The Elephant Gathering, Kaudulla, Sri Lanka

The Elephant Gathering, Kaudulla, Sri Lanka, 29th September 2012

The Elephant Gathering at Minneriya and Kaudulla National Park has been listed amongst the top ten wildlife events in the world by Lonely Planet. It is the largest annually recurring concentration of wild elephants anywhere in the world. I had come to Chaaya Lodge with my family to photograph the Elephant Gathering for a forthcoming book (Wild Sri Lanka). I was a guest of Chitral Jayatilake, the Head of Eco-Tourism of John Keells Hotels. Intelligence from the safari drivers suggested that the numbers were higher at Kaudulla at the tail end of the season with the North-east Monsoon due to break soon in October. Nature Trails naturalist Nilantha Kodituwakku amended our plans to visit Minneriya National Park and we instead visited Kaudulla National Park on the 29th September 2012.

It was a magical visit. We had at least three groups of 40 plus elephants which went in and out of the water. The leaders of the arriving groups would interact with the leaders of the departing groups. Across a stream, a group of 70 elephants were reported. All together, over 200 elephants were present on the grassland around the lake.

As the evening wore on, the other safari vehicles left. We remained parked at a comfortable distance from the elephants and I used a 600mm f4 lens to record their behaviour. This image is of two young bulls engaged in a mock fight. It shows how they can use their trunk like a hand to grasp and pull things. They can inflict serious damage to each other like this and it is not uncommon to encounter adult bulls with tails which have been broken off during fights.