Pinnawella Elephant Centre, established in February 1975 by the Wildlife Conservation Department - Sri Lanka, was taken over by the National Zoological Gardens at Dehiwela in 1983.

An important attraction is bottle-feeding the calves. Each one gets seven giant-sized bottles of milk plus five other meals a day.

Bottle feeding may be seen at 9.15 a.m., 1.15 p.m. and again after 4 p.m. Adult animals are tethered for the night in their stalls between 4.30p.m. and 6 p.m. at which time they are given their evening feed of coconut, kitul (palm sugar), tamarind, jak leaves, some logs, plus a mixture of maize, rice bran, powdered sesame (gingelly) seeds and minerals.

It started as an orphanage for elephant calves found in the wilds, bereft of their mothers who most usually lost their lives in the ongoing conflict between man and beast.

The fact that the herd is allowed unfettered movement during the day is the primary attraction specially at bath time when they are allowed to frolic in the nearby river, Maha-oya.

Entertainment however is not the only purpose of this elephant centre. Captive breeding is an important objective.

The first calf in this captive breeding scheme was born on July 5, 1984. She was a female named Sukumalee. Her mother was Kumari and her father Vijaya, 20 and 21 years old respectively.

The elephants have two hours bath daily in the river

The flat rocky bottom of the river provides a large number of shallow pools, allowing the animals to splash and lie down to be scrubbed by the mahouts.

The elephants have two hours bath daily in the river

Mahout Gamini is giving a bath to Tikiri

Mahout Gamini is scrubbibg Tikiri

Mahout Gamini is scrubbibg Tikiri

"Elephants are friendly, if you don't harm them. I learnt the elephant language to talk to them. I have been a mahout for more a decade now" says Mahout Wimal.

Mahouts taking a break

Seetha in the Maha Oya river

Waiting to be fed

Mother's care

Let me follow you

Follow me please.........

Follow me please..........

Anything in here..........?

Wanna put up a fight...?

This site has become a famous tourist attraction

This site has become a famous tourist attraction

Let me embrace you

Let me embrace you

There are sixty eight elephants being looked after in the orphange now

There are sixty eight elephants being looked after in the orphange now.

Copulation/ conjugal embrace

The fact that the herd is allowed unfettered movement during the day is the primary attraction specially at bath time when they are allowed to frolic in the nearby river Maha-oya.

It started as an orphanage for elephant calves found in the wilds, bereft of their mothers who most usually lost their lives in the ongoing conflict between man and beast.

The Centre later developed into a safe haven for adult wild elephants too who required human assistance.

This site has become a famous tourist attraction

There are sixty eight elephants being looked after in the orphange now

The elephants have two hours bath daily in the river

The elephants have two hours bath daily in the river

The elephants have two hours bath daily in the river

There are sixty eight elephants being looked after in the orphange now

There are sixty eight elephants being looked after in the orphange now

There are sixty eight elephants being looked after in the orphange now

The aim now is to increase the number of elephants at Pinnawala to one hundred on the same 25 acre block. The authorities do not consider it necessary to extend the land area, since the elephants are stall-fed, adopting a system of cut and carry as for farm animals. Further improvements however are expected for the benefit of both elephants and visitors. These include a waterhole for bathing within the premises, open feeding area, mini--laboratory, X-ray unit and restraining facilities for elephants.

[Info courtesy of Daily Mirror, Daily News, Biodiversity & Elephant Conservation Trust]