Elephant Orphanage
Elephant Orphanage
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is a nursery and captive breeding park for wild Asian elephants located in the Pinnawala village, 13 km (8.1 mi) northeast of Kegalle. Pinnawala has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. In 2011, there were 88 elephants, including 39 males and 49 females from 3 generations, living in Pinnawala.
The orphanage was founded to care and protect the many orphaned unweaned wild elephants found wandering in and near the forests of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1975 by the Sri Lanka Department of Wildlife Conservation.