Kumanana National Park (or Yala East) is renowned for the variety of its wildlife and typically dry zone tropical thorn forest. Kumana comes together with Ruhuna National Park to the west to form the wider Yala, Sri Lanka’s most well-known national park.
The parks, colloquially known as ‘Yala’ are split into six blocks for management purposes, and of these, only Block One (Ruhuna National Park) is on the tourist trail. Kumana National Park, formerly known as ‘Yala East’ was established on the 26th December 1969 and lies on the southeast coast of Sri Lanka, 12km south of Arugam Bay. The park is best accessed through the Kudumbigala Sanctuary to the northeast of the boundary.
The main physical feature of Kumana, which covers over 18,100 hectares, is the world-famous mangrove swamp, taking up some 200 hectares and surrounded by plains and jungle. The flat terrain of the east coast is broken by numerous rocky outcrops and large saline lagoons often surrounded by extensive plains.
As with many of Sri Lanka’s protected areas, Kumana incorporates fascinating cultural heritage sites including caves, some with rock inscriptions dating back to the 1st and 2nd Centuries BC, and a nine-meter statue of the reclining Buddha among many others.
The vegetation in the park comprises semi-arid thorn scrub with fairly large areas of dense forest, whilst the fauna found here is diverse, particularly in regards to the avifauna. Large numbers of wading birds congregate to nest in the mangroves from May to June, including species such as the pelican, painted stork, spoonbill and open-billed stork. It is even possible to observe one of Sri Lanka’s rarest birds, the black-necked stork here. Mammalian species include spotted deer, wild boar, elephant, leopard and sloth bear, although due to a lack of exposure to humans, these animals are shy and can prove a challenge to find.
During the recent insecurities in the area (finished in 2009), the park fell off the tourist radar. Now stable, the park is open to and welcomes visitors, however, the animals are shyer than in nearby Ruhuna National Park.
The park is best reached from your hotel in Arugam Bay or it can be tied into a full-day trip from Arugam Bay or Ella, visiting Lahugala National Park as well.
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