Kaudulla National Park
Visitors to Sri Lanka's national parks may not be aware that these protected areas are in the front line of the war between conservationists on one side and timber thieves and poachers on the other. With a burgeoning population and dwindling resources, it is a problem unlikely to go away. Sad to think that one day the country's biodiversity may have to be protected by armed force.
The tracker was out the door and in pursuit before I’d even managed to bring the truck to a complete halt, but already it was too late to catch any of the woodcutters. They had flung their bicycles to the ground and disappeared into the forest the moment they realized that we were stopping. There had been six men, each with an equal number of sawn and planed planks of freshly cut satinwood
(Chloroxylon swietinia) lashed securely to the frames of their bikes, three aside. The light coloured wood is dense and each six foot plank must have weighed 30kilos, making their progress slow and maneuverability cumbersome.
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| Source: http://governorsgrand.com/kaudulla_national_park_sri_lanka.php |
By the time we had loaded all of the illegal lumber into the truck (and three of the bicycles as well - the rest were left, tires slashed, where they had been discarded), the woodcutters became emboldened, emerging from the forest that flanks the dusty road and watching us, movements tense with anger. One even turned and dropped his pants in an expression of mute frustration. Unable to contact the office at the Park gate and unwilling to invite a potentially explosive encounter with the agitated poachers, we drove north and emerged from the National Park on the Habarana-Trincomalee road near Alut Oya. It was late when we got back to the office. The young warden and his crew were waiting for us, wishing to knock off but concerned by our absence. Upon hearing our report their plans changed. As we departed, adrenalin still flowing, they were gearing up to go in search of the stranded timber gang. These guys are the first line of defense against often organized groups of poachers, woodcutters, gem miners and encroachers. They daily expose themselves to potential danger in an effort to preserve the integrity of the nation's protected areas and for that they deserve support. So goes another episode on the fractious front lines of the conservation battle.
This happened at Kaudulla National Park, a 6,656 hectare section of dry evergreen monsoonal forest centered on the Kaudulla tank in the Polonnaruwa District. Opened on September 21,2002, it is one of Sri Lanka’s newest parks and forms the central link in the chain of protected elephant (Elephas maximus) habitat that extends from the long, western arm of Somawathie Chaitiya National Park in the north to Minneriya National Park in the south.
September and October are the best times to visit Kaudulla for it is then, at the end of the dry season, when the forest has been forced to shed its verdant cloak and stands naked and emaciated, and water sources have become concentrated into fewer and deeper depressions, that the elephants congregate. The numerous small herds that inhabit the surrounding region for most of the year gather together on the open bed of the main tank to graze, drink, bathe and socialize. When the numbers have swelled
and the evening sun filters through the cloud-flecked sky, glinting off the surface of the wewa and bathing the assembled herds in its gentle glow, it is a heart-swelling, dizzying sight like no other.
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| Source: http://habaranaadventures.com/ |
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At other times of the year Kaudulla offers different wilderness experiences to savor. Always an excellent area for bird-watching, the usual dry zone denizens of forest, field and stream are to be seen. Nimble green bee-eaters (Merops orientalis) dip and dart along the road before suddenly pausing to perch fleetingly on a twig, while the comical, elaborately crowned hoopoe (Upupa epops) fusses in the sand nearby. A mature crested hawk eagle (Spizaetus cirrhatus) can be seen sitting on a weera (Drypetes seperia) branch overhanging the channel. He surveys the scene below, regal and fierce, like a sharp-eyed general overlooking the battlefield for a weakness to exploit.
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| Source: http://www.timeout.com/sri-lanka/travel/kaudulla-national-park |
Sri Lanka’s national bird, the jungle cock (Gallus lafayetti), appears strutting from the forest edge his crimson comb aflame. His copper, russet and gold streaks shimmer as he calls intently as if making a claim for the most spectacular plumage. And a reasonable claim it seems until the gaudy absurdity of a peacock (Pavo cristatus) is glimpsed, thereby eclipsing all possible contenders for that particular crown. Water birds are also in attendance, particularly along the long straight channel that parallels the main road on the west. At times it is steep sided and narrow, at others opening out into shallow, grass-fringed pools or flat, wide expanses where large kumbuks (Terminalia arjuna) grow in shady groves. Painted storks (Mycteria leucocephala), spoonbills (Platalea leucordia) and gleaming white little egrets (Egretta garzetta) are abundant here as they forage, heads bowed and bills partly submerged, for small crustaceans. Just beyond the main gate a bridge spans a small dam and from here one can often see little cormorants (Phalacrocorax niger) on the concrete walls, wings spread wide as they absorb the drying rays of the sun. The riverine forest also attracts Sri Lanka’s cheekiest primate, the small, brown toque macaque (Macaca sinica), of which noisy, rollicking troops can sometimes be seen. Purplefaced langurs (Presbytes senex) also inhabit these forests as do grey langurs (Semnopithicus entellus thersites) which are often viewed in association with small herds of axis deer (Axis axis), particularly when the palu tree (Manilkara hexandra) is in season. The deer benefit by feeding on the sweet, yellow berries that the messy primates drop, while providing added ears, eyes and noses with which to detect the presence of that stealthy predator, the leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya). Kaudulla National Park is best approached from the Habarana-Polonnaruwa road, the turnoff marked by a large signboard not far from the Minneriya train station and within sight of the eastern arm of the Minneriya tank. The road, which carves through a section of rural countryside, has long been used as a shortcut route for cement trucks from the Gal Oya factory. As a result it is pitted and scarred with axle-rattling potholes and the 8km journey takes about half an hour. The surrounding area, characterized by chena (slash-and-burn) cultivation and scrub, is rough-hewn as if the settlements were recently hacked out of uncompromising jungle.
In the fashion peculiar to the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the newly constructed office is liberally adorned with the massive skulls of dead elephants. There is a small, interesting museum area that contains, amongst the specimens and bones, an intriguing display of animal tracks in plaster of Paris molds. A common technique J to attain permanent records j| of big cat footprints, it was the innovative idea of the new warden] to extend this simple method for J as many species as possible. The M result is noteworthy.
A park designed with the elephant in mind, Kaudulla provides a measure of protection not just m for that single species, but for a host of others be they scaled or a feathered, leafy or hairy. It is an important piece in the region’s conservation puzzle, slotting into an existing network of parks and protected areas planned with the hope that they can allow Sri Lanka’s bountiful natural heritage to not just survive, but flourish, now and in the days ahead.
