Bangladesh has sent two elephants as a gift to Cyprus yesterday.

Five-year-old Bano Rani and seven-year-old Sona Rani were flown to Cyprus on a cargo plane of Etihad Airways from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the afternoon, Faisal Talukder, veterinary surgeon of Dhaka's Central Veterinary Hospital told The Daily Star yesterday.

The two female elephants, reared under the supervision of Bangladesh Forest Development Corporation, are Asian elephants. Both will be kept in Pafos Zoo in Cyprus, a member state of the European Union.

ABM Shahidullah, chief veterinary officer of the hospital, accompanied the elephants on their journey to observe whether the animals face any difficulties in their new location. He would also attend a seminar there and give a lecture on the lifestyle of Asian elephants.

“Cyprus wanted two elephants from Bangladesh two years ago,” Shahidullah had said on Friday.

The process of sending the animals took time as their blood samples were sent to the laboratories in Belgium, London and Cyprus to determine if they had any disease.

A huge number of Bangladeshis study and work in Cyprus.