Maduru Oya National Park

Maduru Oya National ParkSize 58,849 hectares hectares

Main attraction Large herds of Elephants, Deer, Wild boar, Bear, Birds and Fish

Maduru Oya National Park is located in the Dry zone and is 314 km away from Colombo It is situated by Kuda Sigiriya a great eco location yet to be explored by travelers to Sri Lanka.

The park was established as a catchment area for the five reservoirs under the Mahaweli project and provides habitats for wildlife, inclusive of elephants. It was declared a national park in 1983 under the Flora and Fauna Protection Ordinance.

Maduruoya is well known for its elephant habitat. Other than elephants, leopards, sloth bears, sambur, spotted and barking deer, wild boar and wild buffalo are also found here. Torque Macaque, Purple face leaf monkey and nocturnal slender Loris are also found in the park. Lesser Adjutant, Wooly necked stork, open bill, painted stork, Racket tailed Drongo, Yellow fronted barbet, Sri Lanka Junglefowl & Spurfowl are among the over 100 species of birds found within the park.

All dry zone vegetation is found in abundance at Maduru Oya Park. Weera, palu, buruta, kaluwara welang, beli, ehela, kumbuk, milla, kone and woodapple are some of them. However, it is sad to see the sections of the jungle that were raped by chena cultivators who destroyed all the big trees and turned them into open plains, now filled with illuk, grass and various kinds of shrubs and cactus groves.

Ruins at Henanigala, Kudawila, Gurukumbura, Uluketangoda, Werapokuna and several other places include ancient Buddhist shrines, temples, dagobas, statues, devales and hermitages from different eras in Sri Lankan history. An ancient sluice dating before the 1st century BC was discovered recently on the old breached earthen bund of the Maduru Oya. Early Brahmin inscriptions dating from the 3rd century BC are found at Kandegamakanda. Vestiges of the Veddhas, an aboriginal tribe believed to be descended from King Vijaya and the Yaksha (demon) princess Kuveni, are to be traced to the traditional lifestyles of a few families in Dambana.