Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage

Pinnawala Elepehant Orphanage, there is a lot of controversy going on about this place. Some people claim you should never visit the elephant orphanage, because the animals aren’t treated in the right way. However, I think there are multiple stories to this place and this was one of our main highlights of the trip.

Practical Information

Yes, Pinnawala is touristy and it can feel more like an elephant fun park then an orphanage. However, be sure you will be there during feeding time and bathing time. Feeding time is at 9:15 am and 1:15 pm. Bathing is from 10 am till 12 pm.

If you are here around those times you will have an amazing experience. Entrance fee is 2,500 Rpees ($15.00) which is quite expensive. If you are one of the first you can buy for 300 rupees ($2.20) a ticket to feed some milk to an elephant. We did this, and while this is cute I wouldn’t recommend this option. Instead go inside to the fruit place and feed some fruit to the elephant for 250 rupees ($1.60). The benefit is that you can take your time in feeding and tease the elephant a bit as well.

Costs at Pinnawala

Visit it or not?

At 10 o’clock the elephants will move from the orphanage to the river for bathing. This is the moment where I think all those animal lovers are claiming that this place is horrible to the elephants. I will not claim this isn’t the case, I haven’t worked here and don’t know what is going on here 24/7.

However, when the elephants move from the orphanage to the river they will have chains around their neck and the volunteers are walking next to them with some sharp sticks. The main problem is that the elephants need to cross a main road, need to walk through a street with loads of shops, before they reach the river.

I understand that no one wants an elephant walking through their shops or hitting their cars. If this happens the support of the locals for the orphanage will be gone. Hence, you have to find a way to keep the elephants in control in case it will go wrong. Therefore, the sticks and chains are only there in case it will go wrong, and the volunteers can take action before it is too late.

The same is the case in the river. When the elephants reach the river, most of them are free to go where ever they want. However, some of them are chained and can only move around within a limited chain. Around 5 meters in each direction. It is still amazing to just stand here at the river side and see all those elephants enjoying the water. I asked the orphanage for a statement, unfortunately they didn’t want to respond on those statements.

Be aware

Still be aware that elephant riding isn’t animal friendly. We were offered an elephant ride outside the orphanage. This isn’t offered through the orphanage, but some people are selling it around the orphanage and will take you somewhere else for the ride.

However, elephants are wild animals, and to train them into a creature that wants to take you for a ride. A lot of torturing has to happen on the elephant to let people ride them. So please avoid this at all costs.

Last things to mention

On a better note, it is very interesting to visit one of the shops that give you a free workshop about how they convert elephant dung into paper. And as everywhere else in Sri Lanka, those demonstrations are completely free.

To give you only a slightly better picture on the orphanage, please check out my vlog that is covering Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage.