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Location: Kegalle District, Sabaragamuwa Province
Date of visit: 21st October 2010
ma·hout [noun] - the keeper or driver of an Elephant,
esp. in India and the East Indies
About an hour drive from my parent’s home in Kurunegala, along the Kegalle – Rambukkana Road, is one of Sri Lanka’s most popular tourist destinations — The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Founded in 1975 to protect and rehabilitate elephant calves found in the wilderness without their parents, Pinnawala today is home to 87 elephants and boasts the largest herd of captive elephants in the world.
First Impressions
I arrived at the orphanage around 11 am, when the elephants were out for their daily bath. Twice a day, between 10 am to 12 pm and 2 pm to 4 pm, the herd is walked 400m to bathe in the Maha Oya river while swarms of tourists look on and snap pictures. Once back, they are allowed to roam the 23 acre grassland till their afternoon feeding at 1:15 pm. Its quite safe to get up close and interact with the elephants as they are constantly watched by their mahouts. For those who would rather keep their distance, just watching the herd interact amongst themselves can also also quite soothing with plenty of shady park areas to sit and take in the sights.
Special Residents
During my visit, I had a chance to chat with some of mahouts and learn a bit more about some of the residents at the orphanage. I was told of Sama — an unfortunate victim of Sri Lanka’s recent civil conflict — who was brought in while still a calf after part of her right front-foot was blown off by a land mine (gallery picture #10). Another victim of violence is Raja, a male Tusker brought in after he was blinded by gunfire (gallery picture #11).
Breeding Program
This album doesn't have photosThe Asian Elephant has been endangered due to poaching and deforestation, with only about 50,000 estimated in the wilderness worldwide. In Sri Lanka its numbers are far lower with less than 3,000 estimated. Poaching and capturing wild elephants is therefore illegal, having led to the Pinnawela orphanage starting its breeding program in 1982. Generally breeding of captive elephants is a challenge as there is a high degree of still births and sometimes the females become aggressive killing their own calves. However, Pinnawela has had quite a successful track record, recording its 50th successful birth on 24th May 2009.Born-Free Criticism
The Pinnawela orphanage welcomes an average of 50,000 visitors (local and foreign) monthly and is certainly a “must-do”, well worth the admission fee — LKR 100 for locals, LKR 500 for South Asian tourists and LKR 2000 for other foreigners. However, not everyone is always pleased with their visit to Pinnawela. The UK-based NGO, “Born Free”, published a report citing three main complaints; 1. The use of ankuses (the pointed elephant training tool) by mahouts; 2. The chaining of animals; 3. Breeding elephants for captivity.
Wow, this is really something… will definitely make this place a stop when heading over.
Pinnawela elephant orphanage Should make the elephant herds much more natural to stop the aggresive of female elephants.Tharindu Muthukumarana.
My name is Samathri Yashodhara.