Do you like to get up close to majestic elephants in Sri Lanka? Other than a wild safari trip, the best place to witness elephants in Sri Lanka is the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. Although this place calls as an orphanage, actually it is an elephant sanctuary where you can get a wonderful experience with these majestic giants. It has become one of the largest tourist attractions in the country due to its distinctive population of elephants.
Definitely, visiting elephants in Pinnawala should be among the top things to do in Sri Lanka. There’s no better place to see such a large number of elephants up so close. You’ll have plenty of time to observe hundreds of elephants, feed the babies, and interact with adult elephants. It is one of the top family-friendly destinations in Sri Lanka. Certainly, Pinnawala is a stop that brings a smile to everyone’s face and it is a must-visit if you’re traveling with children.
The elephants have a particular daily schedule and you can engage with them during these activities. Here we are going to show you everything you need to know before going to visit elephants in Pinnawala.
Access to Pinnawala
This elephant sanctuary is located at Pinnawala village, 13 km northeast of Kegalle town. Pinnawala is a beautiful village, set amidst lush green forests, coconut plantations, rice paddies, and spice gardens. This elephant sanctuary locates in a lovely place bordered by the Maha Oya River.
Pinnawala locates just over halfway on the Colombo – Kandy road. It’s a great place to stop if you’re traveling to central Hill Country or the Cultural Triangle. It’s also an excellent day-trip destination from Colombo. When you are traveling from Colombo to Kandy by bus, car, or taxi, you can take a detour to visit this place by turning to Rambukkana Road.
You can reach Pinnawala by train conveniently. It locates just 2 km from Rambukkana railway station. If you are using the Colombo – Kandy train, alight at Rambukkana station to reach Pinnawala.
History of Pinnawala
Being home to over 100 elephants, Pinnawala has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. The goal of this orphanage was to protect orphaned baby elephants. Sri Lanka Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) established it in 1975. This project was part of a national conservation effort, to provide care for young elephants who were found wandering in the forests of Sri Lanka. These baby elephants were all alone after their mothers had been killed by the civil war or elephant-human conflict.
Over the years the focus has changed from just helping young orphaned elephants to encouraging a program of breeding and preservation. That program has been successful and Pinnawala has become a large elephant sanctuary. Currently, it is home to hundreds of adult elephants. You’ll see there are some injured and disabled elephants who are given proper care to enhance their wellbeing.
Daily Activities of Elephants
The park is open from 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. daily. There are several special daily events available. Elephant bathing, milk feeding, and fruit feeding are among the most important activities in the Pinnawala elephant sanctuary.
Parade of Elephants
There are 2 bathing sessions per day. The morning session is scheduled from 10 am to 12 noon and the afternoon session is from 2 pm to 4 pm. Bathing is carried out for all 365 days, even on public holidays of the year. The wonderful elephant parade to the nearby river is a quite popular activity among visitors.
At sharp 10.00 am in morning, there is a whistling sound indicating this is the daily bath time of the elephants. Once they heard the signal, all the elephants get ready to go for the bath. They make a line and wait until officers signal them to start the journey. Visitors can follow them behind closely to see this wonderful event. It’s great fun to watch the elephants freely walk through the streets of Pinnawala on their way to the nearby river.
The Maha Oya River is about 200 m away from the home of elephants. Thus, elephants cross the main road and walk this distance gracefully without making any problems. You’ll see they are trained to well behave during this parade. They walk down the road eagerly to go to the river as soon as possible. Certainly, bath time is their favorite activity of the day.
Bathing of Elephants
Once the elephants reach the river, they become so excited. During bath time, they are totally free as same as in the wild. Some elephants wander along the river bank for a long distance, while others are playing with each other. You can witness this amazing event, just a few meters away from these gentle giants. It is an absolutely beautiful sight to see!
You’ll see that they enjoy their bath time a lot. The elephants are roaming freely, but they are closely watched by their guardians. Visitors will never feel unsafe standing this close to these animals. Definitely, you cannot see such a large number of elephants in one place anywhere else in the world. It is an awesome experience you should witness in Sri Lanka.
All the elephants enjoy their time in the river, with some lying in the deeper water and others just hanging about. They are allowed to bathe and cool down for two hours. The elephants clearly love bathing and playing in the cool water, as you’ll see them from the river bank. Next to the river were a couple of cafes/restaurants, where you can have a meal or a cold drink with a nice view overlooking the bathing elephants.
Bathing of Baby Elephants
The elephant bathing gives the opportunity to witness baby elephants, which are really cute. You’ll see how they are strictly protected by all the members of the elephant herd during bathing. The adult elephants act as fierce defenders of the babies in order to avoid any external trouble by encircling them and giving trumpet calls.
Return to the Home
After a 2-hour long bathing session, they will go back home at 12.00 noon. They have a 24 acres large yard to walk and participate in other activities. They roam freely around the plantation, while the mahouts keep a close eye on them for their safety. Elephants spend until 2.00 p.m. at the plantation site, where they wander and freely roam around the area. They are fed trimmings from jackfruit and coconut trees.
Milk Feeding of baby elephants
Milk feeding is an important event taking place daily at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. The misplaced or abandoned babies cannot survive in the wild on their own as they suckle from their mother until they are almost five years old. Hence, they need to be hand raised for their survival.
It is possible for visitors to bottle-feed the baby elephants after buying a mega-feeding bottle for them. This daily event is available from 9.15 am – 9.45 am and 01.15 pm – 01.45 pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to get up close with these cute baby elephants.
This unique event has gained a lot of local and international interest. Hence, tourists are quite interested to feed the young orphaned elephants. In order to facilitate the tourists to get more information on it, there is a commentary conducted in English. This commentary explains the need for milk feeding and details of baby elephants that are being fed.
Fruit Feeding of Elephants
Elephants love to eat fruits and the daily fruit-feeding event is quite popular among visitors. You can feed the elephants fruits like bananas, watermelons, and pineapples for some extra charge. Fruit Feeding is available from 09.00 am – 09.45 am / 12.00 pm – 1.45 pm. There are trays of fruits for sale to feed the elephants. You can buy them and feed the elephants while taking some photographs as an everlasting memory of your journey.
The Misinformation about Pinnawala
It is a sad thing that there are lot of false information about Pinnawala is available on the internet. These reports talk about the elephants being chained up whole the day and they are abused by their mahouts. Actually, these reports are quite far from reality. Unfortunately, if you Google search about Pinnawala elephants, these websites appear on the first page. After reading this misinformation, many tourists are worried about going to see the elephants in Pinnawala.
Once you visit Pinnawala, you’ll understand this elephant sanctuary isn’t such a worst place as they mentioned. You can witness the elephants are totally healthy and shows no discomfort or abuse signs caused by the rough handling of the mahouts. Of course, the handlers have sticks, but they use it only to coax the elephants. Usually, elephants are looked after very well by their caregivers.
Sometimes, you’ll see certain elephants are chained and kept in a large shed providing all the requirements with confined mobility. These elephants are chained only in their musth period. At that time, they become heavily aggressive and tend to fight with other bull elephants. Sometimes they fight till one of them dies. In order to avoid such disasters, they need to control by mahouts in this period. Thus, this confinement is necessary for the safety of both elephants and visitors.
Due to this misinformation, some tourists avoid visiting Pinnawala. This is a sad situation and it is necessary to spread the correct information to encourage tourists to visit this wonderful elephant sanctuary.
Important Tips for you
Milk feeding is available when there are baby elephants living in the sanctuary. After the babies are grown up over 5 years, the milk feeding program isn’t available.
It is better to avoid visiting Pinnawala during heavy rainy days. On rainy days, the elephants do not make the trip to the river for bathing as the water level can rise dangerously.
Some reviews say that mahouts ask for money in exchange for touching the elephants or taking photos of them up close. But this isn’t true. You aren’t charged for anything; except milk or fruits, you like to buy for elephants.
There aren’t any elephant rides available in Pinnawala sanctuary. Riding the elephants isn’t ethical and visitors aren’t allowed to ride on them.
Definitely, visiting elephants in Pinnawala will be one of your best memories of Sri Lankan travel. This is a wonderful experience, where you can get an unforgettable scenery of pachyderms wandering in the streets and bathing in the river. Moreover, there are lots of souvenir shops available in Pinnawala where you can shop for a few handicrafts made in Sri Lanka. Welcome everybody, Visit elephants in Pinnawala and get up close with these gentle giants!
Thank you very much dear friend, You’re welcome!