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Udawalawe National Park

Udawalawe national park is famous for its large population of elephants and it is also known as a good bird site in Sri Lanka.

Udawalawe National Park Being located on the boundary of Sabaragamuwa and Uva provinces of Sri Lanka. Udawalawe National Park is situated about 200 km south-east of Colombo. You can easily reach Udawalawa National Park from Colombo via Rathnapura – Pelmadulla – Colombage Ara – Thanamalwila Road and access to Udawalawe park entrance.

Initially, the objective of constructing this national park was to provide a sanctuary for the wild animals exiled due to the construction of the Udawalawe reservoir. Udawalawe reservoir is now considered as the main attraction for the elephants at the Udawalawe National Park. Established in the dry zone of the country, the sanctuary gets an annual rain fall of approximately 1,525 mm and the average temperature remains around 29.5C0.

Stretching over a land of 30,821 hectares, Udawalawe National Park is famous for its large population of elephants. Hence, this national park is ideal to observe the herds of marvelous Asian elephants in their unique natural habitats. It is known that about 400 elephants in total are sustaining here while about 250 of them are considered as permanently resident.

Other than the elephants, the national park provides home for many other species of mammals such as the rusty-spotted cat, fishing cat, Sri Lankan leopard etc. The Sri Lankan sloth bear is rarely seen in Udawalawa national park. Sri Lankan sambar deer, Sri Lankan axis deer, Indian muntjac, Sri Lankan spotted chevrotain, wild boar and water buffalo are among other mammal species that could be seen. Golden jackal, Asian palm civet, Toque macaque, Tufted grey langur and Indian hare also reside in the park. The endemic Ceylon spiny mouse was also recorded in Udawalawe national park in 1989.