For variety’s sake

Soon enough you folks would have to buy your own vehicles. Why do I say this? Well to bring home ostrich eggs of course. You don’t expect to bring one family size egg home in our private buses do you?

Apparently we, Sri Lankans, have no food scarcity and suddenly feel the need for more variety, but why on earth camel milk and ostrich eggs?

As if the donkeys have not done enough damage to the dry zone ecology by overgrazing, the authorities feel the need to make matters worse by – mind you – importing camels and ostriches at exorbitant prices! But the authorities’ apparently have no qualms about ‘experimenting’, with alien perhaps even in the long run – invasive – species. Camel milk production requires the killing of calves. Do they really expect us to go back to an age before the advent of Arhant Mahinda? Relevant authorities can barely take care of our own elephants. How can they be expected to take care of two introduced species?

And by the way are they oblivious of the fact that the milk is affected by their diet? Camel milk would not be the same old camel milk, when their diet changes after they are introduced to Sri Lankan environment. Or do the authorities plan to grow their preferred diet as well. Wait till the tree huggers get wind of this! If the tourists fancy camel milk so much, why not just import it? Next thing we know they’ll start whale hunting.

- Sajitha