The river bath
The herd in the Maha Oya twice a day.
Alexey Komarov — CC BY 3.0 · Puviraj Diluckshan — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Balou46 — CC BY-SA 3.0 · shankar s. from Dubai, united arab emirates — CC BY 2.0 · Lawanga Ranwala — CC BY-SA 4.0
Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage is a state-run home for Asian elephants on the Maha Oya river in Kegalle District, with a herd of 65 (27 males, 38 females). Run by the Department of National Zoological Gardens, it keeps one of the world's largest captive herds. The Department of Wildlife Conservation opened it on 16 February 1975 with five orphaned calves, on a former coconut plantation; the zoo department took over in 1978. Since 1995 new orphans have gone to Udawalawe's Elephant Transit Home, so the herd grows mostly by breeding: the first calf was born in 1984 and 76 births have been recorded since, including twin male calves in 2021, reportedly Sri Lanka's first captive-born twins since 1941. Welfare groups, the Born Free Foundation among them in 2010, have criticised conditions such as chaining; a free-ranging area for adult bulls opened in 2026. By day the herd roams an open area; twice daily, late morning and early afternoon, it is walked across the road to drink and bathe in the river while visitors watch from the bank. Paid programmes let you feed the elephants fruit, join a 10-minute river bath or walk beside one. Pinnawala lies off the Colombo–Kandy road, about 40 km west of Kandy and 90 km from Colombo, both by road; Rambukkana station, on the Colombo–Kandy railway, is about 2 km north. Come for a river session and allow two to three hours; Pinnawala Zoo is close by. Peradeniya's botanic gardens lie on the way to Kandy, and the Temple of the Tooth is 28 km east as the crow flies.
The herd in the Maha Oya twice a day.
Paid elephant feeding from 09:15.
76 births recorded since 1984.
Rambukkana Road, Pinnawala, Kegalle District
Per the orphanage's 2026 schedule, the main herd is at the Maha Oya from about 10:00 to 12:00 and 14:00 to 16:00, and a small group of around seven goes at 08:30–09:45 and 12:00–13:45. The ticket counter closes at 17:00, and after heavy rain the herd's river trips and the paid bathing can be suspended.
Yes: a combined ticket costs USD 23.60 for foreign adults, paid in rupees. The zoo opened in 2015 as Sri Lanka's first open-concept zoo, on 36 acres beside the Maha Oya, with Sri Lankan leopards, sloth bears and the country's largest open butterfly garden.