Situated just outside the town of Kegalle, some forty kilometers west of Kandy, the Pinnewala Elephant Orphanage is one of Sri Lanka’s most popular tourist attractions.

It was set up in 1975 to look after seven orphaned baby elephants, though the orphanage population has now mushroomed to around 93 (in 2017), making it the world’s largest collection of captive elephants.
The elephants here range in age from newborns to elderly matriarch and include orphaned and abandoned elephants, as well as those injured in the wild (often in conflicts with farmers). There are some baby elephants that were born here in captivity.

Habituated to humans and domestic elephants, most of the orphans join the ranks of sri Lanka’s many working elephants when they reach maturity, as they cannot easily be returned to the wild.

Read more on Elephant behavior at the Orphanage here.

Things to Do

MILK FEEDING

The milk feeding is an important and an eye-catching event taking place daily at the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage. This gains a lot of national and international interest as it is a unique event. Hence, tourists are naturally compelled to seek more information on it. In order to facilitate this ne

Daily at : 9.15am – 9.45am / 01.15pm-01.45pm

ELEPHANT BATHING AT RIVER

The elephants are driven across the road to the Ma Oya river for a leisurely bath; you can observe their antics form the river bank, or from the terrace of Pinnalanda or Hotel Elephant Park restaurants above the river. Here you can see Elephants splashing around and playing for about an hour.

Daily at : 10.00am – 12.00pm / 2.00pm – 4.00pm

FRUIT FEEDING

Daily at : 09.00am – 09.45am / 12.00pm – 1.45pm

Opening Hours

Daily from 8.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m

Entrance Fees

Sri Lankans

Overseas Visitors

SAARC Visitors

How to Get to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is on a side road located between Colombo and Kandy, just east of Kegalle, near the 83km post. So it’s also a perfect opportunity for a day-trip that breaks up your journey.

How to get to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage from Colombo: It’s best to take a train heading for Kandy, which stop at Pinnawala.

How to get to Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage from Kandy: Take the bus from Kandy at the Bus Shed Station to Udamulla. From there you take another bus to Rambukkana and get off at Pinnawala. You can also take a taxi or Three Wheeler (TukTuk) from Kandy.

Location Map (Google Map)

Contact Elephant Orphanage

• Elephant Orphanage,
  Pinnawala,
  Rambukkana.
• General : +94 35 22 66116
  Fax : +94 35 22 64533
• zoosl@slt.lk
• http://nationalzoo.gov.lk/elephantorphanage

Picture Gallery

On the way to bath

Bathing at Ma Oya river

Bathing at Ma Oya river

Bathing at Ma Oya river

with a visitor

ride on the elephant

Feeding a young elephant

Bathing at Ma Oya river