National Parks

inharaja & Other  [CHEETAH! ]
  • Protected Areas of Sri Lanka New( by Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society )
  • Sinharaja Forest [Sinharaja! ]
    • Vignettes of Sinharaja (Sinharaja, our great tropical rain forest, by all accounts is a vast repository of national wealth. It was declared a National Heritage Wilderness Site in 1988 and a World Heritage Site in 1989.)
    • Sinharaja Forest New( the only evergreen rain forest in Sri Lanka which belongs to few remaining virgin forests in the world, is home to hundreds of indigenous flora and many kinds of birds, beasts and reptiles. The Sinhajara forest, 11,187 hectares in all was declared a Man and Biosphere Reserve (MBR) in 1978 and it became a National Heritage Wilderness Area under the National Heritage Wilderness Area Act in 1988. This virgin forest was named World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1989. )
  • Yala National Park
    • Yala National Park (YALA is among the oldest and best known of Sri Lanka’s National Parks. Yala covers about 1297 Km2 or 129,700 ha. And it is the largest agglomeration of protected areas in the country. Kumbukkan Oya in the north East and Menik Ganga and tributaries on the West flow through the Park providing a source of water to the animals even during the driest months of the year. )
    • Tiger Trails in Yala (Yala is now well recognised as one of the best parks in the world to observe and photograph leopards. )New
  • Vilpattu National Park - The biggest national park in Lanka ( 115 miles from Colombo and 18 miles from Anuradhapura, Vilpattu is the biggest national park in this country covering around 500 sq. miles. )New
  • The birth of a National Park: Uda Walawe ( nestles in the borders of the Moneragala and Ratnapura districts, covers an area of 30,821 hectares. The park was declared a National Park on June 30, 1972 and since then it has become a safe home and a refuge to the animals who had lost their original habitats. According to data, the highest number of wild and tamed elephants live in this park. )
  • An abode in the wilderness - forest cover of Randenigala ( In the salubrious forest cover of Randenigala live the elephant, tiger, the deer, the sambur, wild boar, and the other quadrupeds along with such reptiles like the python, the cobra and the viper )
Sri Lanka Wildlife
Sri Lankan Elephants
    [The Elephants! ]
  • Pinnawela: Sri Lanka's Orphanage for jungle jumbos (There are now 53 residents at the Pinnawela orphanage, which opened its doors on February 17, 1975, with only six beasts.)
  • Pinnawela: Sri Lanka's Orphanage for jungle jumbos (There are now 53 residents at the Pinnawela orphanage, which opened its doors on February 17, 1975, with only six beasts.)
  • Minneriya elephants (Geographically, Habarana is the most convenient and central location for those who want to visit the archaeological sites in Anuradhapura, Polonnnaruwa, Dambulla and Sigiriya.)
  • Elephant lore - in myth, legend, religion and war (Island Feature by Ariyadasa Ratnasinghe )
  • ELEPHANT MANAGEMENT AND CONSERVATION IN SRI LANKA: FIRST NATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ( The participants recognised the need to focus our attention and action on some key priority issues at the local level to enhance the long term survival of the elephant in Sri Lanka )New
  • Human Elephant Conflict - Problems and Solutions ( Experts believe that at the turn of the 19th Century there were 20,000 elephants in Sri Lanka. The present population is less than 3,500 elephants. In 1998 alone over 350 elephants were killed in Sri Lanka. At this present rate of mortality the prognosis for the Sri Lankan elephant is indeed bleak. - Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society )
  • Non-consumptive use of elephants in Sri Lanka (The human-elephant conflict appears to have replaced poaching as a major cause of elephant mortality in Sri Lanka. Elephant populations in the wild have been reduced substantially in the past 50 years, during which between 1500 - 3000 elephants may have been killed in the wild. )New
  • The elephant transit Home (Set up in 1995 as a pilot project by the Department of Wildlife Conservation to look after the abandoned baby elephants till they are able to take care of themselves.)
  • 'Ath Athuru Sevana': The elephant transit Home (Twenty-nine baby elephants, all determined to be the first in the feeding line, 'trumpeting for their breakfast', were a sight that brought instant 'ahhhs' to the lips of the few lucky humans who were permitted to be present.)New
Sri Lankan Leopards [The Leopards! ] "Of the four species of wild cats found in Sri Lanka, the leopard is the largest. No information exists for all the species of cats in regard to their population, distribution and status. There is also small scale poaching of all the species of cats for their skins, teeth and meat.- slwcs"
  • Sri Lanka - Own Endemic Lepords
  • Sri Lankan leopard Project (In Sri Lanka the current population of leopards in the island is unknown. What is known is however is the numbers of these elusive animals have decreased substantially over the last century.)New
  • Cat News: leopards in Sri Lanka (Charles Santiapillai reports that the leopard Panthera pardus kotiya in Sri Lanka is now "clearly endangered" and that existing protected areas are unlikely to support more than 600 animals.)New
  • Sri Lankan leopards in Yala (Fierce but beautiful, they are the pride of the jungles of Sri Lanka. Growing to about six to seven feet in length and weighing from 75 to 170 pounds, they are feared by all save perhaps the elephant.)New
Sri Lankan Birds & Bird Watching
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)