Wild Life and Safari

                National parks and camping in Sri Lanka constitute a wonderful mix for the more adventurous tourist, whether young or older. It offers an ideal way to experience the great outdoors and especially to observe wildlife at close quarters in safety, although sometimes the proximity of the wildlife can be astonishing and even a little unnerving.

Elephants

Elephant is the star of Sri Lanka’s wild life and the largest land animal in the island. Among the two verities of African elephants (elephas coxenda) and Indian elephants (elephas maximize), in Sri Lanka you find Indian elephants and considered to be intelligent than their African counterparts hence domesticated. Although there have been about 36000 elephants with the start of this century it has reduced up to about 2000 due to pouching. According to the recent records about 2000 of them scattered all over the country in small pockets and about 500 of them are domesticated.

From September, towards the end of the dry season, most water sources have disappeared. The Minneriya tank, however, retains water throughout the parched months, so there are elephant gatherings here every year at this time, the number of these gentle, charismatic giants sometimes exceeding 300. To see so many together - playing, eating, swimming, looking for mates - is nothing but breathtaking.

Minneriya, which became a sanctuary in 1938 and declared a national park in August 1997, is in the Polonnaruwa district in the North Central Province. It is 182km from Colombo on the main road to Polonnaruwa and 9km from Habarana, well-known for some of its hotels. Since it was first opened to visitors in 1998, Minneriya has been mostly visited for its elephants, some known to come from the surrounding national parks of Wasgomuwa, Somawathie, Maduru Oya and the Galoya sanctuary.

Yala (Ruhuna) National Park

Situated 309 km. south of Colombo, Yala is approximately 1,259 sq.km. in extent and is located in the southeastern corner of the island. Its northern boundaries border on the Lahugala Elephant Sanctuary and it has the added bonus of a scenic ocean frontage. The terrain is varied flat plains alternating with rocky outcrops. The vegetation ranges from open parkland to dense jungle. Water holes, small lakes, lagoons and streams provide water for the animals and birds. The specialty here is the large numbers of elephants.

Wilpattu National Park

This is located 26 km north of Puttalam (approximately 180 km north of Colombo) spanning from the northwest coast inland towards the ancient capital of Anuradhapura (50 km to the east of the park). Covering an impressive 425 sq miles, the park is Sri Lanka’s largest, and having reopened in March, 2010 it is just a matter of time before it becomes a popular eco-tourism destination. Wilpattu is a fairly thick dry zone jungle interspersed with a number of flood plain lakes banked with delicate white sands. It boasts an impressive variety of flora in huge expanses of forest, and varied wildlife, including deer, elephants, wild boar, sloth bears and leopards.

Bundala National Park

Bundala National Park is mainly consist of 4 brackish lagoons, salt pans, marshes, thorny scrub lands, sand dunes, dry mixed ever green forests and dry grass lands. Park provides the shelter for Elephant, Spotted Dear, Wild Boar, Black napped hare, Grey & Ruddy mongoose, toque macaque, Grey Langur & porcupine, jackal and fishing & Rusty Spotted cats. This park is also well known for sightings of estuarine crocodile and mugger crocodile. The main attraction of the Bundala is the birdlife, especially waders. There are both resident and migratory species. Greater Flamingo, Spot-billed Pelican, Lesser Adjutant and Black-necked Stork are among the large birds. Large flocks of terns, gulls, sand-pipers, snipes, teals, cormorants, egrets and many more water birds are commonly seen.

Sinharaja Rain Forest

World Heritage Site

Sri Lanka's most important rainforest; has tall trees growing in close proximity, but winding paths make it easy to walk along the forest floor. It is inhabited by water monitors, torque macaques, leopards, giant squirrels, purple-faced leaf monkeys and leeches. Bird life includes Ceylon Spur fowl, Ceylon Jungle fowl, Ceylon Wood Pigeon, Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot, Layard's Parakeet, Red-faced Malkoha, Green-billed Coucal, Chestnut-backed Owlet, Ceylon Grey Hornbill, Yellow-fronted Barbet, Ceylon Small Barbet, Black-capped Bulbul, Spotted-winged Thrush, Brown-capped Babbler, Orange-billed Babbler, Ashy-headed Laughing-Thrush, Ceylon Blue Magpie, Ceylon White-headed Starling, Ceylon Hill Munia, Ceylon Hill Myna, Malabar Trogon, Black Bulbul, Indian Scimitar Babbler, Greater Racket-tailed Drongo, Green Imperial Pigeon, Velvet-fronted Nuthatch and Yellow-browned Bulbul. Sinharaja Forest is a unique, low land rain forest comprising about 11,187 hectares, spreading across several administrative districts. It is one of the least disturbed and biologically unique forests in Sri Lanka.

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