There are many orphaned baby elephants as well as adult ones in Sri Lanka, and sheltering them is a great thing. You might be wondering how they became orphans. Most of the time, the mother is killed by an accident. As a result of that, the baby is isolated. And also there are cases where the mother has died by falling into a pit. Due to such causes, some of the babies in the jungle will be lost.
Another unfortunate situation is that the farmers killing the mother elephants using different techniques, to avoid their paddy field and crops from getting damaged. All these things result in a helpless orphaned elephant. The Pinnawala elephant orphanage is an amazing location where they are given a lifeline. Let us find out more about this amazing place.
This wonderful place is located in the Kegalle district. If you are from Colombo, the distance is approximately 90 km. This village is no doubt an breathtaking place to pay a visit. The Pinnawala zoo is also located closer to this. This is the first open air zoo in this country and it includes a variety of animals including the Sri Lankan Leopard. You can also reach this place during your visit to the orphanage.
You can reach this place by taking the A1 Colombo-Kandy main route. A turn at the 82km post will lead you to the Pinnawala elephant orphanage easily. In case if you are hoping to take a train, the railway station is located very closer to the village. In case if you are visiting Kandy after the visit, Pinnawala elephant orphanage to Kandy takes just an hour as it is only 40 km apart. Therefore, we can see that anybody can easily reach this destination without facing any obstacles.
You might be wondering about how they feed and look after these innocent creatures. You will be surprised to hear that they take these animals to a river twice a day for bathing. These animals love bathing and therefore, they will not have to force them daily. The sight created at the river is so beautiful that almost everyone go there to watch it. And also, if the baby is younger than three years, they never miss to bottle feed the baby with care. This scene is so nice to watch as the babies drink the milk in such a hurry. So, we can see that they treat these innocent creatures with much love and care.
Food is something that we should pay our attention to when looking after animals. However, here in this orphanage, they feed each animal with about 76kg of green stuff daily. Not only that, they will also treat them with about 2kg of maize and rice bran. As we can see, they treat every one of them with much care and love. Let us find out more about this great place, if you are visiting to pay a visit.
This place has the biggest herd of captive elephants in the whole world. And that is the reason why a huge number of locals as well as tourists visit this place daily. Watching the elephants bathing is a very breathtaking site and especially the children are going to love the experience.
The bathing hour of them are followed by the feeding hour. They usually feed them at the main center. And you will be happy to hear that they will give the chance to bottle feed the babies for a few selected visitors. That is a unique experience for anyone for sure.
This place is open for visiting from 08.30 in the morning to 06.00 in the evening. You can get the maximum out of it if you reach the location in the morning. Therefore, if you have an idea to visit the place, make sure you don’t get late.
Pinnawala elephant orphanage price differs between the locals and the tourists. The average price for a foreign adult is $16 and that for a foreign child is $8. These prices may differ according to the periods. It is now the time to find out about the hotels around this destination if you are planning for a stay.
If you are planning for a stay in this beautiful village, there are several comfortable Pinnawala hotels just for you. Some of them are Hotel Elephant Bay, Hotel Elephant Park and Villa Pinnawala and Restaurant. Some of them even have the facility to watch the elephants from the rooms. You can select any Pinnawala elephant orphanage hotel of your choice.
Winding up
We can now confirm that this is an amazing place to pay a visit. The baby elephants will melt your heart and you are going to fall in love with each one of them.
You will never regret visiting this fabulous place which will give a many unique experiences. So, if you are in Sri Lanka, never miss the opportunity to visit the Pinnawala elephant orphanage.
