The Elephant Transit Home

Next to Udawalawe National Park is a government facility, established in 1995, that raises orphaned elephant calves and releases them back into the wild. It is a genuinely different thing from the elephant orphanages that keep animals for life and sell rides, bathing and photographs.

What you see

Feeding happens three times a day, at 10.30am, 2.30pm and 6.30pm. You watch from a raised viewing platform behind a barrier as the calves come in from the surrounding scrub, led by keepers, and are fed milk through hoses.

It lasts about an hour including the walk in and out. There is no contact of any kind, and that is the point rather than a limitation.

Why the model matters

A calf raised for release has to stay wary of people. Every hour it spends being handled by visitors makes that less likely and makes it more likely to end up raiding a village and being shot. Facilities that let you touch, ride and bathe elephants are producing animals that cannot go back, and they generally do not tell you that.

Over 100 elephants raised here have been released into national parks. Some are radio-collared and tracked afterwards.

Practicalities

Entry is inexpensive, a few dollars. Arrive fifteen minutes before the feeding time — it starts punctually and the viewing platform fills. It is five minutes from the Udawalawe park entrance, so the usual arrangement is the 2.30pm feed followed by an afternoon safari, or a morning drive followed by the 10.30.

Take a zoom lens if you have one. The barrier is at a proper distance.