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David Behrens | profile | all galleries >> Sri Lanka: 2002 - 2006 >> Yala National Park, Sri Lanka: April 2002 tree view | thumbnails | slideshow

Yala National Park, Sri Lanka: April 2002

On a recent trip to Sri Lanka I had the opportunity for a one day visit Yala National Park (also known as Ruhunu National Park). All I can say is WOW! This is like a miniature African safari! The pictures shown are the results of only one day in the park. Unfortunately we were confined to the inside of a covered jeep at all times - I could not even open the door to take a picture. Park rules. Therefore all my shots were hand held - many times with our jeep running at a rough idle - an almost impossible combination. However, the image stabilisation on my Canon 100-400 IS lens is what saved the day. All pictures were taken with a Canon EOS D-30. I highly recommend this park - but you really need to spend 3 days or more to see what Yala has to offer. I was told that there were approximately 35 leopards that roamed the park. We saw three of them. A very lucky day in the park!
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Yala landscape.jpg
Yala landscape.jpg		 Asian Elephants.jpg
Asian Elephants.jpg		 Chital Deer.jpg
Chital Deer.jpg		 Malabar Pied Hornbill.jpg
Malabar Pied Hornbill.jpg
Leopard in bush.jpg
Leopard in bush.jpg		 Yala Leopard
Yala Leopard		 Lesser Adjutant endangered.jpg
Lesser Adjutant endangered.jpg		 Wild Buffalo.jpg
Wild Buffalo.jpg
Changable Hawk Eagle.jpg
Changable Hawk Eagle.jpg		 Grey-headed Fish Eagle.jpg
Grey-headed Fish Eagle.jpg		 Elephant.jpg
Elephant.jpg		 Elephant 2.jpg
Elephant 2.jpg
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Surangaya 30-Jun-2012 00:14
Well,Enjoy with my eyes.thaks lot to change my mind.
shanika 13-Feb-2012 10:54
I am shani.I am live in Ambalangoda.This information is very nice.thank you.bye.
shanika 13-Feb-2012 10:53
I am shani.I am live in Ambalangoda.This information is very nice.thank you.bye.
Guest 05-Feb-2012 13:25
Jawseek its really best tnks to u mr.coz upload this photos to us and is this animels r here i am happy to say this coz i am SRI LANKAN
Guest 12-Sep-2011 17:19
I went to Yala August 2011 saw 5 Leopards really great as I have been to Kenya 5 times and neaver seen one there. I love the country and the people.
ISHAN 08-Jul-2011 04:00
I'M ISHAN I LIVE CLOSE TO YALA BUT I NEVER SEE SOME ANIMALS CLEARLY.THIS PHOTOS VERY IMPORTENT FOR US. PLEASE UPLOAD EVERY ANIMALS AND BIRDS PHOTOS.
SAMAN 12-May-2011 02:02
I AM SAMAN, VERY NICE, THANKS FOR VALUABLE INFORMATION
dulanjika 01-May-2011 04:44
absolutely beautiful .... the best national park in srilanka...........
shonali 05-Feb-2011 13:12
ya its true its amazing and ausum ha ha i lve it
Selena 13-Dec-2010 01:55
Haha! I kinda feel stupid considering that the top of the page said i took a trip to sri lanka! Silly me! Love the pics! Sometimes i over look things!:)
Selena Gomez 13-Dec-2010 01:53
Amazing Pictures! Boy do I wanna go here! Were these taken by a tourist of someone who lives there? Anyway, I praise the photographer!
Cyclone 02-Nov-2010 16:34
Awsome pics man!!!! Lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve them!!!
Hiru 02-Nov-2010 16:31
Awsome pics man!!!! Lovvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve them!!!
Bo 07-May-2010 15:52
We went to Yala park april 2010. The place and hotel in Yala village are nice. But during the safari we didn't see any big wild animal (monkey, leopard etc) ..Correction....at a far distance: 2 olifants, some bambi deers and a few crocodiles in the water. Most of the other small animals: wild pigs, birds, mongo, etc. one could see also outside the parc or even near the hotel. For us it's still unclear how many leopards
live in this parc.Other visitors were more lucky but even than don't expect an African safari and if you don't expect great things it's a nice trip but not that cheap (we payed almost 10.000 roepies for 2 persons)for 3,30 hours. It's is probably the only thing I would skipp out of our tour in Sri Lanka next time.
Susantha Perera 23-Apr-2010 07:39
WOW Absolutely beautiful. it is an amazing nature park.
manjula16-Mar-2010 07:52
i am dhammika i am from srilanka i see your web site it is very good. good luck
Thoofi 05-Mar-2010 12:12
nice pics,as soon as i can i'll try to visit it and also i love nature.
Soeren 14-Jan-2010 09:39
Absolutely beautiful. Are going to Sri Lanka in 3 weeks. Will no doubt visit Yala.
Carl Belgium 13-Dec-2009 13:11
Absolutely stunning...
Chris Lemphers 01-Jul-2009 20:42
I am hoping to return to Sri Lanka, my birthpace after 30 years with 2 of my sons. Although all of my sons have been born in Canada, they are intrigued by the journey of immigration their father took many years ago as a child to Canada.
ebroguy 29-Jun-2009 06:10
Great pics , am going to Sri Lanka in September and hope to visit Yala , is it possible to make a 3 day Safari and stay overnight in the park ?
ebroguy 29-Jun-2009 06:09
Great pics , am going to Sri Lanka in September and hope to visit Yala , is it possible to make a 3 day Safari and stay overnight in the park ?
Macdonald 13-Mar-2009 20:10
yala the best !!
Ruvisha 12-Feb-2009 16:10
fantastic
siobhan and yala 18-Dec-2008 08:23
i had the goodfortune to live in sri lanka for 2 years the late 90's. to keep our links with sri lanka and because yala is such a beautiful place we called our daughter yala. she is 5 and this morning has found your sight as she loves to put her name in the search engine and llok at yala park.
Simon & Dina UK 15-Apr-2008 14:25
We saw Yala a week after Tsunami and it was shocking to see the damage, but a year later we came back and it was much improved (saw leopard and Sloth bear and many birds). We've been to Namibia, Kenya and Ghana but Yala is still my favourite and probably the most beautiful. I love the stork photo. Simon & Dina -UK
KN 02-Dec-2007 04:51
thanks for the photos..
the landscape is not the same after Dec '04...
this will be a valuable collection.
Guest 19-Nov-2007 11:14
lovely pictures would love to go to sri lanka one day i have heard it is a wonderfull place
lisa 03-Aug-2007 07:49
Beautiful pictures! I've been there myself this summer. It's an amazing park.
jakehyr 29-Jul-2007 09:34
these pictures are amazing! i wonder if the animals (birds esp) have their migratory seasons!
Guest 11-Jul-2007 10:08
nilcin alles
Guest 21-Jun-2007 11:56
wonderful!
I was so frustrated because myt camera was out of battery when we were in Yala Park...
ashoka 24-Mar-2007 21:31
beautiful
Sanchitha Weerawardana 18-Jan-2007 04:37
Well done!! Those stuff are really superb. If you can visit the YALA block 2 in the rainy season it will be a great adventurous expedition!!!
Chaidej 26-Dec-2006 08:37
great shot
Ling 13-Oct-2006 07:30
Yipee!

I will be heading there in a wks time - to take photos! Hmm, rather to learn how to take photos fm my professional photographer FRIEND! =)

I know i can do it!

Yeah!
SCUBA 25-Sep-2006 00:50
Yes Yala is a lovely national park. I have been planning to get a 100 - 400 IS. I guess after seeing this photographs its a no brainer.
RAJITHA SENEVIRATNE 04-Sep-2006 09:34
I have posted some photo's of the AMAZON RAIN FOREST, where I spent 15 days along the River Negro. It was a wonderful experince to set foot to some areas where hardly another human being has ever set foot. Sri Lanka has a lot in common with the landscape of the Amazonas..
Manioc a staple diet of the Amazonian people , grows well in sri Lanka too. My study was on Parrots ,Amazon has the largest concentration of parrots along with Indonesian region. I was able to study the breeding patterns of Macaws (Ara's) (which i was able to breed at home). I like to share my experience will anyone. ,
Shermila 13-Jun-2006 12:48
It's rely nice,many people used to shout at park rangers for not showing animals hterfore better if you can give the details of the time you visited the park. Thank You
Rasitha Madanayaka 23-May-2006 14:16

This is truly great work. Well done. I haven't been to the park. This definitely motivated me to do so. It's absolutely stunning.
Kosala Garusinghe 10-May-2006 12:01
Remarkable photographs of good quality and variety. Congradulations! Better if you could mention camera, lens,apature and shutter etc. as it could be helpful to amateure photogrephers. Lot of water/shore birds are there too. Hope you will catch them in your next visit. Great job. As a Sri Lankan I value your work a lot. Better luck next time
Jill 13-Apr-2006 10:10
visited Yala 02/04/06, absolutely stunning, remarkable how similar our photos are to Davids!
Definitely worth a visit, rangers and drivers extremely friendly and went out of their way to find animals and gave us plenty of time just to watch, absorb and admire their beautiful park.
Rajitha Seneviratne 31-Jan-2006 11:00
You have a beautiful picture of the Black Necked Stork at Yala on the other site you have posted. Such a rare bird, if I am not mistaken a few dozen or less live in the Park but unfortunaly very little attention is paid to it and i wonder why no research is done to asertain its behaviour etc...and possibly save from extintion. any comments...
Rajitha 31-Jan-2006 10:43
Very nice, only one missing is the unique sloth bear, but for one day you have done great !!! Yes I have been to the Amazon rain forest (Rio Negro) to the jungles of Bornea but to me Yala was one of the best parks I have ever seen. I think Samburu in Kenya comes a close second..
nithya 31-Jan-2006 06:59
oh guys thisz our lanka
Guest 31-Jan-2006 06:58
oh !!!!! itz very nice
Adithya 30-Jan-2006 08:12
really it's wow....................
Colin 23-Dec-2005 19:03
I loved looking through these photos. I spent a couple of wonderful days in Yala in 2003, and saw everything except loopard. We had a close encounter with a sloth bear and her cubs however which made up for it. Looking at these photos takes me back....
Chanaka 18-Oct-2005 13:40
Wow, You have nice pictures. Keep adding these kind of Pictures and give futher information about each pictures. Thank You!
Asthika 12-Oct-2005 11:17
Some very beautiful pictures. You have been extreamly lucky to see what you did. The pictures are very good and have come out so well given that you had to take them by hand in a jeep or some vehicle. Will be travelling there next week and am looking forward to seeing it. Reading your guest comment list, i thank you for potraying your trip so that others can learn and appreciate all the hidden beuty of Sri Lanka.
Good luck in the future.
Asthika
ruhunuvoice 18-Sep-2005 17:16
Dear David and others.. Great work. Thanks for your valiuable contribution. We are from United Hela organization, an group works to protect Sri Lanka's ancient archealogical and natural heritage. For more details on Yala and its ancient heritage (and some photos of tempels locating in Yala jungle), please visit into our news group. And we like to keep in touch with you in future . thanks.

www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ruhunuvoice
coordinating comitee . UHO
Guest 10-Aug-2005 12:53
We visited Yala last year and saw three leopards, sloth bear, numerous elephants, etc, fantastic.
Guest 10-Aug-2005 12:53
We visited Yala last year and saw three leopards, sloth bear, numerous elephants, etc, fantastic.
Sam 13-Jul-2005 11:23
Wow, such amazing pictures, they have inspired me to go and see Yala National Park for myself.
Chaminda 07-Apr-2005 11:40
Great photos. Really enjoyed. Thank you.
David Behrens10-Feb-2005 00:20
Mohammed,
Many thanks for the trip report. It is very encouraging. I will pass this on to others.
Brgds,
Dave
Mohammed Abidally 09-Feb-2005 17:38
I visited Yala from 4th - 6th February. There are a lot of destroyed patches near the coast line. Yala Safari Beach Hotel and Browns safari Beach Hotel is completely destroyed with a lot of loss of life. Inside the park there are patches of land in some places upto one km inland that have been laid waste - all scrub and plants dead due to the salt water erosion. Pattanangala bungalow is completely destroyed - only the foundation with tiles on it remain.

The rest of the park is fine. Animals have returned - we saw Elephant, Bear, Leopard, Buffalo, Wild Boar, and lots of other species. The park is still beautiful. Yala Village Hotel which was one of the best hotels is fully functional and excellent.

The situation is very safe to visit and we need the tourists to come back.

If anyone needs more specific information or help please fell free to email me on mohammed@slt.lk
Hergen Albus 18-Jan-2005 11:43
Great pictures. Hope you don't mind if I copy some of those to use them for the homepage of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Berlin. on Yala National Park, you might be interested in the following article from Daily News:

Animals return to Yala
by Florence Wickramage Daily News, 18.01.2005
The animals which left the eastern region of the Yala National Park hit by the tsunami tidal waves have returned. Several elephants were seen roaming around the Buttuwa area several days ago, Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation Dayananda Kariyaswasam told the Daily News yesterday.
Visiting Block 1 of the Yala Park affected by the tsunami over the weekend, Kariyawasam said in addition to elephants, herds of deer were seen roaming about. More animals could be seen during this period due to the fewer numbers of vehicles driving through the park. Animals were missing in the eastern region only on one day - December 26, Kariyawasam said.
It is an accepted fact that animals are more sensitive to sound and as at Yala, before the human ear picked up the sounds of the tsunami, they bolted inland. This is very common in countries such as China where the animals running off are taken as a signal of an earthquake.
Visitors have also started coming in and the Yala National Park is getting back to normality. Kariyawasam said the damage caused to the Yala National Park's eastern region is negligible. Block 1 of the Yala National Park (eastern region) covers 14,000 ha. and the tsunami had impacted only on around 200 ha. The entire Yala National Park covers an extent of 129,700 ha. Kariyawasam said the increasing numbers of visitors to Yala is a positive step in building the economy of the South, devastated by the tsunami.

As i always say, it's always a good idea to travel to Sri Lanka. If you want to help, go to Sri Lanka and help. There's a lot to do.
Simon Ludden 05-Jan-2005 15:38
Wonderful pictures of an area that we have very fond memories of. We even named our house after it. I had suspected that the hotel may have been destroyed, but at least the news about the animals seems to be good. My main memory of the lodge is of the bats plucking insects inches from your face as you sat there with a drink. Let us hope the region can recover in time.
Flash Wilson 01-Jan-2005 14:58
Beautiful pictures! I sponsor a child in Sri Lanka and have often wondered about visiting her. Is it safe to travel in the region around the park?

Obviously things have changed now that the tsunami has hit, but I found your site after reading about the Yala park in the news... apparently the animals sensed danger and found safe ground, unlike the humans no animals there were killed.

Thanks for such great photos.
bert klok 31-Dec-2004 22:44
je hebt veel geduld gehad om al deze dieren te zien "proviciat
indika 14-May-2004 03:44
your pics are nice. words aren't able to explain them. beautiful.
Adrian Simon 06-May-2003 08:46
Excellent photographs. I must also say that you have been extremely lucky. Being a Sri Lankan with an avid interest in wildlife, I visit Yala at every opportunity I get. In 11 visits last year, each lasting 3 nights and 4 days, I have had only one opportunity to see 4 leopards in one day. Hope you'll return and spend more time in Yala.
Harvey 17-Dec-2002 12:09
Thank you for your pictures. My husband and I will be going to Sri Lanka (our first time) in January, and your pictures have given us an idea of how beautiful Yala is. Unfortunately, we will only have a day in Yala. I hope we can be as lucky as you in spotting the animals and taking beautiful photographs.
Harvey 17-Dec-2002 12:09
Thank you for your pictures. My husband and I will be going to Sri Lanka (our first time) in January, and your pictures have given us an idea of how beautiful Yala is. Unfortunately, we will only have a day in Yala. I hope we can be as lucky as you in spotting the animals and taking beautiful photographs.
Harvey 17-Dec-2002 12:09
Thank you for your pictures. My husband and I will be going to Sri Lanka (our first time) in January, and your pictures have given us an idea of how beautiful Yala is. Unfortunately, we will only have a day in Yala. I hope we can be as lucky as you in spotting the animals and taking beautiful photographs.
Harvey 17-Dec-2002 12:07
Thank you for your pictures. My husband and I will be going to Sri Lanka (our first time) in January, and your pictures have given us an idea of how beautiful Yala is. Unfortunately, we will only have a day in Yala. I hope we can be as lucky as you in spotting the animals and taking beautiful photographs.
Donald 05-Dec-2002 16:22
Sitting here in cold and wet Scotland on 5th December, knowing that in 10 days from now, I'll be looking at this in real life! This is an excellent set of photos.
Marianne Nightingale 05-Oct-2002 20:11
Liked your site and wonderful photos of Sri Lankan wildlife. You certainly were lucky and prolific during your short time at Yala. We hope to go to Yala next February and would love to see the leopards. I'm a wildlife artist - www.wildlifeartonsilk.com - and specialise in cats, big and small. Have travelled to Kahna in India - saw tigers each time we were there. If you have any useful contacts there, would like to know.

Best of luck with future projects - it's a wonderful wild world out there!

Regards,

Marianne Nightingale
click on thumbnails for full image