Kumana National Park

Introduction

National park in Sri Lanka Kumana National ParkIUCN category II (national park)Kudumbigala Sanctuary in Kumana National ParkKumana National ParkLocationEastern Province, Sri LankaNearest cityHambantotaCoordinates6°30′47″N 81°41′16″E / 6.51306°N 81.68778°E / 6.51306; 81.68778Area35,664 hectares (88,130 acres)Established20 January 1970Governing bodyDepartment of Wildlife ConservationRamsar WetlandOfficial nameKumana Wetland ClusterDesignated29 October 2010Reference no.1931 Kumana National Park in Sri Lanka is renowned for its avifauna, particularly its large flocks of migratory waterfowl and wading birds. The park is 391 kilometres (243 mi) southeast of Colombo on Sri Lanka's southeastern coast. Kumana is contiguous with Yala National Park, and was formerly known as Yala East National Park and was renamed to its present name in 2006. The park was closed from 1985 to March 2003 due to LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam) attacks. It was also affected by the Boxing Day tsunami in 2004.

Physical features

[edit] Kumbukkan Oya forms the southern boundary of the national park. Some 20 lagoons and tanks support the extensive birdlife of the national park. The lagoons are shallow with depths less than 2 metres (6.6 ft). Kumana villu is subject to occasional inundation with seawater. The elevation of the area ranges from sea level to 90 metres (300 ft). The mean annual temperature is 27.3 °C (81.1 °F) and the area receives 1,300 millimetres (51 in) of annual rainfall.

Flora

[edit] The park's wetland areas are surrounded by dry zone tropical thorn forest. The inland forest's flora is dominated by Manilkara hexandra (Sinhalese "palu"), Hemicyclea sepieria, Bauhinia racemosa, Cassia fistula ("ehela"), Chloroxylon swietenia ("burutha"), and Salvadora persica species. The dominant tree of the Kumana villu is Sonneratia caseolaris, while Typha angustifolia is the dominant reed. Terminalia arjuna trees dominate the riverine forests along the Kumbukkan Oya. The common aquatic plants of the swamp are colourful Ludwigia spp., Nelumbo nucifera, Nymphaea pubescens, Aponogeton spp. and Neptunia oleracea.

Fauna