Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, Sri Lanka

Pinnawala is the best-known elephant attraction in Sri Lanka. The government set it up in 1975 to care for orphaned and injured wild elephants, and it now holds a large captive herd, many of them born here. It sits near Kegalle, between Colombo and Kandy, which makes it an easy stop. It is also controversial, and it's worth understanding why before you decide to go.

What a visit is like

The main event is the walk to the river. Twice a day, usually mid-morning and early afternoon, mahouts lead the herd down the village street to the Maha Oya river, where the elephants bathe and drink for an hour or more. Watching dozens of elephants in the water from the riverbank terraces is an impressive sight. Check the current timetable at the entrance, as times do change.

Inside the grounds, you can see the herd in an open feeding area. Bottle feeding of young elephants and fruit feeding are offered for extra fees. Foreign visitors pay a much higher entrance fee than locals.

The welfare concerns

Pinnawala is not a sanctuary in the modern sense, and animal welfare groups have criticised it for years. The main concerns are these:

• Some elephants are chained for long periods, and mahouts control them with the ankus, a sharp hook.
• Paid feeding, touching and photo sessions put the animals in close contact with crowds all day.
• Elephants are bred here, and they are not released to the wild. Some have been transferred to temples and private owners.

Conditions are better than at the private "elephant riding" camps along the road outside, which you should avoid altogether. But if your aim is to support good welfare, there are better choices.

Better alternatives

• Elephant Transit Home, Udawalawe: orphaned calves are raised with very little human contact and released into the wild. Visitors watch feeding from a platform.
• Wild elephants on safari: Udawalawe, Minneriya and Kaudulla offer near-certain sightings of elephants living freely.

Our guide to elephants in Sri Lanka compares all of these, and our responsible travel guide explains what to look for.

If you do go

Watch the river bathing from a respectful distance, skip the paid touching and feeding, and don't ride elephants anywhere. Allow about 2 hours. Pinnawala is about 2.5 hours from Colombo and an hour from Kandy, a short detour off the main road at Kegalle. The nearest railway station is Rambukkana.