Paper made in Sri Lanka from elephant dung was presented to US President George W Bush by former Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickeremesinghe during a visit to Washington in July 2002, according to a media report in Washington.

The Kansas City Star said Wickremesinghe presented Bush with a box of elephant dung writing paper, envelopes and name cards. The elephant, the paper pointed out, is the symbol of Bush's Republican Party, but it was immediately not known whether he has used the paper.

According to the paper, the Sri Lankan company that made personalised stationery for Bush from paper made of elephant dung is asking people to use its products to help the country's dwindling elephant population.

Sheets made of elephant dung have a unique colour and texture, depending on the diet, age and dental health of the elephant that has produced the dung, said Rohan Martis, a sales executive for the company, Maximus.