Sakrebailu elephant sanctuary, Shivamogga

Sakrebailu is Shimoga (Shivamogga)'s Dubare.

Sakrebailu is a village 14 kms from Shivamogga town in Karnataka. Sakrebailu is close to Gajanur dam on Shivamogga-Thirthahalli road.

Above & Below: Children of Mahut (elephant caretaker) joy riding a mighty elephant, bringing them to the camp. While kids in cities fight for faster bikes expensive video games, those in villages find joy in nature itself

Sakrebailu is officially open to tourists from 8.30 AM. But activities at the campus start even earlier. Elephant caretakers go search for their elephants in the forest and bring them here for bathing and feeding. If the guard manning the gate is in good mood and if there's no crowd, you might be let in even before official opening time. If that happens, you can go fairly close to elephants and have leisurely chat with the mahuts. However as the crowd increases, they get tired of talking same thing again and again. Also because of safety concerns, tourists will be asked not to come too close and watch from a distance.


Sakrebailu has a boating facility and also an elephant ride on offer. But these are often left to staff's discretion. Boats are usually not operated in the morning when elephant bathing is in progress. In the evening, boating may be there but no elephants will be there to see.

Below: In the waters of Gajanur dam. Height of the dam was raised few years ago, resulting in submerging of more land, including most of Mandagadde bird sanctuary.

Camp has about 17 elephants. I was told none of these elephants were taken to Mysore to be part of Dasara celebrations.

Apart from elephant sanctuary, Sakrebailu also has a garden with wide range of herbs and other medicinal plants, but this garden appears to be poorly maintained.

Recently a resort also seem to have come up in the campus- I saw below signage. If interested you can call them and enquire about the details. Note that this resort is not to be confused with Jungle Lodges & Resorts

Early October, Sakrebailu will witness an annual celebration, which I keep missing. If possible plan your visit around that time. Be sure to add Sakrebyle to your plan when exploring Shimoga and nearby area.

Nearby places: Gajanur Dam * Mandagadde * Thyavarekoppa Lion Safari * Honnemaradu * Shivappa Nayak palace * Kundadri Hills* Kavaledurga Fort *