Yala National Park

Increase over a 100,00 hectares Yala National Park consists of elephants, leopards,  monitor ,Sloth bears, wild boar, monkeys , crocodiles, lizards, deer, elk, , and many other smaller creatures like porcupine, mongoose and more. There is a plethora of birds and reptiles too making this a most visited eco tourist destination.

Yala National Park is a sheltered wild life shelter located in the Southern Province’s Hambantota District. It is situated 24 kilometres North of Tissamaharama in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. Yala Park is known as Yala Ruhuna/west Park and Yala East Park. The Ruhuna/West Park consists of 125 group of birds, some migratory and 32 species of mammals with a large density of Leopards, as high as 35, although they are sometimes difficult to spot due to their

nocturnal lifestyle, while the Kumana/East Yala Park consists of many water birds that roost and breed here. Yala Park consists of 5 blocks, with block 1 being the most visited section located along the sea coast, with coastal lagoons, mangroves and thorny scrub jungle and secondary vegetation scattered inland. Some sections of the park are closed to the public, and reserved as a strict natural locale, which could be the cause of leopards being seldom seen.However, Yala Park is a hotspot for catching a glimpse of leopards in their natural setting, sleeping on a tree bough or if lucky, a leopard force even cross your path, too intense to notice visitors as its concentration is on its prey!

The North-East monsoons provide rain from November to January and occasional showers in March, April and September. The dry season spreads from June till mid October with February being the driest month; sending temperatures soaring up to 37⁰C. The ‘Menik’ Ganga/river and 4 rivulet as well as water holes and tanks which are replenish by rangers at the park with the aid of water browsers, see to the survival of the animals through the deficiency season.

The tsunami of 2004, played chaos here at Yala, cause severe reparation to land, houses and property where many lives were misplaced, those of company as well as populace. weirdly enough though, none of the animals rotten since they fled to senior ground, and scrambled up tree tops within the refuge itself, guarded by their 6^th sense or control of sensing strange vibrations.