Pinnawela, a picturesque village near the banks of a river near Kegalle, a town midway between Kandy, Sri Lanka's cultural capital, and Colombo, the country's commercial capital, is a sight to behold. Home to the world's largest herd of captive elephants, the Pictorial Village is the largest elephant orphanage on the planet, providing care and sanctuary for these majestic creatures.
Numerous baby elephants are housed there, along with a blind and a disabled elephant. The largest member of the Asiatic elephant genus is the Sri Lankan species Elephas maximus Maximus, which has white patches on its ears, face, trunk, and belly. Of all the Asiatic elephants, they are the darkest. A vacation to Sri Lanka would be incomplete without seeing this big herd of these behemoths. The Elephant Orphanage of Pinnawela reported the birth of its 55th baby elephant in February 2011, following 40 years of operation. The most recent addition brought the total to 86.
The orphanage was established in the Wilpattu National Park in 1972 and moved to a 10-hectare coconut farm on the banks of the Maha Oya River in 1976. The herd makes two daily trips to the river, and seeing the herd splashing around in the water is considered a "must-see" for tourists. In 1982, the orphanage began its breeding program. Two males and three females were the original breeding pair. Three calves were born at intervals of five and four years by the male and female couple known as Vijay and Kumari.
Additionally, the orphanage makes paper from elephant dung. The method is both commercially and industrially viable. The "Pachyderm" label is applied to the elephant dung paper. As part of a holiday in Sri Lanka, it gives the locals, who are passionate about conservation, a means of supporting the elephant orphanage, which serves as the hub of a vibrant village economy.
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