R. Doug Wicker — Author

Today’s article focuses on the Sri Lankan elephant, the largest of the three subspecies of Asian elephant. The fellow above is a large, tuskless male stripping the bark from a tree to get to the softer, nutrient-rich cambium beneath. Yes, this feeding behavior is highly destructive to the tree and will most likely kill it. Now here’s an interesting set of facts:

• It is common for both male and female African elephants to grow tusks
• In Asian elephants, this feature is only seen in the male; Female Asian elephants do not grow tusks
• Tusks are even rarer in Sri Lankan elephants, with only about 7% of males sporting them
• The largest Sri Lankan elephant tusk belonged to Millangoda Raja

Before we get to today’s photo gallery/slide show featuring Sri Lankan elephants at the Udawalawe National Park, let’s take a look at the Sri Lankan version of the oriental garden lizard, since these in Sri Lanka are among the largest you’ll find:

Now for today’s Sri Lankan elephant photo gallery/slide show:

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Still showing you Udawalawe National Park this week, with a Fun Food Friday at the end highlighting Sevanagala food from a charming pottery studio featuring “an authentic fusion of Sri Lankan traditional art and the world of modern Studio Ceramics.” As for today and we’ll continue to highlight the park wildlife, with Wednesday focusing on the main attraction — The Sri Lankan elephant.

For instance, let’s take a look at this fellow. This imposing raptor is the Sri Lankan changeable hawk-eagle:

There are toque macaques all over the place, and this particular subspecies of macaque is endemic to the island nation of Sri Lanka.

I’ll close out today with this photo gallery/slide show of Sri Lankan-specific elephants and macaques:

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