More tourists at Minneriya National Park

Chaminda PERERA

The number of foreigners visiting the Minneriya National Park is on the increase with the end of 30 year terrorist conflict. More than 120 foreigners are visiting the park a day and this number doubles during the weekends.

According to Park warden N. Pradeep, the local tourist arrivals has also increased since the onset of season from June this year. He said this trend would continue till end of August.

The daily income of the park has also increased to Rs 300,000 and this would further increase in the coming days, he added.

He said more than 400 herds of elephants can be seen on the banks of Minneriya wewa during this season. The Minneriya season starts in June.

During this season, more than 400 herds of elephants coming to the banks of the Minneriya to have fresh grass.

He said these elephants are coming to have fresh grass after the water level on the bank recedes. The season comes to an end after the banks being submerged with water.

Spread over 8890 hectares, the park is located 182 Km away from Colombo. The Government declared it as a national park in 1997.