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Thursday, October 21, 2010

Sinharaja & Other National Parks


* Protected Areas of Sri Lanka New( by Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society )


    * Sinharaja Forest [Sinharaja! ]
          o Vignettes of Sinharaja (Sinharaja, our great tropical rain forest, by all accounts is a vast repository of national wealth. It was declared a National Heritage Wilderness Site in 1988 and a World Heritage Site in 1989.)
          o Sinharaja Forest New( the only evergreen rain forest in Sri Lanka which belongs to few remaining virgin forests in the world, is home to hundreds of indigenous flora and many kinds of birds, beasts and reptiles. The Sinhajara forest, 11,187 hectares in all was declared a Man and Biosphere Reserve (MBR) in 1978 and it became a National Heritage Wilderness Area under the National Heritage Wilderness Area Act in 1988. This virgin forest was named World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1989. )
    * Yala National Park


          o Yala National Park (YALA is among the oldest and best known of Sri Lanka’s National Parks. Yala covers about 1297 Km2 or 129,700 ha. And it is the largest agglomeration of protected areas in the country. Kumbukkan Oya in the north East and Menik Ganga and tributaries on the West flow through the Park providing a source of water to the animals even during the driest months of the year. )
          o Tiger Trails in Yala (Yala is now well recognised as one of the best parks in the world to observe and photograph leopards. )New
    * Vilpattu National Park - The biggest national park in Lanka ( 115 miles from Colombo and 18 miles from Anuradhapura, Vilpattu is the biggest national park in this country covering around 500 sq. miles. )New
Sri lanka

    * The birth of a National Park: Uda Walawe ( nestles in the borders of the Moneragala and Ratnapura districts, covers an area of 30,821 hectares. The park was declared a National Park on June 30, 1972 and since then it has become a safe home and a refuge to the animals who had lost their original habitats. According to data, the highest number of wild and tamed elephants live in this park. )
    * An abode in the wilderness - forest cover of Randenigala ( In the salubrious forest cover of Randenigala live the elephant, tiger, the deer, the sambur, wild boar, and the other quadrupeds along with such reptiles like the python, the cobra and the viper )

Sri Lanka Wildlife

    * [Yala Leopards! ] Sri Lankan Sloth Bear ( The sloth bear (Ursus ursinus), formerly found in most dry zone low country jungles, is now confined to pockets of relatively undisturbed forest. It seems that with encroachment and the general disturbance of our forests, the sloth bear is among the first animals to disappear.)New
    * Interesting Wildlife of Sri Lanka ( Though Sri Lanka is very small in land area, the great diversity in habitats harbors are a rich and diverse fauna and flora, with many species endemic to the island.) !
    * Wildlife photography - treasure trove of Wildlife captured
    * Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society)
    * Sri Lanka's venomous snakes and their habitat (Island Feature by Ariyadasa Ratnasinghe)
    * Sri Lankan Lizards: kabaragoyas & Thalagoyas (Kabaragoyas and thalagoyas are common in Ceylon and are seldom found anywhere else in the world. The kabaragoya is large, the size of an average crocodile, and the thalagoya smaller - a cross between an iguana and a giant lizard..)
    * Sri Lanka: the New Global Amphibian Hotspot ( Sri Lanka is home to more than 250 species of frogs, a ‘density’ of 3.7 species per 1,000 sq. km. This puts the island well ahead of the former record holder, Costa Rica, which has 2.8 species per sq. km. This represents about 7 per cent of the world’s known frog species )
    * Reptiles & amphibians list for Sri Lanka ( by The American Museum of Natural History, US )
    * Sri Lanka’s amphibian diversity ( By Rohan Pethiyagoda & Kelum Manamendra-Arachchi - Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka)
    * Ulpotha - A VILLAGE IN THE JUNGLE
    * The Pearl of the Indian Ocean - National Geographic - January 1997

Sri Lankan Elephants
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