Yala National Park.

                                             

            🐘 Yala National Park is one of the best known wildlife parks.  Home to one of the world’s largest population of leopards, it is the second largest national park on the island, behind Wilpaththu National Park. It is roughly a 5 hour drive from Colombo, by vehicle, so get ready for an early morning start if you haven’t made camp anywhere nearby.Located in the ond largest national park in Sri Lanka, border south eastern corner of Sri Lanka.Yala National Park is the most visited and secing the Indian Ocean. The park consists of five blocks, two of which are now open to the public, and also adjoining parks. The blocks have individual names such as, Ruhuna National Park and Kumana National Park or 'Yala East' for the adjoining area. It is situated in the southeast region of the country, and lies in Southern Province and Uva Province. The park covers 979Km and is located about 300Km  from Colombo. Yala was designated as a wildlife sanctuary in 1900, and, along with Wilpattu was one of the first two national parks in Sri Lanka, having been designated in 1938. The park is best known for its variety of wild animals. It is important for the conservation of Sri Lankan elephants, Sri Lankan leopards and aquatic birds.

                                                                                             

                        🦅There are six national parks and three wildlife sanctuaries in the vicinity of Yala. Among the largest is Lunugamvehera National Park. The park is situated in the dry semi-arid climatic region and rain is received mainly during the northeast monsoon. Yala hosts a variety of ecosystems ranging from moist monsoon forests to freshwater and marine wetlands. It is one of the 70 Important Bird Areas in Sri Lanka. Yala harbours 215 bird species including six endemic species of Sri Lanka. The number of mammals that has been recorded from the park is 44, and it has one of the highest leopard densities in the world

             

                                    🌳The area around Yala has hosted several ancient civilizations. Two important Buddhist pilgrim sites, Sithulpahuwa and Magul Vihara,Kabaliththa are situated within the park. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami caused severe damage on the Yala National Park and 250 people died in its vicinity. The number of visitors has been on the rise since 2009, after the security situation in the park improved.

Thank you everyone...                                                       

    Blog by :- Oshan Dissanayake     
                            

            (Mu / 21/ 241)

    

 (Undergraduate at University of the Visual and Performing Arts)

                         ( Faculty of Music )