Kaudulla National Park is a

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

on the island of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

located away from the largest city,

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. It was designated a national park on April 1, 2002 becoming the 15th such area on the island. In the 2004–2005 season more than 10,000 people visited the National Park, generating an income of Rs.100,000 from entrance fees. Along with

Minneriya Minneriya ( Sinhala: මින්නේරිය) is a small town in Sri Lanka that is famous for two things — the great Minneriya lake built by King Mahasen and Minneriya National Park which is a hot spot for safari lovers because of its abundan ...

and Girithale

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

have identified Kaudulla as an

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

. Historically Kaudulla was one of the 16

irrigation tank In Sri Lanka and India an irrigation tank or tank is an artificial reservoir of any size. They are part of a historic tradition of harvesting and preserving rainwater in the region. Often an embankment such as a mud bank was constructed across a sl ...

s built by King Mahasen. Following a period of abandonment it was reconstructed in 1959. It now attracts and supports a variety of plant and animal life, including large mammals, fish and reptiles.

Physical features

The region receives an annual rainfall of including rain from the north-east

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

. A dry period persists from April to October. Temperature ranges from to . Many plant and grass species grow well during the rainy season whilst an abundance of food and water, even in the dry period, attracts a large number of

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically adapted to eating plant material, for example foliage or marine algae, for the main component of its diet. As a result of their plant diet, herbivorous animals typically have mouthpart ...

mammals to the park.

Flora

The vegetation of the park represents Sri Lanka's dry evergreen forests. Chena cultivation and grasslands surround the tank area. The community of

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. Ph ...

in the Kaudulla tank includes

blue green algae Cyanobacteria (), also known as Cyanophyta, are a phylum of gram-negative bacteria that obtain energy via photosynthesis. The name ''cyanobacteria'' refers to their color (), which similarly forms the basis of cyanobacteria's common name, blue ...

, ''

Microcystis ''Microcystis'' is a genus of freshwater cyanobacteria that includes the harmful algal bloom-forming ''Microcystis aeruginosa''. Many members of a ''Microcystis'' community can produce neurotoxins and hepatotoxins, such as microcystin and cyanop ...

spp.'' and

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

s such as ''

Melosira ''Melosira'' is a genus of diatoms belonging to the family Melosiraceae. The genus has cosmopolitan distribution, and inhabits both freshwater and marine habitats. Species Species: *'' Gaillonella ampla'' *'' Gaillonella apiculata'' *'' ...

spp.''. ''

Manilkara hexandra ''Manilkara hexandra'' is a tree species in the tribe Sapoteae, in the family Sapotaceae. It is native to much of south Asia (China: Hainan and southern Guangxi provinces; the Indian subcontinent: Bangladesh, India, and Sri Lanka; Indo-China: C ...

'', ''

Chloroxylon swietenia ''Chloroxylon swietenia'' , the Ceylon satinwood or East Indian satinwood, is a tropical hardwood, the sole species in the genus ''Chloroxylon'' (from the Greek χλωρὸν ξύλον, "green wood"). It is native to southern India, Sri Lanka, ...

'' and ''Vitex altissima'' are the dominant tree species in the forest surrounding the tank. Bushes such as ''Randia dumetorum'', and ''

Calotropis gigantea ''Calotropis gigantea'', the crown flower, is a species of ''Calotropis'' native to Cambodia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka, India, China, Pakistan, and Nepal. It is a large shrub growing to tall. It has clus ...

'' and grasses such as ''

Imperata cylindrica ''Imperata cylindrica'' (commonly known as cogongrass or kunai grass ) is a species of Perennial plant, perennial rhizomatous grass native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia, Africa, and southern Europe. It has al ...

'', and ''

Panicum maximum ''Megathyrsus maximus'', known as Guinea grass and green panic grass, is a large perennial bunch grass that is native to Africa and Yemen. It has been introduced in the tropics around the world. It has previously been called ''Urochloa maxima'' ...

'' are abundant in some areas.

Fauna

The faunal species recorded in the park include 24 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles, 26 species of fish, and 160 species of bird. In the drought period

Sri Lankan elephant The Sri Lankan elephant (''Elephas maximus maximus'') is native to Sri Lanka and one of three recognised subspecies of the Asian elephant. It is the type subspecies of the Asian elephant and was first described by Carl Linnaeus under the bi ...

s move to the

Minneriya tank Minneriya tank is a reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a ...

to drink and feed. Around the month of September the elephants move to the Kaudulla tank in search of more water and food. Despite the escalating human-elephant conflict, the number of elephants increased in the dry zone and 211 individuals have been counted in Kaudulla as recently as 2008. Sri Lankan sambar deer, Sri Lankan axis deer,

chevrotain Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, the only extant members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are known only ...

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

Sri Lankan leopard The Sri Lankan leopard (''Panthera pardus kotiya'') is a leopard subspecies native to Sri Lanka. It was first described in 1956 by Sri Lankan zoologist Paules Edward Pieris Deraniyagala. Since 2020, the Sri Lankan leopard has been listed as Vuln ...

, and

sloth bear The sloth bear (''Melursus ursinus'') is a myrmecophagous bear species native to the Indian subcontinent. It feeds on fruits, ants and termites. It is listed as Vulnerable species, vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, mainly because of habitat loss ...

are other mammals found in the park. Kaudulla National Park is also one of the sites in which the

gray slender loris The gray slender loris (''Loris lydekkerianus'') is a species of primate in the family Loridae. It is native to India and Sri Lanka and inhabits subtropical and tropical dry forests and subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests. It is threa ...

is reportedly found in Sri Lanka. Following the discovery of a two-month-old

albino Albinism is the congenital absence of melanin in an animal or plant resulting in white hair, feathers, scales and skin and pink or blue eyes. Individuals with the condition are referred to as albino. Varied use and interpretation of the term ...

Sri Lankan axis deer calf abandoned by her mother, it is supposed that Kaudulla is probably the only national park in Sri Lanka to have albino axis deer. Large water birds such as

spot-billed pelican The spot-billed pelican (''Pelecanus philippensis'') or gray pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially larg ...

and

lesser adjutant The lesser adjutant (''Leptoptilos javanicus'') is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. Like other members of its genus, it has a bare neck and head. It is however more closely associated with wetland habitats where it is solitary ...

visit the Kaudulla tank. Fish species in the tank include the freshwater ''

Oreochromis mossambicus ''Oreochromis'' is a large genus of oreochromine cichlids, fishes endemic to Africa and the Middle East. A few species from this genus have been introduced far outside their native range and are important in aquaculture. Many others have ver ...

''. ''

Fejervarya pulla ''Fejervarya pulla'' is a species of frog in the family Dicroglossidae. It is endemic to Malaysia and only known from its type locality, Penang Hill Penang Hill is a hill resort comprising a group of peaks near the center of Penang Island, ...

'' is an endemic amphibian to Sri Lanka that inhabits the National Park. Freshwater turtles, Indian flap-shelled turtle and

Indian black turtle The Indian black turtle (''Melanochelys trijuga'') or Indian pond terrapin is a species of medium-sized freshwater turtle found in South Asia. Description Despite its name, the color of its upper shell or carapace can vary from reddish to dar ...

are the noteworthy reptiles.

Conservation

It is reported that the spread of invasive,

alien Alien primarily refers to: * Alien (law), a person in a country who is not a national of that country ** Enemy alien, the above in times of war * Extraterrestrial life, life which does not originate from Earth ** Specifically, intelligent extrater ...

species such as ''

Lantana camara ''Lantana camara'' (common lantana) is a species of flowering plant within the verbena family (Verbenaceae), native to the American tropics. It is a very adaptable species, which can inhabit a wide variety of ecosystems; once it has been introduc ...

'' is posing a threat to the wildlife of the park. The Kaudulla-Minneriya jungle corridor linking Kaudulla to

Minneriya National Park Minneriya National Park ( si, මින්නේරිය ජාතික වනෝද්‍යානය, translit=Minnēriya Jātika Vanōdyānaya; ta, மின்னேரியா தேசிய வனம், translit=Miṉṉēriyā Tēci ...

was declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 2004.

References

External links