Bundala National Park is another national park in Sri Lanka, which perhaps doesn’t get the love it deserves due its proximity to Sri Lanka’s most famous national park, Yala national park. However, what makes it special is that it has been named as one of the four “Man and Biosphere Reserve” by UNESCO, which Yala is not a part of, what both the parks have in common is that both of them are designated Important Bird Areas.

Photo Credit: Anush Wijesinha

The park is quite unique when it comes to its location as it is surrounded by five lagoons namely, Bundala lagoon, Embilikala lagoon, Malala lagoon, Koholankala lagoon, and the Mahalewaya lagoon. 

Despite its inferior size to Yala, Bundala does have a large number of species, the 324 species of vertebrates, and among them, 32 fish, 15 amphibians, 48 reptiles, 197 bird, and 32 mammal species were observed. The 52 species of butterflies found here would certainly elevate the catalog of invertebrates found on the premises. 58 of all the bird species are migratory hence why the National Bird Ringing Programme was launched here with the Department of Wildlife Conservation and Field Ornithology Group of Sri Lanka in 2005.

Photo Credit: Anush Wijesinha

Photo Credit: Anush Wijesinha

 

Photo Credit: Anush Wijesinha
 

There are countless plant varieties present belonging to 90 families, most commonly Hydrillas and also other species such as Water hyacinth, water lilies, and Typhaangustifolia reed beds,  and also countless varieties of algae such as Macrocystis, Nostoc, Oscillatoria.

 

The aforementioned should probably give you a proper idea of the biodiversity of the vegetation of the area, however, it is not limited to those because you can also observe the likes of Cacia scrubs including Dichrostachys Cinerea, Randiadumetorum, Ziziphus spGymnosporia Emarginata, Carissa spinarum, Capparis Zeylanica, and Cassia spp.

 

You are likely to observe many species of trees, some rarely like Chloroxylon Swietenia others slightly more common like Bauhinia racemosa, Salvadorapersica, Drypetes Sepiaria, Manilkarahexandra.

Photo Credit: Anush Wijesinha
 

The most significant thing about Bundala National Park is its incredibly complex habitat, the main reason for that is being surrounded by lagoons. The premise, therefore, consists of very complex wetland systems, and these wetlands then attract various types of birds and especially it provides a haven for the migratory birds with large flocks of Greater Flamingos being the highlight, other than them there were other birds that can be observed like Waterfowls such as lesser whistling duck and garganey, cormorants such as little cormorant and  Indian cormorant.

 

There are larger species as well, like grey heron, black-headed ibis, Eurasian spoonbill, Asian openbill, painted stork, also waders of medium size like Tringa and smaller ones such as Charadrius can be seen in great numbers as well. 

 

There are other species you might be lucky to observe as they don’t appear in huge numbers like Black-necked stork, lesser adjutant, and Eurasian coot who are rare birds that inhabit the premise.

Although Bundala may have the edge over Yala in terms of its bird populations, it is slightly behind the mammals, There are certainly few elephants going around but also the likes of toque macaque, common langur, jackal, leopard, fishing cat, rusty-spotted cat, mongoose, wild boar, mouse deer, Indian muntjac, spotted deer, sambar, black-naped hare, Indian pangolin and porcupine as well.

 

Bundala is also home to many species of fish as well, this is also due to its unique composition, many reptile species of crocodiles, snakes including several python species, many tortoise species, and most significantly the shoreline harbors all five species of endangered sea turtles.

 

Hence, it is clear that although it is adjacent to Yala, there are many unique species in Bundala especially the giant flocks of birds, hence, if you are a wildlife enthusiast please don’t make the mistake of thinking that Bundala is just a mini Yala and totally skip it, and please enjoy the unique experience of Bundala, Happy Safaring!!