Pinnawala Elepehant Orphanage, Sri Lanka (Photos from our Sri Lanka Holidays)
Source – Wikipedia
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is an orphanage, nursery and
captive breeding ground for wild Asian elephants located at Pinnawala village,
13 km (8.1 mi) northwest of Kegalle town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka.
Pinnawalla is notable for having the largest herd of captive elephants in the
world. In 2011, there were 88 elephants, including 37 males and 51 females from
3 generations, living in Pinnawala.
The orphanage was originally founded in order to afford care
and protection to many of the orphaned unwanted wild elephants found wandering
in and near the forests of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1975 by the Sri
Lanka Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC).
The Millennium Elephant Foundation is a separate registered
private charity organization which is a retirement home for 7 elephants and a
tourist attraction.
The orphanage was established to feed, nurse and house young
elephants found abandoned by their mothers. Young elephants sometimes fall into
pits and ravines in their quest for water during drought period. Other orphans
have been displaced from their wild habitat by development projects or have
been found abandoned before weaning, diseased or wounded.
There are 48 mahouts (handlers) who take care of the
elephants. The female and young elephants in Pinnawala range freely as a herd
during the day in an area of a few acres. They are herded about .5 km (0.31 mi)
twice a day to drink and be bathed in the river. At night, the females are
individually chained in stalls. Adult males are do some light work such as
transporting feed. They are chained and managed individually, Calves born in
Pinnawala are not bottle fed, but a few from ETH are kept at Pinnawala and bottle
fed as a tourist attraction.
The elephants are fed in their stalls. There is very little
food they can gather from the premises of the orphanage except some grass.
Large quantities of jackfruit, coconut, kitul (sugar palm), tamarind and grass,
brought in daily, form the bulk of the elephants food.[6] Each adult animal is
given around 76 kilograms (170 lb) of this green matter per day and around 2 kg
(4.4 lb) from a food bag containing rice bran and maize.
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
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