Baby elephant Migara, a gift of friendship from Sri Lanka to
China in February this year, celebrated his sixth birthday at the
Beijing Zoo Saturday.
With a red ribbon on head, the male elephant received birthday
wishes from both Chinese and Sri Lanka children, as well as
delicious bananas from its raiser.
Some 50 pupils from a Beijing-based China-Sri Lanka friendship
school gave performances at the party. They also sang birthday
songs to Migara together with Sri Lanka children both in English
and Chinese.
The three-layer birthday cake prepared by the zoo staff seemed
to be the perfect present for Migara, who enjoyed it quite a
lot.
Addressing the party, Sri Lankan Ambassador to China
Karunatilaka Amunugama called Migara a symbol of friendship between
the two countries, representing the love from Sri Lankan to
Chinese.
"Migara has been very popular among children since its public
debut in March," said Wu Zhaozheng, head of the Beijing Zoo, adding
that Migara has got accustomed to the life here, gaining some
weight now.
In order to get away his loneliness, a twelve-year-old female
African elephant was arranged by the zoo to accompany Migara.
Migara was presented as gift by Sri Lankan President Mahinda
Rajapakse to the Chinese people on Feb. 26 to mark the 50th
anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties of the two
countries.
There are about 5,000 wild elephants in Sri Lanka, and about 200
in captivity, which are mainly used to celebrate festivals.
Migara is the third elephant "envoy" from Sri Lanka to China in
the past 50 years, after a male baby elephant presented in 1972 and
a female one in 1979.
(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2007)
