When you take the road trip to Kataragama temple, you will encounter some elephants in the region along the road that are waiting to be fed. A lot of people travel here to offer prayers and other ways of offerings to the “Kataragama Deviyo.”
This elephant is a very friendly one that roams across the roads in the region. Highly respected and protected by the villagers in the area as they often think that they bring prosperity and good things to their lives. Probably one of those elephants that receive all the food in the world. We also took this chance to observe the so-called “Elephant Toll Booth” in the main road.
Many people who visit the Kataragama temple also visit other areas around, and they are all kind and generous to offer food to our beloved Sri Lankan elephants. In this situation, you can hear people shouting at the couple that got down to give bananas to the elephant. So people are also generous enough to bring fresh fruits with them to give to these elephants. However, it is a punishable offense to feed elephants along the road as it can pose threats to you and people around you.
Sri Lanka and Elephants.
In the beautiful island of Sri Lanka, Elephants roam the streets and through village areas freely in many regions of the country. The small island nation is full of elephants that are loved by most of the inhabitants of the island. Most educated in the country are continually fighting corruption and animal abuse especially towards the treasures that elephants are to the state as Sri Lankan elephants are known as the largest and the strongest among Asian elephants.
However, around farming villages where elephants raid crops, many conflicts are happening that have caused casualties to both sides. They have set a lot of fences and electric fences with barriers around many villages and farmlands around national parks and many massive forest reserves. These elephants often run into traps and wells placed along farms for water supply.
