Wasgamuwa National Park Sanctuary
The accelerated Mahaweli Development Project resulted in the clearing vast areas of the forest and thus depriving manyspeciesof wildlife of its homelands. This park was established to conserve the biodiversity of the area. It was declared as a NationalPark in 1984 and the total area of the park is 33,766 hectares. The vegetation is tropical dry mixed evergreen forest with largeopen plains. The dense forest cover, the hilly ridges such as the "Sudukanda" range and well-developed riverine forests makethis park an important locality for avifauna. There are campsites and bungalows inside the park which have to be booked beforehand from the DWLC office in Colombo.
How to get there:- 1) Colombo -Kandy -Hunnasgiriya -Hasalaka -Wilgamuwa -Park entrance.
2) Colombo -Kandy -Matale -Riverston -Hettipola -Wilgamuwa -Park entrance (6 hours).
BIRDS: Red-Faced Malkoha, Blue-Faced Malkoha, Red-Winged Crested Cuckoo, Ceylon Trogon, Indian Cuckoo, DrongoCuckoo, Indian Pitta, White-Necked & Painted Stork, Striated &Baya Weavers, Crested Serpent & Crested Hawk Eagles,White-Bellied Sea Eagle, Grey-Headed Fish Eagle, Forest Eagle Owl, Brown Fish Owl, Little Scops Owl, Paradise Flycatcher, Thick-Billed Flowerpecker.
