Udawalawa National Park

Udawalawa National Park is located approximately 200 km South East of Colombo city and is a major echo tourism destination in Sri Lanka. it is sixth largest animal sanctuary of Sri Lanka. Dry Monsoon forest with an annual rainfall is about 1520 mm has mean day & night temperature are 29 and 24 degrees centigrade respectively. The Udawalawa national park was established in 1972. This national park spans approximately 31000 hectares and is located in the southern dry zone. The park cuts across two of the Southern Provinces and includes the Udawalawa Reservoir. The most prominent peak called "Ulgala" is located in the west of the park. It rises up to a height of nearly 380 m from the lowest point in the area which is at 100 m above sea level. It lies in the lower catchment of Udawalawa Reservoir in the country's Intermediate Low land region. Keeping company to the herds of Elephants, the main attraction of the park are Water Buffalo, Wild boar  Spotted Deer, Sambur Deer, Jackal, Samber, Black naped hare, mongooses, bandicoots, foxes, s the endemic Toque Macaque and Gray Langers. Sighting Leopard and other smaller cats like Fishing cat & Jungle cat would be a bonus. Udawalawa is undoubtedly the best place in Sri Lanka to see wild Asian Elephants throughout the year: there are about 500 elephants in the park and they often roam in herds of up to 100. Udawalawa National Park is unique in terms of consistency in numbers of elephants roaming the park it has no a seasonal variation in herds of elephants. The best hours to visit the park are in the mornings and evenings. Late evening also affords the photographic opportunities in the backdrop of loveliest sunsets. Udawalawe is also a good birdwatching site. Endemics such as Sri Lanka Spurfowl, Red-faced Malkoha, Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, Brown-capped Babbler, and Sri Lanka Junglefowl are among of the breeding resident birds. White Wagtail and Black-capped Kingfisher are rare migrants. A variety of water birds visit the reservoir, including cormorants, the Spot billed Pelican, Asian Openbill, Painted Stork and Black-headed Ibis. The open parkland attracts birds of prey such as White bellied Sea Eagle, Crested Serpent eagle, Grey headed Fish Eagle, Booted Eagle, and Changeable Hawk eagle. Land birds are in abundance, and include Indian Roller, Indian Peafowl, Malabar Pied Hornbill and Pied Cuckoo.