Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks

Minneriya (8,889 hectares) and Kaudulla (6,656 hectares) national parks share an interconnected elephant corridor around ancient reservoirs built by King Mahasena in the 3rd century. Between July and October, as the dry season shrinks the reservoir shallows, up to 300 wild elephants from across the region converge on the exposed grassland to graze, giving rise to what wildlife biologists call the Gathering, one of the largest known wild elephant congregations on earth. Jeep safaris typically run from the Minneriya gate between 3pm and 6pm to catch the peak feeding activity. The parks also support leopard, sloth bear, sambar deer, and a wide range of waterbirds. When water levels at Minneriya are high, rangers redirect jeeps to Kaudulla for better elephant sightings.