Nature Marvels
Primarily a bird sanctuary, the Kumana National Park, centred around a mangrove-swamp lake fed by the Kumbukkan Oya River, is noted for its impressive range of resident and migratory birds from painted storks, cormorants and Eurasian spoonbills to the occasional sighting of the endangered black-necked stork; however, it is not rare to spot leopards, along with elephants, wild buffalo, crocodiles and turtles that inhabit the park and the park’s mangrove swamps filled with lotus flowers and pudding pipe trees.
Dominated by the huge ancient irrigation tank of Minneriya Wewa, the Minneriya National Park forms a part of an elephant corridor that facilitates elephant migration between the Kaudulla and Wasgomuwa Sanctuaries at the height of the dry season, when elephants congregate at this watering hole in an annual event popularly known as “The Gathering,” when large herds, sometimes numbering 600, of adult females, juveniles and calves led by matriarchs converge on the lush grasslands in the receding waters of the tank to drink, bathe, socialise, find mates and forage on fresh shoots of grass, which grow on the lake bed as the waters recede.
Isolated and enclosed mainly by the Amban Ganga and Mahaweli Ganga, two large rivers, the Wasgomuwa National Park is one of the most unspoilt of all Sri Lanka’s reserves and plays host to the usual cast of Sri Lankan fauna, sambar and spotted deer, buffalo and rarely sighted leopards and sloth bears, plus around 150 species of bird, including many endemics and around 150 elephants that are best seen from November to May in the open plains evergreen forest along the main rivers and on the hills.
Famous for its large population of leopards that can often be observed lazing in trees, lounging on granite boulders or stealthily crossing the tracks and wandering off into the thorny scrub jungle, the Yala National Park bordering the Indian Ocean in the arid southeast of Sri Lanka, encompasses a striking mix of grassy plains, low scrub, open woodland, scattered rocky outcrops, sandy dunes, brackish lagoons and a scenic beachhead.
Located on a swathe of copper-sand beach on the island’s northwest and named after a unique network of shallow, rain-fed water basins called ‘willu’ the park’s scenery is an enchanting patchwork of habitats ranging from mashes, wetlands and saltwater lagoons to dry evergreen forests, scrub jungles and grasslands that creates a perfect backdrop for up-close wildlife encounters with the elusive Sri Lankan leopard and other mammalian, avian, and reptilian wildlife species – Sri Lankan Elephants, Sloth Bear, Sambur, Spotted Deer, Wild Boar, Junglefowl, Peacocks, Painted Stork, Openbill Stork, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Mugger Crocodiles and Monitor Lizards
A beautiful, sparsely vegetated Savannah-like reserve centred around the Uda Walawe Reservoir, the central watering hole for the parks large elephant population, numbering around 600 majestic beasts that are easy to spot as they often graze lightly vegetated open plains, marsh and wetlands surrounding the reservoir – beyond elephants, the lack of dense vegetation makes it easy to spot buffaloes, macaque and langur monkeys, spotted and sambhur deer and crocodiles, leopards, giant flying squirrels, jungle cats, sloth bears and porcupines.