FOUNDER / EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Panchali Panapitiya is a prominent figure in the Sri Lankan animal rights movement recognised for the leading role she plays in the lobby against captivity of elephants in Sri Lanka. She has highlighted the plight of captive elephants, once a taboo subject in Sri Lanka, to the world. Panchali has exposed numerous cases of abuse to captive elephants.The cases of of the elephants Myan Prince, Vishwa, and Kandula are just a few among many. As a consequence she has faced many threats and attacks, mainly gender based, by the pro captive elephant lobby.

She has created many awareness building campaigns and programmes about elephants and founded the RARE Touring Theatre for Elephants. This is a touring street drama that travels around Sri Lanka building awareness about cruelty in the captive elephant industry and the challenges of human elephant conflict. It is a unique creation of Panchali's, and the first of its kind in the world.

Panchali attended Musaeus College in Colombo and is a Bachelor of Science graduate in Genetics, Microbiology and Biochemistry from Bangalore University. She is currently reading for her Masters in Environment Science at the Open University of Sri Lanka.

In addition to her work at RARE she also serves as a board member for the world renowned Global March For Elephants and Rhinos- USA @gm4er . This is a voluntary position, where she contributes her dedication, passion and her fierce voice for compassion, on a global scale, to conserve elephants and other endangered animals around the world.

" Humans are just another child of mother nature. We have equal rights just as other animals to live on this earth. We have no right to take that right away from other siblings of ours. The elephant is not my favourite animal. I don’t even keep an ornament or a painting of an elephant at home. I see people say they like to look at elephants and elephants make them happy. For Me, when I look at elephants I feel their pain and suffering. Elephants only give me heartbreak and tears."

CREATIVE COORDINATOR

“If we could actually hear what an animal thinks, if they could talk to us, we would cry aloud and beg forgiveness.”

-April Peerless

RARE youth volunteer

RARE youth volunteer