Yala National Park

Yala National Park

Yala National Park (Sinhala: යාල ජාතික වනෝද්‍යානය; Tamil: யால தேசிய வனம்) is a national park situated in the southeastern part of Sri Lanka. It is the oldest national park in the country.

The park consists of five blocks (Blocks I, II, III, IV, V). However, the area known as Yala comprises a contiguous system of nine national reserves including the aforesaid five blocks, Kumana National Park (Yala East), Strict Natural Reserve, and the adjoining Kataragama-Katagamuwa and Kudimbigala Sanctuaries (Buultjens et al., 2005; Jazeel, 2005). The entire area, except the southeastern part, is bounded by a wide buffer zone marked on the land. The southeastern part of Yala is margined by the Indian Ocean.

Yala is partly open to tourists. Block I (also known as Ruhuna National Park or Yala West) with an area of 140 square km is one such part (Buultjens et al., 2005; Katugaha, 1999). It has an extensive network of motorable roads made for tourists.

History

Rohana principality

Yala overlies the former Sinhalese principality, Ruhuna, which was the refuge area for the Sinhala kings during the regnal period of the South Indian invader Elara (205-161 B.C.) who governed Anuradhapura, the capital of Sri Lanka during the 2nd century B.C. (Jazeel, 2005). Prince Dutugemunu, the deposed Sinhalese heir eventually defeated Elara and took the control of the Anuradhapura Kingdom again (Jazeel, 2005).

The park is rich with a large number of archaeological sites and some of them are Buddhist ruins belonging to the period of the Rohana principality. More than 50 inscriptions, most of which date from the 2nd or 1st century B.C., have been found in the area (Abeyawardana, 2004). About 40 archaeological sites discovered within the Yala premises are listed below (Abeyawardana, 2004);

1) Bambawa
2) Magul Maha Viharaya
3) Seelawakanda
4) Sithulpawwa
5) Akasa Chethiya
6) Pimbyramakanda
7) Gonagala
8) Modaragala
9) Padikema & Patanangala
10) Patanangala
11) Anduneruwa
12) Brakmanatota
13) Katupila
14) Katupilamankada
15) Pilinnawa
16) Uda pothana
17) Ruins of Dagoba
18) Minihagalkanda
19) Pilimagala

20) Maha pilimagala
21) Kiriwadumahela
22) Thalaguruhela
23) Lunuathugalge
24) Mayagala (Wadambuwa)
25) Dagoba & stone column
26) Goyankola Mayagala
27) Dikkandanegala
28) Veeragala
29) Athurumituruwewa
30) Dematagala
31) Mandagala
32) Mandagala Wewa
33) Kottadamuhela
34) Bambaragastalawa
35) Kiripokunahela
36) Bowattagala
37) Nelumpathpokuna
38) Kongala

Modern history

The Yala was established as a "Game Sanctuary" by the British in 1898 (Jazeel, 2005). It was declared as a national park (the first block) on 25 February 1938 (Buultjens et al., 2005). After that, more sections (blocks) were added to the park from time to time. The last two blocks, IV and V were added to the park in 1969 and 1973 (Buultjens et al., 2005). In 1949, the park fell under the administration of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (Buultjens et al., 2005).

The presence of LTTE in the national park during the Sri Lankan civil war (1983-2009) transformed some parts of the park into unprotected jungles for visitors (Buultjens et al., 2005; Jazeel, 2005). The coastline of Yala was badly hit by the 2004 Tsunami waves (Fernando et al., 2006).

Physical features

Yala is spread on a relatively flat terrain of Vijayan rocks formed over 600 million years ago and dotted with rocky outcrops reaching heights of about 800 ft (Buultjens et al., 2005). Totally, it extends in an area of about 151,177.8 ha. (Buultjens et al., 2005). As Yala is situated in one of the arid regions of the country the area has a hot and dry climate (Buultjens et al., 2005). It receives its annual rainfall during the northeast monsoon from November to January (Buultjens et al., 2005). The dry season begins in June and lasts until mid-October (Buultjens et al., 2005). A few natural water holes and several man-made small reservoirs in the park retain the water (De Silva et al., 1994). Also a number of seasonal streams, majorly the Menik Ganga river and the Kumbukkan Oya river drain the area (De Silva et al., 1994).

Flora & Fauna

The vegetation of Yala mainly comprises of scrub forests, grasslands, and mangroves in the lagoons that are scattered throughout the park (Buultjens et al., 2005; De Silva et al., 1994). The park is replete with fauna such as elephants, sloth bears, sambar, wild buffalo, spotted deer, wild boar, jackals, monkeys, snakes, lizards, crocodiles, mongoose, birds, etc. (Buultjens et al., 2005; Jazeel, 2005). It is also home to the highest density of leopards in the world (Buultjens et al., 2005). More than 130 species of birds such as the jungle fowl, painted stork, blue-faced malkoha, and the pompadour green pigeon have been identified in the park (Buultjens et al., 2005).

Yala National Park

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References

Books, Journal Articles

1) Abeyawardana, H.A.P., 2004. Heritage of Ruhuna: Major natural, cultural and historic sites. Colombo: The Central Bank of Sri Lanka. ISBN: 955-575-073-4. pp.130-131.
2) Buultjens, J., Ratnayake, I., Gnanapala, A. and Aslam, M., 2005. Tourism and its implications for management in Ruhuna National Park (Yala), Sri Lanka. Tourism Management, 26(5), pp.733-742.
3) De Silva, M., Dissanayake, S. and Santiapillai, C., 1994. Aspects of the population dynamics of the wild Asiatic water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) in Ruhuna National Park, Sri Lanka. Journal of South Asian Natural History, 1(1), pp.65-76.
4) Fernando, P., Wikramanayake, E.D. and Pastorini, J., 2006. Impact of tsunami on terrestrial ecosystems of Yala National Park, Sri Lanka. Current Science, pp.1531-1534.
5) Jazeel, T., 2005. ‘Nature’, nationhood and the poetics of meaning in Ruhuna (Yala) National Park, Sri Lanka. cultural geographies, 12(2), pp.199-227.
6) Katugaha, H.I.E., de Silva, M. and Santiapillai, C., 1999. A long-term study on the dynamics of the elephant (Elephas maximus) population in Ruhuna National Park, Sri Lanka. Biological Conservation, 89(1), pp.51-59.

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Attribution

To Whom

1) YalaNationalPark-April2010-03 by Rehman is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
2) A watchful leopard by Sachinkaveeshafernando is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
3) Scenery in Yala National Park by Schnobby is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0