Sri Lanka- Elephant Orphanage

In the hill country, near Kandy, is a small oprhanage called the Pinnawela Elephant Orphange. I went with my trusty tuk tuk driver, Raju, on a 45 minute drive to visit the elephants. There are 65 elephants there, living on 26 acres of land. At 9:30am they get fed/. I saw them grab and chew HUGE amounts of plam tree and coconut tree leaves and branches. There were lots of babies in the crew. After they ate they wandered back down into the park to "roam free". In the afternoon the elephants are lead to the river and they play and bathe.
One of the biggest elephants there is blind. He got shot by some hunters trying to take his tusks. I saw him chilling under a tree. He didnt move move but seemed to be happily eating.
Another elephant there is a girl who stepped on a landmine. She is a three legged elephant who appeared to struggle when walking. One of the guides told me that there are some scientists from Vienna fitting her with a prosthesis. On the surface, the park was well run. Some of the trainers asked me if I wanted to pet the elephants for a small "fee" that would go right in their pockets. I don't know how much the orphanage employees make for a salary and wasnt sure I wanted to contribute to their scheme. I was content to admire the elephants from afar.
Further north, later in the week, I saw an elephant in the wild, just trying to cross the street. That was quite a site.