Minneriya National Park The best place to see Asian Elephants

Open bills can be seen in flocks of hundreds, searching for oysters in shallow waters of Minneriya lake

Two bulls fighting for dominance. This fairly slow motion wrestling session can go for many minutes before one of the fighters give-up.

During the dry season, safari jeeps surrounded by elephants is a common sight at Minneriya.

As sun goes down, herds head towards water for a cool evening bath.

Even though elephants generally do not mind the safari action going around them, they sometimes can get a little angry and may chase vehicles away from them. In this occasion, two females and their calves chase the jeep.

A flock of painted strokes in flight while a flock of egrets taking off from a water hole. A mixed flock of painted strokes and spoon bills

Breath-taking view of the Minneriya Lake, green lake bed and the blue sky

A flock of open bills flying from the lake to nesting trees as sun goes down over Minneriya Lake.

A family of elephants peacefully grazing. The calf here is about a year old and will always stay close to its mother.

A colorful bird commonly found in the dry zone. Indian Rollers are a common sight at Minneriya

Tuskers are quite rare among Asian Elephants. Even though you can easily count hundreds of elephants at Minneriya, you will be very lucky if you can see a tusker.

A land monitor treasure hunting for dung beetles in elephant dung

The young ones are playful and always want to explore the surrounding, but adults will make sure that they are kept in the centre of the herd as much as possible.

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