Sri Lanka marks golden jubilee of elephant orphanage

Sri Lanka marks golden jubilee of elephant orphanage

Colombo, Sri Lanka marked the golden jubilee of the iconic Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage on Sunday, celebrating 50 years of caring for majestic giants at the sanctuary.

Sri Lanka marks golden jubilee of elephant orphanage

Located about 90 km from Colombo in the southwestern region of Rambukkana, the orphanage was inaugurated in 1975.

“This was started in 1975 with five baby elephants. Today it provides refuge for 69 elephants belonging to various age groups,” the Director General of the Zoological Department Chandana Rajapaksa told reporters.

Rajapaksa said that baby elephants who stray from their herd, face mishaps such as falling into pits while searching for water, or suffer injuries are being cared for at the orphanage. Over 50 handlers at the orphanage look after them.

To mark the golden jubilee, the elephants were provided a special feast of fruits. Videos uploaded on the Department of National Zoological Gardens's official Facebook account showed officials cutting a huge cake and feeding it to the elephants. Visitors also fed fruits to the pachyderms.

"Join us as we mark 50 years of dedication, love, and care for these incredible elephants. It’s been an unforgettable journey, and we couldn’t have done it without the support of all our visitors, partners, and elephant lovers around the world," the department said in a separate post.

Thousands of tourists daily visit the captive breeding and conservative facility for wild elephants.

They witness the daily routine of bottle-feeding of the calves, feeding of the adult elephants, and them being guided to the river for bathing.

Rajapaksa said around 5,000 branches of coconut, sugar palm and jackfruit are needed to feed the elephants, and the weaker ones are also provided with cereals, rice bran and maize.

“We also feed large quantities of pineapples and bananas,” he said.

The orphanage has seen over 75 births, and in 2021, twin male baby elephants were born at the orphanage. The oldest elephant at the orphanage is 70 years.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.