Thank you for visiting my site.
You are here: Home / Destinations / MINNERIYA NATIONAL PARK
Minneriya National Park lies in the North and Central provinces of Sri Lanka, and although declared a protected Wildlife Sanctuary in 1938, was only given National Park status in 1997. It’s wide open spaces, combined with the Wasgamuwa and Flood Plains National Parks allow the elephants vast tracts of protected land to safely reside in. Minneriya has a huge manmade tank, or reservoir, which dates back to the 3rd Century A.D. and was built by King Mahasen. During the monsoon rains the tank fills up, and when it is dry season the water starts to deplete. Never empty, it is a source of water and a feeding area for huge numbers of birds, mammals and amphibians year round. 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.
Mammals.
Among the 24 species of mammals resident in the park are Elephants, Leopards, Sloth Bear, Spotted Deer, Sambar Deer, Wild Buffalo, Wild Pig, Grey Langers, Purple-faced Leaf Monkey, three species of Mongoose, Porcupine & Indian Pangolin.
Birds
Minneriya National Park has recorded over 170 species of birds. From Migrating waders like Wood sand Piper, Common Sandpiper & Kentish Plovers to forest birds like Malabar-pied Hornbills, Rufus Woodpecker the globally endangered Lesser Adjutant and the endemics Sri Lanka Grey Horn-bill, Sri Lanka Green Pigeon, Brown-capped Babbler and Sri Lanka Jungle Fowl are some of the highlights.
Amphibians
Among the nine species of Amphibians at Minneriya National Park are the endemic and endangered Slender Wood Frog and the Common Tree Frog. Of the 25 species of reptiles recorded in the park 8 are endemic including the Red-lipped Lizard. Water and Land Monitors are also seen here. The Mugger Crocodile can be seen near the tank. Many species of fresh water fish are found in the Minneriya reservoir.
More spectacular than possibly any other wildlife event in Sri Lanka, is simply called ‘The Gathering’. During the dry season when the water in the tank starts to diminish, more and more animal congregate around the tank where the grasses are rich and fertile. For several months of this drought season different herds of wild elephants gather at the reservoir. They come from the outlaying areas beyond Minneriya, and at any one time it is possible to witness up to 300 elephants. They are not migrating, they simply ‘Gather’, to socialize, bathe, feed and possibly mate. To be an observer of the world’s largest gathering of wild elephants in the world is truly a memorable sight, and an unforgettable opportunity to watch the social dynamics of these great creatures. It is a unique phenomenon and only seen in Minneriya National Park. Recently, this amazing Gathering was listed as Number 6 in the Lonely Planet’s Guide to Natural Wildlife Spectacles of the World.
Minneriya National Park, Sri Lanka’s truly unique wildlife extravaganza.
"Thank you Cyril for making our Christmas holiday fun so smoothly and easy. We loved Sri Lanka and look forward to retuning again. Cyril, your knowledge and service was outstanding and it was so refreshing to have such a very highlevel of service. We will be sure to recomond your service and travel agency to our friends. Please feel free to use us as a reference, you can use my email or phone number to clients." Bruce Larson & family from USA
"We are glad to meet Cyril. He is very kind and patient, very professional in his work. He have lot of knowledge about history of the places and the things that happened in Sri Lanka. He knows all the roads and places very well. Very friendly and stand on time. The tour he recommended us and places were excellent. He replied immediately for mails which we send. He was flexible when we asked him to stop in different places and to change our program. He speaks very good English and explanations..." Ruty Ben Haim from Isarel
"Hello my dear friend Mr. Cyril We are all fine dear, I have visited Sri Lanka and I loved the country, Insha’Allah I will visit again your country, it is amazing place. This is the first day at work , really I enjoy the tour to sri lanka with my family and it was very nice and I wish to go again to sri lanka and of course you were very good and polite and respectable guy -thanks a lot for every thing and I wish you ..." Nasser Mohamed from Oman
" Our Tour in Sri Lanka Traveling through the beautiful Sri Lanka has been great. Cyril warmly welcomed us at the airport and drove us with his always clean car in every part of the country. He provided daily information about the history and the different sites of Sri Lanka. Also, he taught us a lot about Sri Lankan culture, starting from food, traditions, animals and nature, and suggested authentic and less known places we c..." FILIPPO MASI FROM ITALY
"Thank you so much for wonderful Sri Lanka trip.We had a great time. The trip was very relaxing as well as fun. My daughter MAHI who lovingly started calling you "Cyril Dada"(grand farther) Had a memorable trip. She cannot stop talking about elephants. Our trip to Sri Lanka will be full of great memories, its because of you. Thank you for showing us your beautiful country the way we wanted, eating local food, lots of King coconut and Corn stops. We will be surely coming back to see rest o..." Mithil Patel
"Cyril is one of the best experienced person in the industry" Ahamed Anver
"Dear Cyril, Here are some photos for you as we promised, and also little gift to you. Here is some photos of elephant boy which we were took on elephant ride. Please give to them when you go to Habarana again. We are very grateful to you for your services that you have done to make our holiday in this beautiful country. Still we are thinking over our nice trip with you. It was fantastic, really! Here in Holland, life is normal again. Greeting for your wife and daughter too. George and Cala ..." George and Cala
"Thanks a lot for making great arrangements for the visit. The visit was very well organized with good hotels and the vehicle/ driver. I would highly recommend your agency and its services to everyone who wants to visit Sri Lanka. Anastasia - Russia, Feb 2011 " Anastasia
"Cyril was our driver and guide for the last nine days. We had the comfortable white Toyota van shown in the pic - it was just as clean and shiny, and not a scratch on it. He is clearly a very skilled driver. He is particularly knowledgeable about the history of the many places we visited. We were pleased we had Cyril as our driver. He had been recommended to us by an acquaintance. Andrew Speirs Melbourne, Australia Travel period 04 Jan - 12 Jan 2018" Mr. Andrew an Mrs. Suzy Speirs from Australia
"Thank you so much for your great service and making our honeymoon in Sri Lanka, so special and joyful. Best regards from Yuffa and Elad Abbo – Israel- 10 July 2008 " Yuffa and Elad Abbo - Israel
.jpg)
