The story of the girl with the porcupine

You might remember a wonderful video that captured the intense attention and affection of millions of people across the world on social media in recent days. That scene of a little girl walking through a paddy field, accompanied by a porcupine and a cat, initially spread across the internet with false reports claiming it was from Bangladesh, but it was later revealed to the world that it was reported from Sri Lanka.

This captivating scene was first shared on Facebook by a Sri Lankan account from the Polonnaruwa area, along with a Sinhala caption, and later even foreign media described it as a scene from a real-life Disney movie.

When media teams went in search of this innocent girl, who had gained high international recognition, she was still in her own unique animal world. This seven-year-old girl, who lives in the 14 Ela village of Lankapura, Polonnaruwa, is named Shretha Punsadi, and she is currently studying in the second grade. Shretha, who has an innate affection for animals, lives a simple life in an environment very close to nature and possesses a unique ability to maintain wonderful communication with animals.

The connection between the porcupine pup that stirred social media and Shretha began with a chance encounter. One day, upon hearing dogs barking, her family members investigated and found a porcupine, injured from dog bites, hiding under a pile of roofing sheets. The family brought the animal, which had a severe leg injury, home and nursed it back to health over several days using medicines they had. After recovering, the porcupine returned to the wild but subsequently made a habit of continuously visiting Shretha's house.

The porcupine, known as Tutu, was found in the garden about four months ago. One day, when I came, the dogs were barking. Then, when I looked, there was a porcupine under a pile of iron sheets. When I caught it with a piece of cloth, its leg seemed broken. It was injured. So, we applied the medicines we knew for about two days, and then it got a bit better. After that, it would go out and come back. Then it would go to the daughter. It got used to being petted like that.

Over time, this wild animal developed a strong trust and affection for Shretha, and she lovingly calls him Tutu Malli (Little Brother Tutu). This animal is not kept captive in the house; although he is free to roam in the wild as he pleases, he voluntarily and frequently comes to find Shretha and her family. Her mother says that when Tutu is with them, he even lowers his protective quills and behaves extremely peacefully, and that if humans truly love and understand animals, there are many virtues humanity can learn from them. Shretha's mother says she is very happy about her daughter's life, which is lived very close to nature. "We are poor. But we have a beautiful environment around us. My daughter enjoys that environment. That's what children today lack. She has animals to love. Those animals love her even more than she loves them. Animals can talk. We need to understand their language. I am very proud that my daughter has understood that."

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