Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage was founded in 1975 in Sri Lanka, 33 km from Kandy. The main purpose of the organization of this nursery is to create appropriate conditions where rescued injured animals could normally exist. Today it is a very popular place where tourists come from all over the world to observe the life of elephants.
Initially, the elephant nursery was located in the Vilpattu National Park, where there were four destitute animals. After that, it was moved to Bentota (a tourist complex), and then to the Dehiwala Zoo, from where it is now located in the village of Pinawella. The elephant shelter occupies 10 hectares of land, where whole coconut plantations are located, and a river named Maha Oya flows nearby. Initially, the organization of an elephant shelter in Pinnawala was aimed at developing tourism here, the money from which would go to its maintenance. Since 1978, the Department of the National Zoo in Sri Lanka has been in charge of the elephant shelter in Pinnawala. A little later, an elephant breeding program began operating in the nursery, and in 2012, 88 beautiful animals could be counted here.
The first elephant nursery was founded as a shelter for toddlers abandoned by their parents. That's why its name still sounds like an orphanage. The kids were fed, watered, and provided with medical care. It often happens that young elephant mothers in dry periods, in search of water, get into various troubles, which can be pits and ravines. They also discover babies who have become orphans due to ruthless poachers. Such cubs are trained and educated so that they can be full-fledged animals in the future. About 50 mahouts working at the Pinnawela Shelter take elephants for a walk to the local river every day, where they swim. These huge animals walk around the park, but they feed in stalls, since only certain types of herbs can be eaten in freedom. An adult elephant consumes 75 kg of a mixture made from coconuts, palm trees, jackfruit and herbs daily. In addition to this food, they are given rice and corn bran every day.
As a rule, adults of the Pinnawala shelter feel well and are full of energy. After reaching a certain age, they are not kept in the nursery, leaving only a few for breeding.
Pinnawala Elephant Shelter is very popular among both local and foreign tourists. Visitors to the nursery enjoy watching elephants bathing in the river, as well as feeding adults with various mixtures in stalls, and small baby elephants from a bottle.
The Pinnawela Elephant Shelter can be visited daily. You can watch the funny elephant bathing by the river from a cliff or at a local cafe. All the money that is paid for admission goes directly to the maintenance of the elephant nursery.
