Sri Lanka Elephants.

Sri Lanka Elephants are far different from the African elephants. The are called as Asian Elephants and they are very large animals which can be seen in the wild and as domesticated animals living with human. They are very intelligent and obedient one unless they are provoked or become sick. Sri Lanka used to attract tourists from USA, Europe, Australia, Japan and Chinese to view them live. These large animals can be closely watched here in the Wild, National Parks and Orphanages. Also they can be seen at the Buddhist temples and on their festival processing days. There are nearly 6,000 of them are wandering in Sri Lanka. Also they take important part in the Religious processing ceremonies of the Buddhist religion. These processions are called as Perahera and used to take place in the nights only.

The largest gathering of elephants used to take place at the Kandy Perahera where more than 100 trained Elephants take part in the parade with best clothe coverings and lighting made with small electric bulbs. To view the Kandy Perahera you have to contact your travel agent to book you flight for the right time, hotel and good seating to view the event in a happy mood with your friends or family. Seating around the Kandy Perahera procession route may be differently priced and there are places where you can witness the procession for free. The event is held in the night time only. There are lot of Perahera procession with elephants used to take place in Sri Lanka. The Second popular Perahera used to take place in Colombo as "Gangaramaya Navam Maha Perahera".

Warning on lonley elephants..

Never try to go near a wild elephant or to feed it, specially the lonley elephant. They may look gentle one. But all of a sudden they become aggressive and can attack you and your vehicle. In Sri Lanka many people had lost their lives to these lonley wild elephant attack.

Is it Safe to Visit Sri Lanka Now?

Yes, it is safe to visit to Sri Lanka now. But you must have insurance coverage that should be worth more than US$ 7,500. You will get online entry visa for 90 days and it should be endorsed by the Sri Lanka foreign missions. Sorry currently there are NO on arrival visas are provided by the Sri lanka Immigration at the Colombo Airport.Seven number of country eople are offered with free entry visas for certain period.

Feeding Elephants Calves.

Some staff of the elephant Orphanages in Sri Lanka used to allow the visiting tourists to feed the young ones with milk during the feeding times. In return the happy tourists used to present some money to the orphanage worker. Don't try to feed wild elephants or other domestic elephants yourself alone. Even if you want to feed domesticated elephants, it should be done along with the Elephant's Mahout. Elephants used to cool their body heat, by swinging their ears, where the blood become cool and return back to their body. So don't try to hold their swinging ears. Foreign passport holding Sri lanka born guests can pay the ticket price as of Sri Lanka citizens at the entry point to these places.

Elephant Riding.

In Some parts of Sri Lanka, owners of the elephants used to allow foreign tourists to ride on their elephants back for a small fee. Most local people don't recommend these rides. It is the choice of the visiting tourists to get a ride on an Elephant or just to watch them taking other people. Before venturing on an elephant ride, check the youtube.com videos on elephant rides.

Elephants in the National Parks.

There many National Parks in Sri Lanka where you can witness these wild elephants from specially made observation jeeps (Safari Jeeps) from distance. In the Kaudulla National Park in Habarana area, between the months of August and December you can watch lot of elephants. They "Gather" near to Kaudulla Reservoir, to drink water and to play in the water. Some time you can see the large males fighting here to dominate their leader position. They used to be locked with their long tusks for hours. Minneriya is another place where you can see elephants gathers for food and water. Udawalawe National Park, Yala National Park and some other less popular National Parks are available for the tourists to view the wild elephants. In Sinhala "Aliya Enava" means Elephant is coming.

Good Reading.

Sri Lanka Elephant Migration.

Best Places to Watch Sri Lanka Elephants.