The Pinnawala Elephant orphanage
The Pinnawala Elephant orphanage is in the Kegalle District. The road that leads to the orphanage is about two Kilo meters from Kegalla town, on the Kandy road. It was started in 1975. There are baby and adult elephants in the orphanage. They are all rescued elephants. Farmers shoot at elephants when they come to their villages. Sometimes they throw fire brands to scare them away. Some elephants fall in to pits, wells and water holes. When they come in search of water in the dry season. Some injured elephants fall on the way. They cannot get up because of pain, hunger and thirst. Such elephants are rescued and brought to the orphanage. Every morning the elephants walk in a line to the Maha Oya for bathing, like school children going for the morning assembly. They love to be in the water for a long time. They look like rocks when they lie in water. The mahouts scrub, brush and rub their coconut husks. The playful little ones spray and splash water on each other. The baby elephants below one year are the infants. Those between 1 year and 5 years are calves. The male adults are cows. An infant drinks 5 litres of milk at a time. They are bottle fed five times a leaves, jak leaves and Kitul trunks. You can spend hours and hours watching them. |
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