Jun 16th, 2001
Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage
Wild elephants still roam throughout Sri Lanka but with humans increasingly encroaching on their viable territory, their numbers have dwindled substantially.
Pinnawela is located West of Kandy on the Colombo highway and hosts the largest elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka, accounting for around fifty elephants at any given time.
Most of these elephants were orphans who lost their parents to poachers or as a result of simply being left behind by their herd. Many were badly wounded when found, and I even remember one female elephant who had lost her eyesight as a result of a poacher’s gunshot.
This elephant could not go to the river to bathe and play with the other elephants. For whatever reason, one particular male elephant had developed an affinity for her, and would bring her food several times/day and keep her company.
