermelon to one of them. The elevation was to help us look the beast in the eye. The orphanage-cum-captive breeding centre fascinated me, with its milieu consisting of a big herd of elephants, once abandoned, now living in a shared open space, the centre supported by the tourism it spawned.

Some time later, my friends pointed to baby elephants being chained there, instantly guilt-tripping me. I felt bad but only till I saw the elephants again. The sight of so many elephants — their back shining after a long bath — parading on a narrow lane was captivating. I have been there thrice since, the charm remaining alive.

Last week, the country suddenly overturned an earlier ban on adopting baby elephants. It was a response to “overcrowding” at Pinnawala and the consequent pressure on resources, the government said. Elephants in the orphanage are now available to individuals or institutions for adoption. The move came as a surprise, especially at a time when President Maithripala Sirisena has signed a major gazette notification on wildlife conservation.

While temples will get them for free, individuals will have to pay about $66,000 for each tusker. Elephants were a part of temple traditions and processions since the time of the ancient Kandyan kingdom, and the decision is in line with that, explained a senior Minister, adding that “even if the elephants are given away, we will monitor them”.

I don’t know if an elephant will get a better home, but what if the move ends up separating some elephants from their families?