13/10/2017
Minneriya National Park
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Minneriya National park / මින්නේරිය ජාතික උද්යානය - It is the largest known meeting place of Asian Elephants in the world.
Minneriya National Park is located 182 km away from Colombo in the North Central Plains of Sri Lanka.
මින්නේරිය වැවේ ජලපෝෂක ප්රදේශය වන මින්නේරිය ජාතික වනෝද්යානය අලි ඇතුන් නැරඹීමට කදිම තෝතැන්නකි. සවස් කාලයට 150ක පමණ රංචුවක් වැව් ඉස්මත්තට රැස්වීම සුලභ දසුනකි.ඊට අමතරව දිවියා හා වලසා වැනි සතුන්ද පක්ෂීන්ද දැකගත හැකිය.
The renovated vast ancient Minneriya Rainwater Reservoir that irrigates the considerable area of the district of Polonnaruwa is the focal point of the Minneriya National Park.
Large numbers of Sri Lankan elephants are attracted to grass fields on the edges of the reservoir during the dry season. The Minneriya tank contributes to sustain a large herd. Elephants gathered here is numbering around 150-200. Some reports account number of elephants to as high as 700.They migrate here from Wasgamuwa National Park and benefit from food and shelter of the park's forest. Tourists visit Minneriya largely because of elephants, especially in dry season.
Being part of the elephant corridor which joins up with Kaudulla and Wasgomuwa parks, Minneriya National Park gives the opportunity to see herds of Elephants throughout the year.May to October is the best period to visit Minneriya National Parkin view of the famous Gathering of the wild elephants.
During this period herds up to 300 elephants are seen at the 8,890 hectare park within a few square kilometers of the Minneriya Reservoir. In August and September each year during the dry season, wild elephants from the surrounding wilderness in search of food and water, makes their way to the shores of the Minneriya Reservoir adjoining the Minneriya National Park. Huge herd of elephants, sometimes numbering up to 300, converge together within a few square kilometers of the lake.
Minneriya National Park that covers an area of 8,889 hectares is of tropical monsoon climate: annual rainfall is about 1146mm and mean annual temperature is 27.5 centigrade. The altitude ranges from100m to 885m at the top of Nilgala peak.