A prolonged drought in central Sri Lanka has dried up wells and shrunk water holes, leaving villagers in areas such as Medirigiriya to rely on tanker deliveries and carry water in cans and clay pots, while farmers report crop damage and lost income. In Yala National Park (the island's best-known wildlife reserve, in the southeast), deer, monkeys and buffaloes crowd around dwindling water sources that authorities are topping up by tanker. Little monsoon rain and high temperatures have worsened the strain, and climate experts say El Niño (a periodic Pacific warming that disrupts weather worldwide) and warming partly linked to climate change may be contributing.