Wild Asia: Untouched Wild

Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage

Posted by: Wonder of Asia Posted date: 1:38 AM / comment : 0 Untouched Wild

Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is the home for about 60 elephants, out of which many are baby elephants found, abandoned or orphaned in the wild. They are being cared, fed and trained by the wild life authorities. The best time to visit is during the feeding times, when one will have the opportunity of seeing the baby elephants being bottle-fed. Also could accompany the elephants to a river close-by and see the elephants having their daily bath.

It was started in 1975 by the Department of Wildlife on a twenty five acre coconut property on the Maha Oya river at Rambukkana. The orphanage was primarily designed to afford care and protection to the many baby elephants found in the jungle without their mothers. In most of these cases the mother had either died or been killed. In some instances the baby had fallen into a pit and in others the mother had fallen in and died.

Initially this orphanage was at the Wilpattu National Park, then shifted to the tourist complex at Benttota and then to the Dehiwala Zoo. From the Zoo it was shifted to Pinnawela. At the time it was shifted the orphanage had five baby elephants which formed its nucleus. It was hoped that this facility would attract both local and foreign visitors, the income from which would help to maintain the orphanage.

In 1978 the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage was taken over by the National Zoological Gardens from the Department of Wildlife and a captive breeding program launched in 1982. At Pinnawela an attempt was made to simulate, in a limited way, the conditions in the wild. Animals are allowed to roam freely during the day and a herd structure allowed to form.
The Department of National Zoological Gardens has set up an orphanage for baby elephants at Pinnawela which is about 13 Km. from Kegalle Town. on the Kegalle- Rambukkana Road.

Kegalle is 77 Km. from Colombo on the Colombo- Kandy road and the turn off to the orphanage is at the Karandupona Junction.
The orphanage was established to feed, nurse and house young elephants found abandoned by their mothers. Often the young ones fall into pits and ravines in their quest for water during drought period. Other inmates at the orphanage are those displaced from their natural environs by development projects or those found diseased or wounded.
The orphanage is 16 years old. The animals that were brought during the initial years are now capable of breeding and have in fact bred.

Sri Lanka's Big 5

Posted by: Wonder of Asia Posted date: 2:58 AM / comment : 0 Untouched Wild

Lazing on a treetop, blending in perfectly with its surroundings, the big cat is almost invisible, yet the absence of tigers in Sri Lanka makes for a leopard with real attitude. Usually tagged ‘Prince of the Night’, this cat is well out of its normally nocturnal closet. Confident, it will stroll in the open by day, to every ecotourist’s delight. There are believed to be about 600 leopards across Sri Lanka today, mostly in the protected parks and reserves. Yala National Park has one of the highest recorded densities of leopards in the world,

The Majestic elephant moves with steady deliberation, placing huge round feet with incongruous gleaming toenails on the dusty, dry-season soil. The matriarch leads the way along a route she has followed year after year for perhaps the last half century. How many of these giant mammals still roam the island of Sri Lanka? Estimates put the number at 2,500-3,000 wild elephants. Around the middle of the year, as many as 200-300 elephants make their way to the Minneriya lake in the Minneriya National Park, possibly one of the few places on earth where such splendour can be enjoyed.

Third must-see, on the Sri Lankan wildlife scoreboard, is the Sri Lanka Sloth Bear. These shaggy, shuffling and rather hunch-backed black bears may be seen loping around even in daylight and are endemic to Sri Lanka.

In the turquoise waters of Sri Lanka, the awe-inspiring presence of the Blue Whale and the Sperm Whale completes the eco-attractiveness of this haven for wildlife.

Elephants

Posted by: Wonder of Asia Posted date: 9:12 PM / comment : 0 Untouched Wild

The Sri Lankan Elephant is the prominent figure in Sri Lankan wildlife and this is a rightful honour for the majestic and intelligent beast crowned the largest of the Asian elephants. The current elephant population in Sri Lanka stands at 4500-5000 and great measures are being taken in order to preserve and protect the dwindling figures.

A visit to Sri Lanka would be incomplete without a glimpse of these magnificent creatures that can be observed within safeguarded National Parks such as Yala, Wilpattu, Wasgamuwa, Minneriya , and Udawalawa . A found favorite among the locals as well as tourist is the Pinnawela Elephant Orphanage. This remarkable elephant orphanage currently operates one of the world’s most successful elephant breeding programs by taking in and caring for injured or orphaned elephants.

Watching dozens of these elephants walk past you as they splash into the river at bath time and feeding an adorable baby elephant out of a giant milk bottle is a wonderful experience that will make your visit all the more worthwhile. Be sure to observe the astounding Elephant Gathering in Minneriya during the months of July to Oct, a spectacle not to be missed.