Udawalawe National Park

The Udawalawe National Park situated in the dry zone of the country and belonging to Sabaragamuwa & Uva provinces. The park area is 30,821 ha in area and was established in 1972. It park lies within dry zone and small segment lies within intermediate zone. The long dry season is characteristic feature. The main source of rainfall is the southwest monsoon (May - September) and mean annual rainfall is about 1,520mm. The mean annual temperature is around 29C.

Uda Walawe lies South of the central hills of the island, and it surrounds the man made reservoir of Uda Walawe, which is part of the park. It is a mixture of abandoned teak plantation, scrub jungle & grassland. The dry season is best to watch the many herds of elephant that roam the park; which is usually between May & September.

In our opinion, Uda Walawe is the best place to view elephants in the wild. More natural than the orphanages and often you can get just as close.

Udawalawe National Park is world famous for its large elephant population. In this park elephants can be seen at any time of the day. Crocodiles, water buffalo, spotted and barking deer, wild boar, sambur, jackal and ruddy, grey and striped necked mongoose are also found in this park. Though the leopard, jungle and fishing cats have recorded in the park sightings are very rare. T
Almost the entire park is covered with tall, reedy Pohon grass, which grows all year round, except during the months of June and October.

Uda Walawe is a superb place to watch elephants. An estimated 500 elephants in herds to up to 100 live here. One of the reasons is the elephant-proof fence that surrounds the perimeter of the park, which keeps the elephants in and the cattle (and humans) out.