SRI LANKA - Pinnawela

​Pinnawela elephant orphanage has grown to become one of the most popular attractions of Sri Lanka.

Before the arrival of the British in 1815 an estimated 30,000 elephants lived on the island. In the 1960s, the elephant population was close to extinction. This prompted the Sri Lankan government to found an orphanage for elephants that had lost their mothers or herds. Today, their number is around 3,000.

Pinnawela, about 80 km northeast of Colombo, is regarded as the biggest herd of captive elephants in the world. The elephant herd in Pinnawela makes the journey to the river twice a day to bathe under the eyes of the tourists.