Gal Oya National Park - Sri lanka

The largest water reservoir of Sri Lanka, the Senanayake Samudraya, is home to the Gal Oya National Park which acts as the chief drainage basin for the Senanayake Samudraya. The Gal Oya National Park is one of the smaller national parks of Sri Lanka at 26,000 hectares in area but it is one of the most popular areas to view Asian elephants. Situated over 300 km from the City of Colombo, the nearest major city of the Gal Oya National Park is Ampara while Ambagahawela, Dewalahinda and Damana are the closes towns to the park.

                   The Gal Oya Development Board which conducted development projects in the area administered and acted as the governing body of the Gal Oya National Park from 1954 to 1965 and then the National Department of Wildlife Conservation took over. The surrounding areas of the Gal Oya National Park are also designated as protected areas and thus a large area of the Gal Oya area is protected when all of these areas combined.

                   The vegetation of the Gal Oya National Park is diverse with forests, scrublands, and grasslands. Moving on to the fauna of the Gal Oya National Park, over thirty mammal species as well as a large number of other animal species dwell in the park. There is a special island in the vicinity of the Gal Oya National Park which is reached by water and this island is a special area for bird nesting. Named appropriately as the ‘Bird Island’, this small islet is in the Gal Oya reservoir.

                    Over 150 species of birds are said to be reported in the park and this makes the Gal Oya National Park and Wildlife Sanctuary one of the most colourful areas teeming with one of the highest number of fauna species in Sri Lanka. The elevation of the Gal Oya National Park differs greatly as certain parts of the park are just 100 feet above sea level while the mountainous areas reach up to 3000 feet above sea level. The three mountain peaks of the park are named as Danigala, Nilgala, and Ulpotha. Certain adverse issues such as illegal deforestation, logging, poaching, as well as the illegal trafficking of medicinal herbs from the Gal Oya National Park are being dealt with by the Department of Wildlife Conservation regularly. However the Gal Oya National Park draw solid numbers of domestic and international tourist each year.