Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Bandula (Bandoola) at Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens (Dehiwela Zoo)

♂ Bandula (Bandoola)
Photo © Wayne Jackson, Canada.

Identification


Description

Species:	Asian elephant (Elephas maximus)
Sex and age:	Male ♂ 72 years old
Management:	Free contact
Origin
Born:	* 1949 wild
Birth place:
Locations
Present / last location:	Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens (Dehiwela Zoo), in Sri Lanka

Date of Arrival (Presently sometimes errors!)

1949-00-00	Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens (Dehiwela Zoo) from Anuradhapura forest

Document updated	2012-01-31: picture
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Description

Location

Bandula (Bandoola) is a living Male ♂ Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) , located at Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens (Dehiwela Zoo), in Sri Lanka.

Bandula (Bandoola) arrived Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens (Dehiwela Zoo) 1949-00-00, relocated from Anuradhapura forest, in Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens (Dehiwela Zoo), Bandula (Bandoola) lives together with 6 other elephants with records in this database: (detailed list)

♀ Devi
♀ Indi born 1978
♀ Kema (Khema) born 2001
♀ Madhavi born 2005
♀ Namalee
⚪ Trinki born 2011-03-17

detailed list

Origin

Bandula (Bandoola) was born wild 1949.

Comments / pictures

2009-10-31: Must jumbo at Dehivela zoo becomes restless

born - 1954
found in the jungle around Anuraahapura
came to the zoo when he was around four years old
he is approximately 10 1/2 feet tall and weighs around 5 1/2 ton
he is an ALLIYA - non-tusker
he has 2" thick ivory, called DULA
very long tail, some white hair, very broad trunk and big ears, very good eyes, good
colour
his nails are white - good sign
ten on front, eight on back
very easy to train, when he arrived it only took one week to train he brings food to
the barn in the after - noon and works around zoo.
for the first month a new mahout can't work with BANDOOLA, after that he gains
his trust, extremely intelligent elephant, learns quick, when he is taken to a fallen
tree, he knows what to do without being told
he is a very good bull, both in working and performance
he is the lead elephant for the performance
when he and SAMPAT are going to drink, he waits his turn
he has come into musth four times
he is kept away from all elephants, he is chained on three legs
he can work with all mahouts, but at musth time he is very bad, he is in musth
Feb. and March for five to six months, at that time no one goes near him with the
exception of the head mahout, the first couple months of his musth he is taken for a
bath, after that he stays in the barn.
last year he was a lot of trouble, he tried to destroy the shed for the first 2-3 months
and then on all 4 legs, if he is turning very bad, the musth oil is washed off, when
he comes out of musth the musth glands on the head are cleaned out and oil put in,
the oil comes from cow's milk, called "ghee", then he will come into musth for 1-2
months, he didn't come into musth before, because he wasn't fit. when he was 22 he
came into musth for 4 days to a week, but didn't come in the following year

Reference listKoehl, Dan, (2021). Bandula (Bandoola), Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) located at Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens (Dehiwela Zoo) in Sri Lanka. Elephant Encyclopedia, available online retrieved 25 July 2021 at https://www.elephant.se/database2.php?elephant_id=5225. (archived at the Wayback machine)