Wilpattu National Park | Sri Lanka

 

Wilpattu National Park

This is the largest national park in Sri Lanka. It spans over 1317 square kilometers (131693 hectares) in Puttalam, Mannar and Anuradhapura districts. It is situated in northwest coast lowland dry zone of Sri Lanka. The western section of the park is made up of arid zone forests and the Eastern section of the park is made up of dry zone forests.

Before to 1973, the main entrance was at Maradanmaduwa, approximately 20 kilometers from Wilpattu junction. Now the main entrance is Hunuwilgama entrance, which is about 08 kilometers from Wilpattu junction on the A12 road that connects Puttalam and Anuradhapura.

Wilpattu junction is 25 kilometers from Puttalam. The entry requires all visitors to purchase a ticket. The entrance office is open from 6.00 am until 4.30 pm. However, visitors should leave before 6.00 pm. At the main gate, Safari vehicles are available for hire, or you can be driven your own high powered (four wheel) vehicle. 

Wilpattu has a number of small lakes that fill up with rains. These are called Willu. More than 60 Willu can be found around the national park. The name, area with Willu, later becomes Wilpattu. Persibendi, Maradammaduwa, Borupan, Thimbiri, Kumbuk and Kokkariya (the largest) are the lakes that can be seen within the park.

Vegetation of Wilpattu

The arid zone area consisting forests with thorn bushes. The dry zone area consisting the trees of Palu (Manilkara hexandra), Weera (Drypetes sepiaria) and Buruta (Ceylon stain wood). The average height is about 06 meters.

Additionally, the park can be divided into three ecosystems in general. Wetlands, forests and the coastal zone. These all are important components of the ecosystem. 

Birds

Thimbiri Wila is a place inside the park known for its indigenous and migrating birds. It is typical to see Punchi Binguharaya, Nilpenda Binguharaya and Thamalahis Binguharaya in this area. The Crested Serpent Eagle (Silu Sarapakussa) is a common visitor to this area. Reptiles are one of their main sources of food for them. As well as the Malabar Pied Hornbill (Poru Kendeththa) and Great Thick-knee (Maha Golukiraluwa). Fruit is consumed by them. Here you can witness Indian Peafowl (Peacock), endemic Sri Lankan jungle fowl and endemic Sri Lankan grey hornbill. 

The hornbills have a fascinating backstory.

They chose to live in a tree hole. Inside the tree hole, the male bird locks up the female bird and covers the entrance with cement made from the male bird’s feces. The male bird provides all of the food and necessities to the female bird by the hole at the entrance of the tree hole. After the chicks were hatched, the female bird went outside by dissolving the cement and then they close the hole again. They continue to feed the chicks through the little hole in the entryway. As the chicks grew in size, they tore up the cement and emerge and began to fly. During the months of April to August, they give birth to their brood.

In Mahapathessa Willu area, we frequently observe birds and on rare occasions, tigers. Heen Thamba Seruwa (Lesser Whistling duck) may be found in Willu regions in Wilpattu. While they are living on the water, they are able to find food in the evening. They did, however, build their nests in trees.

An uncommon birds called the Lesser Adjutant (Heen bahuru Manawa) and Woolly necked Stork (Padili Manawa) can be found here. White bellied Sea Eagle (Kusa eli sayurukussa) and mostly hawks and eagles can be spotted in this area.  The Sri Lankan brown fish owl and the Sri Lankan jungle fowl are endemic to this land. A sweet-toned oriental magpie-robin (wild Polkichcha) can also be observed here. Migratory birds are frequently seen in the park along the Willu.

Wilpattu National Park Animal population

Generally, the herds of animals can be seen both in the morning and evening.

Some of them include elephant, bear, deer, barking deer (Olu Muwa), Sambar deer (Gona). That only bear that lives in Sri Lanka is the Sri Lankan sloth bear can also be found here. Here you will find a wide range of birds and reptiles. This park is home to 30 different species of mammals.

Elephants frequently pass through the boundary sections and the western section of the park, particularly the Willu areas near Pomparippu. The roads in here have fallen to the middle section of the park. As a result, probably visitors are unlike to encounter an elephant in this national park, but the elephant population is estimated to be approximately 370. Elephants are accustomed to eating thorny shrubs, which are commonly found in the border areas. During the summer, though, they flock to the Willu areas in the park’s center section for food. The Kudapathessa Willu area is also a wildlife viewing location. 

Wilpattu national park has Sri Lanka’s second largest population of Sambar deer. It is only second to the Horton Plains National park.

Bear are frequently seen in the Maradanmaduwa and Kokmote areas. Their diet consists of fruit and insects.

Weather in Wilpattu

The yearly rainfall averages 1000mm and the average temperature is 27.2 Celsius. The northeast monsoon is active in the area from December to January. The park had significant rainfall during the March inter monsoon. 

The Surroundings of Wilpattu

Several locations throughout the park allow visitors to get-off from their vehicles. The leopard population is one of the most significant assets in this park. There are more than 100 leopards living there according to the census with Sri Lankan endemic leopard.

The tigers are primarily notable for the road and surrounding region leading from Thalawila to Panikkawila. Panikkawila is also a great area to see migrating birds and deer. This Panikkawila Willu region is unique in that it contains a significant percentage of saline water while being 16 kilometers from the sea. Authorities said that a layer of limestone had formed beneath the Willu.

Approximately 04 kilometers from the entrance, we can see the lake called Persi Bendi Wewa, which was built by Mr. Persi de Alwis who was a caretaker of the park (the first person of the park). In 1905, this was designated as a sanctuary and on February 25, 1938, it was converted to a national park.

Visitors can stay in Maradammaduwa circuit bungalow which is situated within the park near to the Maradammaduwa Lake. Kokmote circuit bungalow, situated in near Modaraganaru and the Mailawewa camping site is also available for visitors to stay.

More than 05 circuit bungalows situated within the park. Some of these are Manawila, Thalawila and Panikkawila. The department of forest conservation in Colombo can be contacted to make a reservation.

The park contains a historically noteworthy feature. The ruined Palace of Kuweni, which is associated with the Kingdom of Anuradhapura, can be found in here.