Kaudulla National Park (Sinhala: කවුඩුල්ල ජාතික වනෝද්යානය) is a national park situated in Polonnaruwa District, Sri Lanka. The ancient Kaudulla Reservoir is located on the fringe of the national park and presently, the bed area of that reservoir is attractive among the visitors where hundreds of elephants could be seen
gathered in the dry season (Rathnayake,& Gunawardena, 2014).
The Kaudulla forest area was declared as a national park on 1 April 2002 in order to protect the immediate catchment of the Kaudulla Reservoir and to provide a refuge or habitat for wild elephants, especially in the monsoon period (Rathnayake,& Gunawardena, 2014).
Kaudulla is part of a large protected area system that allows free movement of elephants and includes the Minneriya and Angamedilla National Parks, Giritale Sanctuary, Hurulu Eco-Park and Forest Reserve and Gal Oya Forest Reserve (Pastorini et al., 2020).
Physical features
Situated in the Dry Zone of the country, the park extends in an area of about 6690 ha (De Mel & Yakandawala, 2016; Rathnayake,& Gunawardena, 2014). The area receives an annual rainfall ranging between 1,500 to 2,000 mm mainly from the north-east monsoon (De Mel & Yakandawala, 2016; Mahesha & Rajnish, 2020). The park experiences two marked seasons, wet and dry and the average temperature varies between 20-35 °C (De Mel & Yakandawala, 2016; Mahesha & Rajnish, 2020). The wet period persists from January to April and the dry period persists from June to September (De Mel & Yakandawala, 2016).
The vegetation of the area consists of tropical dry mixed evergreen forests, grasslands, and riverine forests (Mahesha & Rajnish, 2020).
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Attribution
References
1) De Mel, L.M.S. and Yakandawala, K., 2016. Diversity and Abundance of Butterfly Fauna at the Kaudulla National Park. International Journal of Novel Research in Life Sciences. Vol. 3, Issue 2. ISSN 2394-966X. pp:1-10.
2) Mahesha, P. and Rajnish, V., 2020. Some aspects of seed dispersal by Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Kaudulla National Park, Sri Lanka. Current Science (00113891), 118(4) .pp.648-654.
3) Pastorini, J., Pilapitiya, S. and Fernando, P., 2020. Wild Asian Elephant Twins in Sri Lanka. Gajah, 52, pp.48-50.
2) Mahesha, P. and Rajnish, V., 2020. Some aspects of seed dispersal by Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Kaudulla National Park, Sri Lanka. Current Science (00113891), 118(4) .pp.648-654.
3) Pastorini, J., Pilapitiya, S. and Fernando, P., 2020. Wild Asian Elephant Twins in Sri Lanka. Gajah, 52, pp.48-50.
4) Rathnayake, R.M.W. and Gunawardena, U.A.D.P., 2014. Enjoying elephant watching: a study on social carrying capacity of Kawdulla National Park in Sri Lanka. Sabaragamuwa University Journal, 12(1). pp.23-39.
Location Map
This page was last updated on 3 October 2022
