Asela
Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) at
Kataragama Kiri Vehera Dewalaya in Sri Lanka

Biography

♂ Asela

Identification


Description
Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Male ♂ maybe about 18 years old (estimated age)
Management:	Free contact
Origin
Born:	* 2007? captive-born
Birth place:	in Pinnawala elephant orphanage

Parents:	♂ x ♀ Anuradha
Locations - owners
Present / last location:	Kataragama Kiri Vehera Dewalaya, in Sri Lanka

Date of arrival

	Kataragama Kiri Vehera Dewalaya from Pinnawala elephant orphanage

Record history
History of updates	2023-08-26

Latest document update	2023-08-26 09:50:24
Google map

Biography

Asela is a living Male ♂ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) , located at the Kataragama Kiri Vehera Dewalaya, in Sri Lanka.

Asela arrived to the Kataragama Kiri Vehera Dewalaya unknown date, relocated from the Pinnawala elephant orphanage, in Sri Lanka.

Social

Asela lives together with 3 other elephants at the Kataragama Kiri Vehera Dewalaya: (detailed list)

♂ Kataragama Vasana born 1970
♂ Salia (Saliya) born 1998-01-29
♂ Tharindu born 2006-07-04

Origin

Asela was born captive-born 2007? at Pinnawala elephant orphanage.

Parentage

Parents of Asela are: ♂ (father) and ♀ Anuradha (mother).

Siblings through the mother Anuradha:

1993-11-15(F) Anuradhika
1999-02-09(M) Wasamba

Pedigree

**Aselas ancestral Pedigree:**
P	I	II	III
Asela	Sire (f): Born:	Sire ff: Born:	Sire fff:
		Sire ff: Born:	Dame ffm:
		Dame fm: Born:	Sire fmf:
		Dame fm: Born:	Dame fmm:
	Dame m: Anuradha Born: 1982	Sire mf: Born:	Sire mff:
		Sire mf: Born:	Dame mfm:
		Dame mm: Born:	Sire mmf:
		Dame mm: Born:	Dame mmm:

Comments / pictures

2023-08-21: An individual who fed a poisoned watermelon to an elephant called “ Asela” of the Kataragama Abhinawarama temple was taken into custody by the Kataragama police on saturday (19).

Police arrested the suspect during investigations of the complaint received from Mahout Thushara Priyadarshana. He told police that the jumbo had developed a pain in mouth when biting the fruit and dropped it and ejected phlegm from the mouth. However, Veterinary Surgeon, Uva Wildlife Zone Dr.Ananda Dharmakirthi examined the elephant and confirmed that it was out of danger.

Reference list

References

Koehl, Dan, (2025). Asela, Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Kataragama Kiri Vehera Dewalaya in Sri Lanka. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 5 April 2025 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=10939. (archived at the Wayback machine)