Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage
In 1978 the orphanage was taken over by the National Zoological Gardens from
the Department of Wildlife. A captive breeding program was launched in 1982. Since the inception of the program over 20 elephants have been bred here. The
aim of the orphanage is to simulate a natural habitat to these elephants. However, there are some exceptions: the elephants are taken to the river twice a day for a
bath, and all the babies less than three years of age are still bottle fed by the
mahouts and volunteers.

Things to do in Pinnawala
Each animal is also given around 76 kg of green matter a day and around 2 kg
from a food bag containing rice bran and maize. The orphanage which boasts to
have the largest herd of captive elephants in the world is very popular and
visited daily by many Sri Lankan and foreign tourists. The main attraction is
clearly to observe the elephants bathing which is quite a spectacle.

Location
Pinnawala (Pinnawela) Elephant Orphanage is located in the village Pinnawala in
the district of Kegalle at a distance of 90km from Colombo.

Reaching Pinnawala (Pinnawela) Elephant Orphanage
Pinnawala (Pinnawela) Elephant Orphanage can be reached via the
A1 Colombo – Kandy main road. A turn off at the 82 km post at Kegalle leads you
to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The closest railway station is at
Rambukkana 2km away from the village of Pinnawala.

History of the Pinnawala (Pinnawela) Elephant Orphanage
In the very beginning, in 1972, the orphanage was located at the Wilpattu
National Park. Subsequently the orphanage was shifted to the National Holiday
Resort at Bentota Beach in the south-western coastal belt and then to the
Dehiwala Zoo, 11km south of Colombo. In the year 1975, the Department of
Wildlife of Sri Lanka set up its present home: Pinnawala (Pinnawela) Elephant
Orphanage at Pinnawala, Kegalle. Since then it never turned back on an
orphaned elephant: it welcomed all and expanded from 4 orphaned elephants to
a gang of no less than 109.

The purpose of Pinnawala (Pinnawela) Elephant Orphanage
The primary purpose of the orphanage has been to provide a lifeline to the
orphaned baby elephants and adult elephants lost in the wilderness. In many
occasions the mother of the orphaned baby elephant had been killed or there
have been accidents of baby elephants falling into pits and losing out to the herd. There were also instances the mother elephant had fallen into a pit and died
leaving the baby elephant lost in the jungle. There are instances of adult
elephants being killed by farmers to protect their paddy fields and crops
resulting in baby elephants being orphaned. The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was launched to provide the best possible
opportunity to the sad victims of such situations. Captive breeding at Pinnawala
(Pinnawela) Elephant Orphanage
The elephants at the Orphanage aren’t subjected to any form of stress, abuse or
threat at all and are supported by a team of employees numbering to over 100
including a group of mahouts. The free movement of the herd within the enclosed land of the orphanage affords
the elephants opportunities to mate. In 1984, the first baby elephant of
Pinnawela was born. Today some of these orphans enjoy the good fortune of
seeing their third generation too born at the orphanage. Moreover, today, with the help of local and foreign elephant experts, the
Orphanage has commenced a scientific captive-breeding programme for
Elephants. Since then the orphanage has become one of the most successful
captive breeding programmes for Asian elephants.

Decimation of the Elephant Population by the British Colonialists
Prior to the invasion of the British in Sri Lanka in 1815, an estimated 30,000
elephants lived on the island. In the 1960s, following nearly a century of game
hunting and jolly slaughter by the British colonialists, the elephant population
was close to extinction. The tragedy of decimation of the elephant population
prompted the Government of Sri Lanka to initiate the Pinnawala (Pinnawela)
Elephant Orphanage. The good news is elephants are still not extinct and the
number of elephants living in Sri Lankan wilderness exceeds 3,000. Times to visit the Orphanage The centre opens at 8.30 in the morning and closes
at 6pm daily. Bottle feeding is at 9.15am, 1.15pm & 5pm and bathing times at the
river is at 10am and 2pm. The bathing hours are followed up by the feeding hour at the main center of the
orphanage. Baby elephants are bottle fed. Selected visitors have a chance
of Bottle feeding milk to the baby elephants.

The Success Story of Pinnawala
The success story of Pinnawala has drawn the attention of animal activists and
scientists from all over the world. A considerable number of books and research
articles on Pinnawala have been published in several languages. The elephants of
the Pinnawala herd have been filmed, videoed and photographed thousands of
times by professionals, and millions of times by amateurs. The message of
conservation from Pinnawala has been passed on to thousands, if not millions of
people, after their visit to the orphanage.

Daily features of Interest at the Pinnawala Orphanage
08.30 hours – Open to visitors
09.15 hours – Bottle feeding
10.00 hours – Herd leaving to the river
12.00 hours – Return from the river
13.15 hours – Bottle feeding
14.00 hours – Herd leaving to the river
16.00 hours – Return from the river
17.00 hours – Bottle feeding
17.30 hours – Ticket counters close
18.00 hours – Close to public