Lunugamvehera National Park to be annexed to Yala

by Ifham Nizam 

The Wildlife and Forest Conservation Ministry has decided to designate the Lunugamvehera National Park as a wildlife zone belonging to the Yala National Park.The Lunugamvehera National Park is a park consisting of 27185.85 hectares. Rich in biodiversity, it is a major elephant migration route between Yala and Udawalawa.  The Park is also home for many attractive animal species like leopards, and bears.

Accordingly, the 1,260 square km Yala Park will be expanded by another 2,7185 hectares with the addition of the Lunugamvehera Park.The Ministry said that a large number of local and foreign tourists who visited the park would have the opportunity to see wild animals, and because there were currently around 400 local and foreign tourists’ vehicles in the Yala Park daily, the expansion would help to avoid the inconvenience caused to visitors.

The newly-built Pahala Hentota Circuit Bungalow in Yala Park was opened on Friday by the Minister. Built in an area where bears live in abundance, this circuit bungalow also has the opportunity to observe bears that come at night.

Parliamentarians Duminda Dissanayake, Minister of State for Foreign Employment Promotion Jagath Pushpakumara, Secretary of the Ministry Chandra Herat and other Wildlife Department officials were also present.