Elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka Elsie Gabriel

Elephant orphanage in Sri Lanka

Elsie Gabriel

“……I guess for the first time in my life I shopped for Poo paper. No, not toilet paper, Elephant poo paper!!  It’s called Pachyderm paper, which is made from elephant dung. So these orphans are actually walking and talking paper factories too! Holy Shit!”……read on…..

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I was amazed at the endless march by these gigantic creatures of ‘Royalty’ which greeted me as I got off my vehicle. Up close and overwhelming. Baby ones, teenagers, hefty adolescents, young adults to elderly matriarchs, alert mothers, protective fathers and of course the naughty stray ones all in tow! Elephants!
 Yes, herds of them being driven across the pathway to the May Oya river . I was in Pinnawela, in the heart of the Sri Lankan forest areas.
I followed right behind them as the line ended and guess where they led me to? A leisurely bath in the frothy, bubbly, delightful river about fifteen minutes away .
At first I  watched their antics from the comfort of  the river bank and then later in superior comfort over lunch from the terraces of the Pinnalanda Restaurant  uphill of the river. Large trunks spraying water at each other, Mother elephants showing off  bathing skills and chasing little ones into deeper depths to help wash off. I simply soaked in the sun and all that the elephants had to offer in their wet charades.

As  far as I could remember I grew up believing that elephants have either  served as beasts of burden in war and peace. Some religions have regarded elephants as gods, and many a times they have been symbols of royalty.

I first recall sighting an elephant with utmost gleeful delight as a child at a circus and later on at the local zoo. Elephants have entertained in festivals around the world. For centuries, the elephant's massive tusks have been prized for their ivory. Or rather envied or butchered for their tusks, now making them an endangered species.

As the elephants frolicked in the river, stomping around I couldn’t fathom how they could all be orphans. Well, they were happy orphans. Enjoying their freedom to the maximum during their daily bathing ritual for sure.

The Elephant Orphanage is a peaceful sanctuary for lost, rescued, injured or abused elephants and attracts visitors from all over the world. Sri Lanka is the only country providing a safe retreat for young orphaned elephants. The adult elephants work in the orphanage itself, earning their keep by helping with various chores, such as collecting food and managing the herd.

The Pinnawela orphanage is situated northwest of the town Kegalla, halfway between the present capital Colombo and the ancient royal residence called Kandy in the hills of central Sri Lanka. Visiting the elephant orphans is surely a must on your to do list while visiting Sri Lanka or any other nearby Indian ocean destinations close to Sri Lanka like Mauritius or the Maldives.

This center was established 1975 by the Sri Lanka Wildlife department. The twenty four acres large elephant orphanage is also a breeding pace for elephants, thirty elephants were born since 1984, and it has the greatest herd of elephants in captivity in the world.

Well, Elephants are orphaned for a number of reasons. Habitat destruction and fragmentation is one of the main causes; due to irrigation projects, developing of industries, agricultural projects and human encroachment of forests the elephants have lost over 40% of their natural wild habitat in recent history. Orphaned young elephants whose parents have been the victims of poachers or accidents are tamed, reared  and trained here  to eventually become working contributors.

The Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage offers a brilliant chance for the victims of these situations as some of the main objectives of the orphanage revolve around giving the orphaned elephants a wonderfully happy and healthy life, including allowing for natural social behaviour, good medical treatment and food satisfaction thus making this one of the most successful captive breeding programmes for Asian elephants.

Elephants here are habituated to humans .The elephants, which roam freely in the parkland, are 'herded' by their mahouts  just before being taken to feeding sheds inside the orphanage enclosure. I was lucky to get to caress them and feed them milk in elephant baby bottles. The baby one’s guzzled down enormous quantities of milk. And of course bathing the older ones and spraying them with fresh water showed me how independent and blissful they all were. What family, which family? In the end I guess, it’s your new adopted family  and friends who nurture you, which ever part of the world you eventually land up in.

Of course in every park around the world something catches my eye and I shop for sustainability. But I guess for the first time in my life I shopped for Poo paper-Elephant poo paper!!  It’s called Pachyderm paper, which is made from elephant dung. So these orphans are actually walking and talking paper factories too! Holy Shit!

Elephant dung has large percentages of fibre which makes it easy to prepare for the manufacture of paper. High quality stationary and decorative paper is the outcome after the dung is dried  and treated. This ofcourse gives an extra source of income to the locals around too. Dried flowers, leaves, tea and husk is added to give various different colours and textures to the paperus.

In the end, whether you are an orphan or not, whether you are an elephant or not, it is each to his own as you experience metamorphism into adult life.

"We humans define ourselves by the ways in which we treat animals"  It was Julian Huxley who once said this, I believe.