Pinnawala elephant orphanage or the Udawalawe Transit Home which is ethical

Important distinction. Pinnawala is a long-established attraction where elephants live permanently in captivity, are walked through the village twice a day and brought to the river for tourist viewing, and some are chained. It is popular but increasingly criticised on welfare grounds. The Elephant Transit Home at Udawalawe is a government-run REHABILITATION centre: orphaned calves are nursed, kept with minimal human contact, fed at scheduled times that visitors watch from a distance (no touching, no bathing photos), and then released back into the wild as adults. For responsible tourism, the Transit Home is the clear choice, and you can combine it with a real safari at Udawalawe National Park to see free elephants the way they should be seen.