Elephants on Sri Lanka - Sri Lankan Elephants

No animal is as closely identified with the country than the Sri Lankan Elephant - Elephas maximus maximus

The Sri Lankan Elephant is a subspecies of the Asian Elephant and although it is the largest of the subspecies it numbers less than the two species of African elephants.
The Sri Lankan Elephant population is largely restricted primarily to a few Sri Lankan National Parks and Nature Reserves, particularly the Udawalawe National Park, Minneriya National Park, Wilpattu National Park and Yala National Park. A census in 2007 revealed there were (only) between 2,900 and 3,000 elephants in the wild compared with an estimate of over 10,000 in 1900. The main threat is the killing of elephants to protect crops and houses in rural area. Others are deforestation, drought, poaching and starvation. During drought seasons many elephants damage agricultural land for food. Nearly 80 elephants were killed in north western Sri Lanka, 50 in south and east and another 30 in other parts of the country, totaling 160 elephant deaths in 2006 alone.

Elephants play an integral role in many of the island's religious festivals - a prime locations for spotting elephants! No perahera or religious procession is really complete without a retinue of elephants, and many large Buddhist temples on Sri Lanka had their own elephants up until recently. In Kandy the long processions of elephants are festooned in electric lights (!) during the Esala Perahera from the Temple of the Tooth.
The Sri Lankan Elephant is an herbivore, they eat tree bark, grasses, leaves, fruits and palm leaves. Large adult Sri Lankan elephants need almost 200kg of fodder per day.
The natural range of the wild Sri Lankan Elephant takes in all of Sri Lankan eco-regions: lowland rainforests, mountain forest and dry-zone scrub but are now only found within Sri Lanka's National Parks.
The woeld famous Pinnawala (Pinnewala) Elephant Orphanage in Kegalle, about half way between Colombo and Kandy, treats injured elephants, caring young and baby elephants that have lost their mothers. Nearly 70 elephants live at Pinnawala (Pinnewala) at any one time.

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JeGraNet.com statement - 15 October 2008 - Quote from the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office website: "There is a high threat from terrorism in Sri Lanka. Fatal attacks have become more frequent. They have occurred in Colombo and throughout Sri Lanka, including places frequented by expatriate and foreign travellers. Further attacks may occur at any time. There is an increasing risk of British nationals being caught up in an attack". As independent travellers we left Colombo after just 9 days into our planned 6 month stay as a result of a feeling of insecurity, however we are sure that 'package tour' travellers to tourist resorts will probably enjoy a worry free holiday.