By Charles Haviland BBC News, Colombo

	Officials want to use the survey results to minimise farmer-elephant conflcits

The survey, which started late on Thursday, lasts until Saturday evening with results to be published in a few weeks.

A wildlife official has sought to allay fears among conservationists that the census will be used to bring more animals into captivity for ceremonial purposes.

At 1,500 watering holes and ancient irrigation lakes across Sri Lanka, three and a half thousand people are counting elephants from watchtowers.

They are classifying the animals by age and sex and trying to get an idea of their movements and distribution.

Sacred animals

At this, the driest time of year, the animals are at their most thirsty and come to drink in the largest numbers – although an eyewitness in one of the main parks, Minneriya, said that Friday was very hot and few showed up early in the day.

	A controversy over the survey erupted after the minister said it is aimed at domesticating calves

The people of this mainly Buddhist country revere elephants as sacred.

Since ancient times, captive elephants have fulfilled ceremonial roles for priests and kings.

Yet there is also a modern conflict between farmers and free-ranging wild elephants – a clash which results in dozens of human and elephant deaths each year.

A senior wildlife official, RB Dissanayake, told the BBC they want to use the survey results to minimise these ongoing clashes and declare new protected areas.

The official strongly denied reports that it will also serve to find strong young elephants to be captured and donated to temples.

He said tame elephants would instead be bred from the existing domesticated or captive population.

Earlier this week, environmental groups pulled out of the elephant survey after a minister said it would be used to tame more of the animals.

He is reported to have withdrawn these remarks.