The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is situated northwest of the town of Kegalle and 93.4 km from the capital, Colombo, in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1975 by the Sri Lanka Wildlife Department. It has a 25-acre coconut property adjoining the Maha Oya River. The orphanage was originally founded in order to afford care and protection to the many orphaned elephants found in the jungles of Sri Lanka, and in 1978, the orphanage was taken over by the National Zoological Gardens from the Department of Wildlife. In 1982, a captive breeding program was launched, and since then, over 20 elephants have been bred here. The ultimate aim of the orphanage is to simulate a natural habitat for these elephants. The number of elephants living in the Sri Lankan wilderness exceeds 3000.
However, the Pinnawala elephant orphanage is open to the public to see and enjoy the day-to-day lifestyle of elephants and to get love from the people. 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. You cannot visit the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage at any time. There is a time schedule for visiting, feeding elephants, river bathing, etc. Selected visitors have a chance to bottle-feed milk to the baby elephants.
08.30 hours, open to visitors
09.15 hours of bottle feeding
10.00 hours Herd leaving for the river
12.00 hours Return from the river
13.15 hours of bottle-feeding
14.00 hours: Herd leaving for the river
16.00 hours Return from the river
17.00 hours of bottle-feeding
17.30 hours Ticket counters close.
18.00 hours Close to public
.png){kind=logo}
