Nature

Yala National Park  is the second largest  national park  in  Sri Lanka . It is situated in the southeast region of the island in the dry zone. The park is about 300 km from Colombo ,the capital of Sri Lanka. Yala park belongs to two provinces in Sri Lanka, namely Uva Province and Southern Province. The park is divided into five blocks and only blocks I and II are open to visitors. The reserve covers 979 km², although only the original 141 km² are open to the public. It was established in 1894 as a Game Sanctuary. The park is situated in the dry zone of the country which has a long annual rainless period. The main sources of rainfall are the northeast monsoon and inter-monsoon rain during April and May. Mean annual precipitation is 900 - 1300mm and mean annual temperature is around 27°C. During June to October this area has experienced with drought conditions. The daytime temperature then is normally higher than 30°C which is not uncommon in this region. The park was badly damaged by