There are many places in Sri Lanka to visit if you’re looking to witness the nation’s Elephant population, but there’s one place unlike any other, and that’s the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.
The Beginning
The orphanage was built in 1975 by the government to tend to the care of four orphaned elephants who were too much for the Dehiwela Zoo to handle at the time. A 25-acre coconut-plantation was chosen as the site to house the orphanage.
Elephant Care
The primary purpose of the orphanage is to take care of orphaned elephants found in the wild and release them back into the wild once they reach adulthood. This orphanage has one of the largest herds of elephants held in captivity, so if you’re staying at a Colombo City Hotel, with examples like Colombo Court Hotel & Spa, a trip to the orphanage is definitely worthwhile.
Cherubino, Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage 34, CC BY-SA 3.0
Elephant Breeding
The orphanage also handles captive breeding of some specimens and is largely successful due to the natural conditions of the facility. Since the inception of the orphanage, more than 70 elephants were born at Pinnawala.
McKay Savage from Chennai, India, Elephant orphanage near Kandy, Sri Lanka, CC BY 2.0
Elephant Welfare
There are many elephants at Pinnawala who are unable to care for themselves in the wild. These include a blind tusker named Raja, as well as a female named Sama who lost a leg to a landmine.
Intrigued by history, art and food, Lavinia Woolf is a writer who is passionate about the extraordinary and writes of the exhilarating and enchanting. Google+
