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Sri
Lanka - 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.
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