Wildlife · Minneriya, North Central
As the dry season shrinks inland waterholes, hundreds of wild elephants converge on Minneriya's reservoir, Asia's largest gathering of wild elephants in one place, and one of the great wildlife spectacles anywhere.
The experience
Each dry season, as water disappears elsewhere across the north-central plains, wild elephants converge on the grasslands ringing the ancient Minneriya reservoir. At the peak, herds of 300 or more graze the exposed lakebed together, an event found almost nowhere else in Asia.
Safari jeeps keep a respectful distance as calves nurse, bulls spar and family groups move as one across open ground, with the reservoir and jungle treeline as a backdrop.
What to expect
Good to know
Sigiriya, in a route
The largest gathering of wild elephants in Asia, and it happens every August.
