Sri Lanka’s elephants perform in ghost towns as tourists desert terror-hit island

Eerie photographs taken by MailOnline reveal Sri Lanka’s famous elephants performing in ghost towns, raising concerns that the ISIS terrorists may have killed off the island’s vital tourist industry.

In the western town of Pinnawala, which boasts an elephant orphanage, one of Sri Lanka’s premier tourist attractions, the streets and viewing platforms were empty today as the magnificent beasts took their morning bath and paraded through the town.

By comparison, pictures taken before the atrocities show bustling crowds of Westerners vying for space to catch a glimpse of the animals.

Eerie photographs taken by MailOnline reveal Sri Lanka’s famous elephants performing in ghost towns

By comparison, pictures taken before the atrocities show bustling crowds of Westerners vying for space to catch a glimpse of the animals

By comparison, pictures taken before the atrocities show bustling crowds of Westerners vying for space to catch a glimpse of the animals

Elsewhere in the town, there were barren streets, boarded-up shops and rows of vacant tables at restaurants.

‘It feels like ISIS is continuing to attack us,’ said mother-of-two Jayanthi Samarapperuma, 45, who owns a souvenir shop near the elephant orphanage.

‘They are not content with taking our lives, they are taking our livelihoods as well.’

It comes as the Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, issued a warning to Britons to stay away from Sri Lanka for their own safety.

‘Our hope is that it will be possible to change this when the current security operation has concluded,’ he said.

But he added: ‘My first priority will always be the security of British citizens living and travelling abroad.’

In the western town of Pinnawala, which boasts an elephant orphanage, one of Sri Lanka's premier tourist attractions, the streets were empty today as the beasts paraded through town

In the western town of Pinnawala, which boasts an elephant orphanage, one of Sri Lanka’s premier tourist attractions, the streets were empty today as the beasts paraded through town

Elsewhere in the town, there were barren streets, boarded-up shops and rows of vacant tables at restaurants

Elsewhere in the town, there were barren streets, boarded-up shops and rows of vacant tables at restaurants

The streets remain empty in the town of Pinnawala following the Easter Sunday attacks

The streets remain empty in the town of Pinnawala following the Easter Sunday attacks

A few tourists watch elephants in Pinnawala, which has been effected after by the Sri Lanka terror attacks

A few tourists watch elephants in Pinnawala, which has been effected after by the Sri Lanka terror attacks

Terrorists were ‘very likely’ to try to carry out indiscriminate attacks on the island, he warned, including in places visited by foreigners.

Eight Britons were among those killed by suicide bombers at churches and luxury hotels in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa, on Easter Sunday. More than 500 people were injured.

Holland and the United States are among the other Western countries that have advised their citizens to restrict visits to Sri Lanka to ‘essential travel’.

As the nation continues to grieve for the hundreds who were murdered on Easter Sunday, the long-term economic cost was only just becoming clear.

Tourism accounts for about eleven per cent of Sri Lanka’s GDP, according to estimates by the World Travel and Tourism Council.

In the aftermath of the attacks, the consultancy Capital Economics has cut its 2019 economic growth forecast for Sri Lanka to just from 3.2 per cent to just one per cent.

Tourists take the photos of elephants at Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka, on April 16, 2015

Tourists take the photos of elephants at Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage in Sri Lanka, on April 16, 2015

'It feels like ISIS is continuing to attack us,' said mother-of-two Jayanthi Samarapperuma, 45, who owns a souvenir shop near the elephant orphanage

‘It feels like ISIS is continuing to attack us,’ said mother-of-two Jayanthi Samarapperuma, 45, who owns a souvenir shop near the elephant orphanage

'This is a very big problem for us,' said Nalin Malinda, 39, who sells ecologically-friendly paper products made from elephant dung in Pinnawala

‘This is a very big problem for us,’ said Nalin Malinda, 39, who sells ecologically-friendly paper products made from elephant dung in Pinnawala

The Sri Lankan rupee has tumbled by 0.6 per cent against the dollar since the bombings, and its stock market dived by 3.63 per cent when it reopened on Tuesday.

‘This is a very big problem for us,’ said Nalin Malinda, 39, who sells ecologically-friendly paper products made from elephant dung in Pinnawala.

‘Our tourist season is just starting. In one or two months it is supposed to be at its peak. This period is the first step to the high season and the terrorists have destroyed everything.’

But the governor of Sri Lanka’s central bank, Indrajit Coomaraswamy, was bullish, refusing to downgrade his growth estimates from four per cent.

‘This was a bolt out of the blue, really unexpected but we need to get over it,’ Mr Coomaraswamy told CNBC on Friday.

‘The country and the economy and the people showed tremendous resilience during the civil conflict, so we need to dig deep and really get through this as well.’

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