Yala national park
Description
The park covers 979 square kilometres (378 sq mi) and is located about 300 kilometres (190 mi) from Colombo.
Yala combines a strict nature reserve with a national park. Divided into 5 blocks, the park has a protected area of nearly 130,000 hectares of land consisting of light forests, scrubs, grasslands, tanks and lagoons. Two blocks are currently opened to the public.
that brings you up, close and personal with untamed world of wildlife. Whether you are an avid nature lover or visiting a wildlife park for the first time, if you come here with a mind that’s eager to explore and learn, you will go away with new-found meaning to life.
Situated in Sri Lanka’s south-east hugging the panoramic Indian Ocean, Yala was designated a wildlife sanctuary in 1900 and was designated a national park in 1938. Yala is home to 44 varieties of mammal and 215 bird species. Among its more famous residents are the world’s biggest concentration of leopards, majestic elephants, sloth bears, sambars, jackals, spotted dear, peacocks, and crocodiles. The best time to visit Yala is between February and July when the water levels of the park are quite low, bringing animals into the open.
Yala is in a hot, semi-arid environment despite its lush greenish look, especially during the monsoon season. Temperature ranges from 260C to about 300C. The North-east monsoon season is when Yala gets most of its rainfall from September to December.
