The primary purpose of the orphanage has been to provide a lifeline to the orphaned baby elephants and adult elephants lost in the wilderness. In most of the occasions the mother of the orphaned baby elephants had been killed; and then there have been accidents of baby elephants falling into pits and losing out to the herd; and there were instances the mother elephant had fallen into a pit and died leaving the baby elephant lost in the jungle. There are instances of adult elephants being killed by farmers to protect their paddy fields and crops resulting in baby elephants orphaned.
The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage was launched to provide the best possible opportunity to the sad victims of such situations. The orphanage is fully geared to provide an environment of happy and healthy life to the beasts.
Visiting Pinnawela grand opportunity to enjoy the spectacle up close a large herd of elephants interacting together.
The highlight is the elephants at the bathing hours: at 10.00 am and 2.00 pm daily, the animals are walked 400 meters to the river Maha Oya. The visitors seated on the steep rocky banks of the river, are afforded the opportunity, to enjoy the sight of the herd of elephants bathing and playing at the river.
The bathing hours are followed up with the feeding hour at the main center of the orphanage. Baby elephants are bottle fed. Selected visitors have a chance of bottle feeding milk to the baby elephants.
Each and every beast is fed with green matter made of leaves weighing no less than 75 kg: Coconut leaves (Cocos nucifera); Jackfruit (Artocarpus integra); leaves, branches and logs of Kitul palm tree (Caryoty urens); tamarind and grass. Over and above that quantity, elephants are also fed with 2kg of a food mixture containing maize, rice bran, powdered gingelly seed and minerals.