Wasgamuwa National Park, where the bears roam

Wasgamuwa national park is located in north and eastern provinces and Matale and Polonnaruwa districts, boarded by Parakrama Samudraya reservoir on the north, river Mahaweli on the east, river Dunuwila oya on the south, and Kalu Ganga and Amban Ganga rivers on the west, at an elevation ranging from 76 to 535m from the sea level, spanning over about 3700 hectares. The distance from Colombo to the park is 225km.
The park’s geographical features are very irregular. There are many flowing water ways, natural pools and manmade lakes within the park’s premise. It receives about 1600-2000mm rain every year the average annual temperature is 28c°.
The plant community of Wasgamuwa can be categorized as mixed dry and ever green forests, river bed forests, grass lands, swarms, and bushes. Edophic plants consist of 69 tree species, 26 herbs, 11climbers, and 27shrubs. A considerable number of plant species are endemic.
There are 25 mammal species among the park’s animal community, and elephants and sloth bears are prominent. Wasgamuwa is probably the best place to observe sloth bears. Three of the mammal species are endemic.
The diversity of the rest of the animal community is as follows.
• 150 bird species, 7 endemic
• 20 reptiles
• 8 amphibians, 4 endemic
• 17 fishes, 2 endemic
• 51 butterflies, 11 endemic
The park is open for the visitors from 6am-6pm. There are 3 travelers’ bungalows inside the park and 2 outside. There are 8 camp sites too.
As the case of almost every wilderness of Sri Lanka, Wasgamuwa national park faces many threats. Logging, Chena cultivation, un-authorized settlements, gem mining, hunting animals, letting domestic animals in, inappropriate behaviors of visitors, must all be put to an end if then park is to be sustained.

Ritigala strict nature reserve, where there is a unique echo system.

Ritigala strict nature reserve is located in the north middle province and Anuradhapura district of Sri Lanka, spanning over 3777 acres. It occupies a range of isolated mountains in a mostly flatland. Ritigala or Kodigala is the highest of the range, which is about 1800 feet high. The River Malwathuoya originates in the range and covers 8246km² on the journey to its mouth in Mannar. The reserve’s annual average rain fall is about 1400mm and the average temperature is about 27 °c.
The flora of Ritigala is can be put in to three groups according to the particular height and weather conditions that they grow in.
• Dry zone monsoon forests
These can be seen on the lowermost part of the mountain range.
• Wet zone ever green forests.
These are at a middle elevation.
• Highland forests.
The kind on the top most level.
The diversity among the plants is as follows.
• 418 species, 337 of them flowering plants, 54 endemic, 3 reported only in Ritigala.
• 200 of the plants possess herbal values.
The diversity of the animals is also tremendous.
• 30 mammal species, including elephant, smabar, leopard, wild boar, spotted deer etc, o3 endemic.
• Nearly 100 bird species, 08 endemic.
• 28 reptiles
• 10 species of amphibians, 01 endemic.
• 30 butterfly species, 12 endemic.
• 16 snails, 10 endemic.
Ritigala reserve is not open for visitors except for a certain area of archeological significance. Even for study and research purposes, a special permission is needed to enter the strict nature reserve. But in spite of the rules, Ritigala strict nature reserve has many threats. Logging, collection of herbs, and hunting animals all cause significant damage to the precise echo system. The reserve’s officers need be provided with adequate facilities. Educating the people living around, about the importance of preserving and sustaining this forest, is very important as they are often hired for collecting plant specimens from the reserve.

Bundala national park, a bird paradise

Bundala national park stretches from Hambanthota to Kirindi Oya on south coast of Sri Lanka and covers an area of 6212 hectares. It is the 26th of the Directory of Asian wet lands. It was registered a Ramsa wet land on October 15th, 1990, and a national park on December 31st , 19922.
There are three main geographical zones in the park’s area. They are coast and sand dunes area, lagoons and outer coastal plains, and inner coastal plains. It has a warm, dry climate. The average annual rain fall is about 100mm, and the average temperature is about 27c°.
The plant community of the park consists mainly of tropical thorn forests. There 90 plant species reported, 16 tree species, 37 herb species, 16 climbers, and 21 Thorn bushes. Thorn bushes are the commonest of them all.
The most prominent of the parks animals are birds. The number of birds that can be seen at time can be about 20000! There is lot of migrating birds too. Migrating birds can be observed from August to next year’s April.

Bundala is famous for migrating flamingos [Phoenocopterus ruber], which can be seen in flocks of 2000-3000.
The rest of the animal community is as follows.
 56 mammals, 4 endemic, elephants are the most prominent
 10 reptile species, 1 endemic, 03 of the reptiles are turtles
 6 amphibian species, 2 endemic
 10 fish species
 roughly 25 butterfly species

Udawalawa National Park, the best place to see the Jumbos in Sri Lanka

Udawalawa national park is a premise of 3821 hectares, bordered by Rathnapura and Monaragala districts and Sabaragamuwa and Southern provinces of Sri Lanka. The park is on an elevation of 60-400 meters from main sea level. It was established 1972, after the construction of Udawalawa water reservoir, to protect the surrounding area’s wild elephants other wild creatures.
The park is mainly a flatland, but there are mountains and rocks here and there. It’s at an elevation of 60-400 meters of main sea level, and in between wet and dry zones of the country. It receives an average of about 1500mm of rain pour every year, and the average annual temperature is about 29c°. River Walawe is the main watercourse of the park and it occupies about 1000km² of the parks area. River Mau Ara is the next biggest. Udawalawa water reservoir was constructed by making a dam across river Walawe. Lakes Gal Amuna and Hambegamuwa have been created by interrupting River Mau Ara at points.
The plant community of Udawalawa differs as primary forests, secondary forests, open grass lands, savanna, bushes, and cultivated Teak. Four endemic plant species have been reported.
The main attraction of Udawalawa national park is it’s wild elephants. It is considered the best place for observing wild elephants in Sri Lanka. Five of the parks forty six animal species are endemic.
There are 195 reported birds, and 30 of them are migrating birds. The number of endemic bird species is 9.
The rest of the animal community is as follows.
• 51 reptiles, 33 0f them snakes, 7 of the reptiles endemic
• 30 fresh water fish species, 5 endemic
• 17 amphibian species, 3 endemic
• 135 butterfly species, 16 enddemic



There are four tourists’ bungalows and two camping grounds. There is a private safari jeep service. Every safari group has to be accompanied by one of the park’s guide officers. It is possible to travel in the park in one’s own private vehicle, but it’s compulsory to be accompanied by a park’s guide.
Because Udawalawa national park is surrounded by many villages, it’s affected by human activity to a significant degree. Illegal logging, chena cultivation [ a form of traditional cultivation in dry zone Sri Lanka], unauthorized gem mining, illegal cannabis cultivation, hunting animals, unauthorized settlements, letting cattle in to the park are some of those activities. Among the conservation work going on, educating students of nearby schools about the parks importance is prominent. An electrified fence has been erected around the park with the aim of minimizing elephant-human conflict.



The Elephant Transit Home established closed to the parks office protects and rehabilitates the orphaned elephant cubs with the aim of releasing them back in the wild. In addition all the visitors are required to follow the parks rules and regulations when travelling in the park.

Yala national park, a sleeping beauty awakening

The terrorism that haunted Sri Lanka for thirty years, ended on nineteenth of May this year, making peace dawn on the country, and its echo system too. It’s a known secrete, that terrorists as well as some others covering behind the shadow of terrorism and political power, caused immense damage to Yala national park, which had been out of bounds for the public due to security reasons.
Now the terrorism is over, and it’s evident that the Ministry of Environment and Natural resources and the Department of Wildlife c Conservation are working hard to heal and sustain this premise of such enormous importance. The number of local and foreign visitors to the park is dramatically increasing.
On nineteenth of July, construction of an information and resource center in the park was initiated. Named after Dr. Ravi Amarasinghe, a great ecologist who passed away in an unfortunate accident, the center is supposed to be finished by 2010. It will be compulsory for any visitor to participate a brief session of awareness workshop before entering the park premise then.
On July 11th, the ‘Wild Elephant Rehabilitation Holding Ground’ was established, with the aim of putting in a solution for elephant- man clash, to some extent. This ground covers 12 square kilo meters. Elephants that tend to attack humans are captured and brought here. The ground is surrounded by an electrified fence as well as a water puddle, to prevent the tenant elephants from leaving the ground and parks elephants entering it. The aim is to release the tenants back to their natural habitats, if they come off their violent nature. The construction of Weheragala water reservoir has had a good effect on the rehabilitation ground.
The tourists’ lodgings in the park which are of such battered condition will soon be repaired and available to the visitors.
A project called echo system management project has been executed for the development of the park which will cover biodiversity conservation, building water reservoirs for animals, developing tracks, and establishing new camp sites.
So, it’s about time that you visit Yala!

Hiyare rain forest reserve, where a sound conservation program is going on

Hiyare rain forest reserve is a 600 acre tropical lowland rain forest located 17 km away from the city of Galle in the southern province of Sri Lanka.
The premises of the Wildlife Conservation Society of Galle is located at the entrance of the reserve. The society has it’s ‘Animal Rescue Program’ under which injured wild animals are treated, rehabilitated, and released back in to the wild. There is this ‘Bio diversity Conservation Effort At Hiyare’ , an initiative among the Wildlife conservation society of Galle, the Municipal Council Of Galle, and Nation’s Trust Bank.
The Biodiversity Breeding Center is one of their other projects. It aims at studying the breeding patterns of endangered fresh water fishes and amphibians, breeding them, and reintroducing them in to natural habitats.
The initiative also holds workshops for those who are interested in conservation. They also have a field center equipped with a very good library, a laboratory, a lecture room, and a large dormitory for overnight stays, at the outskirts of the reserve.


Hiyare’s incomparable biodiversity
118 bird species-13 endemic
33 freshwater fish species-13 endemic
78 butterfly species-3 endemic
55 dragonfly species-12 endemic
34 reptile species-14 endemic
18 amphibian species-13 endemic
28 land snail species 13- endemic
29 mammal species-13 endemic

Another video I thought worth sharing

This video will give you a general impression on Sri Lanka's wildlife.