Sri Lanka bars tourists from the heart of drought-hit park as El Niño looms

Mugger crocodiles lie along the edge of Yala National Park's shrinking reservoir, waiting for the green water tankers that arrive each day. The trucks pump water into ponds across the drought-hit sanctuary, where spotted deer, wild water buffalo, tufted gray langurs and leopards come to drink.

From next week, park managers will go further. They will ban tourists from the watering hole and other busy areas for a month, giving animals easier access to water after months without rain. "We have to put the animals first," wildlife ranger Sujeewa Nishantha, 58, told Reuters.

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We have to put the animals first.

Nishantha tracks the water trucks as they move along dirt tracks and replenish ponds around the park. He said the closure is necessary because animals suffering from heat stress need unobstructed access to water, and visitors could get in their way.

The decision comes just before the peak tourism season, when Yala normally fills with jeeps carrying visitors. Tourism remains an important source of foreign currency for Sri Lanka, making the rare closure a potentially costly measure. But authorities have ordered water-management measures across much of the island as they confront the country's worst dry spell in almost a decade.

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When that happens, however, rests largely with the weather.

Sri Lanka's meteorological department says the island has entered a nine-month cycle associated with El Niño. The pattern is expected to bring heavier rain in November and December, followed by a second major drought from February. Tens of thousands of Sri Lankans already depend on emergency drinking-water supplies, while some small family farms are struggling to grow vegetables and raise cattle.

Yala's managers said they would be happiest to reopen the park fully to tourists. For now, they said, that depends largely on the weather, and Yala must be given the time nature demands.

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And for now, Yala must be given the time nature asks of us.