| Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage | |
|---|---|
 Herd of elephants at Pinnawala | |
 | |
| 7°18′2″N 80°23′18″E / 7.30056°N 80.38833°E | |
| Date opened | 1975 |
| Location | Pinnawala, Kegalle, Sabaragamuwa, Sri Lanka |
| Land area | 25 acres (10 ha) |
| No. of animals | 71 (2023) |
| No. of species | 1 |
| Website | https://nationalzoo.gov.lk/elephantorphanage/ |
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage (Sinhala: පින්නවල අලි අනාථාගාරය), is a captive breeding and conservation institute for wild Asian elephants located at Pinnawala village, 13 km (8.1 mi) northeast of Kegalle town in Sabaragamuwa Province of Sri Lanka. Pinnawala has the largest herd of captive elephants in the world. In 2023, there were 71 elephants, including 30 males and 41 females from 3 generations, living in Pinnawala.[1]
The orphanage was founded to care and protect the many orphaned unweaned wild elephants found wandering in and near the forests of Sri Lanka. It was established in 1975 by the Sri Lanka Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC).[2]
On 31 August 2021, a 25 year old elephant named Surangi gave birth to twin male baby elephants at the orphanage.[3][4] It also marked the first instance of the birth of twin elephants in Sri Lanka after a gap of 80 years since 1941.[5][6]
- ^ Prithiviraj Fernando1, Jayantha Jayewardene, Tharaka Prasad, W. Hendavitharana and Jennifer Pastorini (2011), "Current Status of Asian Elephants in Sri Lanka" (PDF), Gajah, bi-annual journal of the IUCN/SSC Asian Elephant Specialist Group, vol. 35, p. 101, retrieved 22 February 2012
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage". Elephants in Sri Lanka. My Sri Lanka Tourism. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
- ^ "Rare twin baby elephants born in Sri Lanka | World | tulsaworld.com". tulsaworld.com. September 2021. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ Reuters Editorial. "Rare twin baby elephants born in Sri Lanka". Reuters Video.
{{cite web}}:|author=has generic name (help) - ^ Gilbert, Asha C. "Twin elephants born for the first time in almost 80 years in Sri Lanka". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2 September 2021.
- ^ "Sri Lanka Reports Rare Birth Of Elephant Twins". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2 September 2021.