Elephant Orphanage @ Pinnawala
Pinnawela orphanage is situated at Pinnawala, Kegalle, near half way between present capital Colombo and the ancient royal residence Kandy in the hills of central Sri Lanka. It was established 1975 by the Sri Lanka Wildlife Department. This 24 acres large elephant orphanage is also breeding place for elephants, twenty elephants were born since 1984, and it has the greatest herd of elephants in captivity in the world.
At Pinnawela an attempt was made to simulate, in a limited way, the conditions in the wild. Animals are allowed to roam freely during the day and a herd structure allowed to form.
08.00 The babies are fed on milk in the mornings and allowed to range freely on the 12 acres large grassland.
10.00 Each morning and afternoon 14.00 the animals are walked 400 meters to the river Maha Oya for a two-hour bath.
Between 16.30 and 18.00 in the evening the animals are taken to their stalls and tethered for the night.
They are then given their evening feed which is milk again for the babies and leaves for the older ones.
