Kumana National Park Office

Crocodiles, peacocks, elephants, buffaloes and the landscape is nice, definitely positive feelings. However, I believe that all the praise for this place, about the possibility of seeing other types of animals such as cheetahs, are fantastic rumors to get people to come there (typical tourist thing from Arugambay).

A very beautiful park with very less jeeps and a breathtaking sceneries with lots of bird life. Lovely drive among white sands

So many animal to view this national park. Bard wotching best place and all animal to wotching this.

You can depend time to see wide verity of animals leopards, elephants, fox, bears and verity of birds crocs etc.

Kumana is famous for migratory waterfowl & wading birds. It is in Southern corner of Sri Lanka. Kumana is contiguous with Yala National Park. It is well known eco tourism attraction Park.

You also can see the Kudumbigala Monetary Complex in the park. You can go for a safari for Rs. 7000/- this amount is for 8 people.

The park is managing by Department of Wildlife Conservation

Arugambay, Kumana National park. We visited recently. Lack of foreigners countable local visitors were logged. Kumana National Park trip really interesting and we sow many Wild animals and Birds.

A museum and a beautiful lake locate near the park entrance. You should be buy tickets to enter to park.

As one travels through the scrubland forest of the Kumana National Park, it is not just an encounter with the magnificent mammals and reptiles of Sri Lanka. It is more an adventurous opportunity to feel the heartbeat and circle of life of the Eastern wilds.

It was past 3pm as we travelled through quiet Okanda, yet the sun beamed ferociously bright while a balmy breeze swept across. Our aim was to visit the undisturbed habitat of the Eastern Province, the Kumana National Park.

Before our journey of discovery however, a stop at the Ukanthamalai Murugan Kovil was customary. Also called the Okanda Temple, it sits on the border of the national park and is an important stop during the annual Pada Yatra or pilgrimage on foot from Jaffna to Kataragama. The radiant kovil at the foot of the burly Okanda Malai, which is said to be a place that offered Lord Murugan respite, is therefore dedicated to the deity. The shrine on the malai is the Valli Amman Kovil. Our brief visit to this sacred place impressed upon us the vibrancy and the religious fervour in the East of Sri Lanka.

Journeying on farther, we were soon within the rustic, untamed and shrubbery green of Kumana, a wild preserve spanning 35,665 ha. Before the Yala East National Park, Kumana was designated a national park in its own right in 2006 because of its environmental importance. As our eyes prepared to squint and survey out the elusive wildlife of this park, our ears rang with the howls, caws and whispers of this land. After we were within the thick of the forest, having left civilisation far behind, a serpent eagle greeted with a weary eye. Discreetly the jeep steered past a herd of spotted deer. As we neared a majestic stag with beautiful antlers pricked up its ears and stood fast on alert until the herd disappeared into the thicket. A wild boar strutted past us snorting a hello before sniffling along for food to satisfy its hunger.

Our initial encounter with the gentle giants of this landscape was a few turns later, where a charming lone female elephant slowly crossed the dirt road. Surveying the land, it retreated to the bush at its own pace, unhurried by our presence. Through the leaves, we saw her pause for a moment and suddenly she let lose a trunkful of dust on her head; leaving the elephant to its cleansing ritual, we rushed to the rock formation called Girukula.

Girukula is the pride rock of Kumana. Here, on most occasions, lurks the Prince of the Island’s wild, the Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya). Signalling our good fortune, the sky cleared, and the dim evening light focused on a grandiose leopard. Lucky we were to glimpse the royalty of Kumana. Minutes passed unaware to us as we peered at the leopard through rustic foliage, adrenalised by even the slowest of movements of the resting beast. For a brief moment something caught its attention and it perked its head up, and then turned its head away.

Another mesmerising site greeted us at the known watering hole called the Kumana Villu. The mangrove filled body of water was a mesmerising expanse; a paradise for the wild in Kumana. What seemed to like kirala (Sonneratia caseolaris) to our untrained eye symmetrically emerged from the lotus filled waters. This villu among other mangroves, salt marshes, reservoirs, lagoons and estuaries is the reasoning behind the national park being recognised as the Kumana Wetland Cluster Ramsar Site as well as an important wetland. On drooping branches of trees soaked in the villu, flocks of pelicans rested, most with heads drooping down while a few others had their gaze fixated on the slimy green for a fresh catch. We soon zoomed in on a woolly-necked stalk, preening its feathers and later witnessed the elegant dance of the peacock. Our sagacity in staying for longer at the watering hole was then rewarded by the sight of a lone bull elephant softly quenching its thirst.

Quick rustle in the shrubs, our eyes darted on alert, spotting an enormous crocodile snoozing and cooling off on the moist earth in a shady spot.

Kumana is a national park. It is special for bird watching. A large number of migratory birds can be seen. Sri Lankan Tiger, Elephant, Deer, Elk, Crocodile, Wild boar and other species of animals can be seen in this park. The park opens at 0600hrs in the morning and closes at 1800hrs in the evening.

I LOVE THIS NATION PARK
WE CAN SEE THE LEOPARD TO SEE THE PHOTOGRAPHS FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM ID: Milhan Photography AND IF WE’RE LUCKY AND SLOTH BEAR ONE OF THE BEST NATIONAL PARK IN EAST COST
& I SAW 56 BIRDS IN JUST 2 HOURS
AND LOTS OF ANIMALS

Best place to see different kind of birds in Sri Lanka. Safari ride is amazing. Choose 2 to 6 time slot. Best time to see the animals and birds.

குமண ஒரு மந்திரலோகம். எண்ணற்ற பறவைகளை சித்திரை_ஆனி பகுதியில் காணலாம். இவை வேடந்தாங்கல் பறவைகளாகும்.

Small but enough details to get some idea about the park before you enter into the national park. They do have public toilets and recycling plastic collection.

Kumana NP gives you flavours of all other national parks in Sri Lanka.it has larger grasslands, plains than any other NPs.if you need to see black necked stork, kumana is the best place.if you are a general wildlife enthusiast, that loves to enjoy it peacefully, Kumana would be the best.sloth bear is rarely seen here. Although Kumana is famous for the birds, you will see Leaopards, elephants, jackals as well.and hundreds of spotted deers whereever you go.

Very nice nature and great place to pass some hours.
Just a small advice, try to rent your jeep at the park gates, prices of today, December 2019 are 5.500 lkr per car at gates, in Arugam Bay the price is 8.000 lkr per car (6 pax) or even worse 4.500 lkr per person.
A tuk tuk will take you approx 600 lkr to park gates. So easy to count.