Lunugamwehera National park is situated near Yala National Park and stretches for around 24,000 hectares and its porpoise is protection for elephants migrating from Yala to Udawalawe National Park. Lunugamwehera is home for large number of wild elephants and buffaloes.
Lunugmawehera National Park is situated in dry zone near Thanamawila and it is close proximity to Yala National Park.
Lunungamwehera national park was declared as a national park in 1995. It consists of two blocks Block 5 and Block 6. Lunugamvehera National Park protects the immediate catchment area of the Lunugamvehera reservoir, serving as a link between the Yala Protected Area Complex to its east and Udawalawe National Park to its west, facilitating the ranging of Asian elephants to and from areas such as Haldummula and Koslanda in Uva Province and the southern region of Sri Lanka.
21 fish species, 12 amphibians, 33 reptiles, 184 birds and 43 mammal species have been recorded in the park. Elephants frequent the teak plantations found within the park boundary, whilst other areas are home to domestic feral and wild buffalo and palm squirrel, giant squirrel, porcupine, palm cat wild boar, mouse deer and spotted deer. Sloth bear and leopard are present but found in low densities. Apart from these animals you can find fishing cat, grey mongoose and lots of other animals.
The Park, being a dry zone forest records temperature close to 30 degrees centigrade with rain between November and January each year making the park suitable for visiting all year round.
Lunungamwehera NP is situated 261 km southwest from Colombo, It is situated in Monaragala in Uva Province and it’s located in the dry zone. Park is exposed to annual drought and it’s relieved by south west monsoon.
There are two main access points to Lunugamwehera National Park.The entrance to the park is located on the Hambantota-Wellawaya road near Thanamalwila and the other entrance is from the Galge on Sella Kataragama – Buttala Road. This entrance is more suitable to access the Veheragala Reservoir or the Ruins. There is very little traffic from this entrance since most prefer Yala over this National Park but this area too is filled with wildlife.
Lunungamwehera National Park is open daily from 6:00 am in the morning to 6:00 pm in the evening.
There are three main Safari times in Lunugamwehera National Park
• The Lunugamwehera Morning Safari – from 6:00 am in the morning to 10:00 am in the morning.
• The Lunungamwehera Afternoon Safari – from 2:30 pm in the afternoon to 6:00 pm in the evening.
• The Lunungamwehera Full day safari – from 6:00am in the morning to 6:00 pm in the evening.
The safari would take place with an experienced guide in specially modified comfortable jeeps for unique safari experience.
There is no special time to visit Lunungamwehera National Park and you can visit it all year around. From May to September the south west monsoons hits the park so at these time there will be showers from time to time inside the park.
There are few tips you should follow when going on a safari in Lunungawehera National Park
• Bring a good binocular
• Zoom Lens
• Good Camera
• Khaki or light colored cotton garments to wear
• Plenty of water