In 1999, WSPA gave funding and expertise to help set up the Millennium Elephant Clinic in the Kegalle region of Sri Lanka, which provides a refuge for up to ten former working elephants and provides veterinary treatment to hundreds of other still in service.

Elephants have been kept captive in Sri Lanka for nearly 2,000 years. Originally, only Kings were considered honourable enough to own or even ride an elephant and they were used only for ceremonies of religion, state and war. Today, although captive elephants are still used in religious ceremonies, such as the famous Kandy Perehara, they are primarily used for timber and tourism work. It is estimated there are 400-600 such elephants in Sri Lanka, many of which were originally taken from the wild before legislation prohibited capture.

The Millennium Elephant Foundation (MEF) was set up on the estate of the Foundation's forward thinking and passionate President, Carmini Samarasinghe, after she became concerned with the conditions in which these magnificent creatures worked. Although elephants are extremely valuable in Sri Lanka, many are worked extremely hard and their keepers, known as mahoots, have only a limited understanding of veterinary care.

As well as providing veterinary treatment and a home if needed, the scheme also teaches compassionate ownership, health care and education. In addition, the site houses a museum and elephant dung paper factory and is a lifeline not only for elephants but for many local villagers whose lives revolve around these giants.

The site is the one of the few places in Sri Lanka where visitors can wash, touch and ride the elephants without it being detrimental to their welfare. A mobile vet clinic has also been established, which travels all over the island inspecting elephants currently too far away to be treated at the clinic, as well as giving trainee vets the opportunity to gain expertise in the field.

Habitat loss is mainly responsible for the decline in the population of wild elephants in South East Asia. The current number stands at no more than 54,600 - just 10% of the current estimate for African elephants. Of the 15,000 captive elephants in South East Asia, up to 600 labour for humans in Sri Lanka. Many captive elephants such as MEF resident, 30 year old Lakshmi, were taken from the wild before legislation prohibited capture.

It's not illegal to work elephants on the island and, at this stage, it is impractical to ban the practice outright as the majority of working elephants would have nowhere to retire to. Instead, WSPA and the Millennium Elephant Foundation have worked with local customs, not against them, so that if the elephants are to be used for work or for ceremonies, such as the highly regarded religious festival Kandy Perehara, then at least suitable veterinary care and support is on hand. Just as the United Kingdom has horse racing, so Sri Lanka has working elephants ingrained into its way of life.

The Millennium Elephant Foundation now supports most of its activities through private donations, local fundraising and public visits. With WSPA's help, it has become an invaluable and successful stepping stone towards better animal welfare in Asia.