ELEPHANT SAFARI

EIGHTY-EIGHT SQUARE KILOMETRES OF WILD ELEPHANTS AT MINNERIYA NATIONAL PARK

Once elephants were widespread across the island; today they are primarily found in the dry parts of the north, east and southeast – especially in wildlife parks such as Minneriya.
Centred on a vast water tank built in the 3rd AD, this dry zone national park is to elephants what Singapore or Heathrow airport might be to humans: a massive gathering place for wild migrating elephants, especially in the dry season.

With herds typically counted in the several hundred, the elephants share the space with over 20 other mammals, 160 bird species, over three dozen reptiles and amphibians and 75 species of butterflies.

The dry season is the best time to visit, when vast numbers of Sri Lankan elephants are attracted to grassy fields on the edges of the reservoir. Reports of between 150 and 700 have been tallied, the largest such gatherings of Asian elephants anywhere on the continent.

Dotted about them can also be seen purple-faced langurs and toque macaques; sambar and axis deer; the rare Sri Lankan leopard and Sri Lankan sloth bear and the even rarer grey slender loris; painted stork, herons, and spot-billed and great white pelicans; flocks of cormorants; Sri Lanka junglefowl and hanging parrots, babblers, hornbills, bulbuls, crimson-fronted barbets – plus lizards, crocodiles, pythons, and monitors.

Although Sri Lanka has the highest elephant density in Asia, as roads, villages, farms, plantations, and towns grow, they come into ever closer contact with humans – always to their extreme disadvantage. Unsurprisingly, the number of Sri Lankan elephants, which goes by the beautiful Latin name Elephas maximus maximus, is falling fast.

Owning an elephant brings with it immense prestige, and at every key or inconsequential moment of island history, you see them. You cannot miss them, for there they are: present. at home; unmistakable. Not for nothing do they crowd the iconic boards and flags of Sinhalese and Tamil heraldry, their effortless symbolism catapulting them onto every colonial emblem, flag, and coat of arms. In prehistoric times, they roamed the entire island, unhindered by the sparse populations of hunter-gatherers. From the time of the first Vijayan kings, the island gained fame as a centre of elephant commerce. No elephant? No status. Simple.