Location: Southern Province Map
Area: 6,216 hectares (24 sq mi)
Entrance Fee: Adult $8.40
Children: $4.20
Bundala National Park is an important winter refuge for migratory waterbirds located in Sri Lanka. One hundred and ninety-seven species of birds reside in Bundala, among which the flamingo stands out, which migrates in large flocks. In 1969 Bundala was designated a wildlife refuge and in 1993 it was elevated to the status of a national park. In 1991 Bundala was the first wetland to be declared a Ramsar site in Sri Lanka. In 2005 the national park was recognized by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve, becoming the fourth biosphere reserve in Sri Lanka. The national park is located about 245 km southeast of Colombo.
In the area the substrates are mainly hornblende-biotite type gneiss of the eastern Vijayan series. The dry climate typical of the low regions prevails in the area. The annual rainfall in the Bundala area is about 1,074 mm. Although the area receives a significant amount of rainfall during the northeast monsoon season, dry weather prevails during the rest of the year. The proximity to the Indian Ocean helps to mitigate temperatures. The average annual temperature is about 27.0 °C, but the temperature rises during the months of April, May and June. In the national park the relative humidity is high with values around 80%. The national park is made up of four lagoons, Bundala of 520 hectares, Embilikala of 430 hectares, Malala of 650 hectares and Koholankala of 390 hectares.
Regarding its ecology, the park houses seven types of terrestrial habitats and six types of wetlands. In the area, the existence of 383 plant species has been revealed, with dry shrubs with thorns and herbs being the most abundant. This includes six endemic species and seven nationally threatened species. Bundala also includes a small mangrove swamp in the Bundala lagoon area. Three hundred and twenty-four species of vertebrates have been surveyed in the park, which include thirty-two species of fish, fifteen species of amphibians, forty-eight species of reptiles, one hundred and ninety-seven species of birds and thirty-two species of mammals. Five of the mammals are threatened. Among the invertebrates are fifty-two species of butterflies, including the troides darsius, which is the largest butterfly in Sri Lanka. The most common species are Appias wardii, Ixias pyrene and Colotis amata.
In all coastal lagoons the most abundant phytoplankton is blue-green algae including species such as Macrocystis, Nostoc, Oscillatoria and Hydrilla which are abundant in the Embilikala and Malala lagoons. Aquatic plants such as water hyacinth, water lilies, and Typha angustifolia populate the shallows and streams. The vegetation consists mainly of acacia shrubs including Dichrostachys cinerea, Randia dumetorum, Ziziphus sp., Gymnosporia emarginata, Carissa spinarum, Capparis zeylanica and Cassia spp.. The forest hosts trees of the following species Bauhinia racemosa, Salvadora persica, Drypetes sepiaria, Manilkara hexandra, and less common Chloroxylon swietenia, Azadirachta indica, and Feronia limonia. Several halophyte plants find the environmental conditions of the park optimal, in particular Salicornia brachiata and Halosarcia indica are examples of salt-resistant plants that populate the lagoons. In the mangrove area there are Lumnitzera racemosa trees.
Bundala is an important bird refuge. About a hundred species of aquatic birds live in the humid areas of the park, about half of them are migratory birds. The flamingo, which arrives in flocks of up to a thousand individuals, from the Rann of Kutch in India, is one of the birds that most stands out. Other waterfowl with large populations are the Indian Jaguar, the Eurasian Teal, the Lesser Cormorant, the Indian Cormorant, the European Gray Heron, the Black-headed Ibis, the Eurasian Spoonbill, the Indian Open-billed Stork, the Indian Tantalum, and medium size for example subspecies of Tringa, and small wading birds subspecies of plovers. The Asian jabiru, the Javanese marabou and the common coot are rare birds that inhabit the national park.
The forest is an important habitat for the Sri Lankan elephant, the largest subspecies of the threatened Asian elephant. Other mammals that dwell in the park are the Sri Lanka Sambar deer, Sri Lanka leopard, wild boar, gray Indian mongoose, Sri Lanka big-faced bear, Sri Lanka axis deer, dwarf Indian civet, golden jackal , and the Indian porcupine.
Populations of various types of fish are found in Bundala including species adapted to high saline waters, marine fish, brackish water species and freshwater fish. Respective examples of these types of fish are Anguilla bicolor, Bald glassy, milkfish and channa striata. Bundala is one of the few areas home to the two species of crocodile found in Sri Lanka, the salt marsh crocodile and the marine crocodile. The Bundala coast is a spawning site for five species of migrating sea turtles. to Sri Lanka. Bundala's herpetofauna includes two endemic species, the buffalo Bufo atukoralei and the Boulenger's Keelback snake.
The Kirinda temple, which was built on the site where the ship carrying Princess Viharamahadevi docked during the reign of King Kavan Tissa (205 BC–161 BC), is located in a transition zone of the national park. The intermediate zone includes four towns with approximately 3,800 inhabitants. The main means of life of these communities includes raising free-range animals, fishing, agriculture and the excavation of fossil shell deposits for lime production.
Four main threats to biodiversity in Bundala have been identified. The destruction and fragmentation of habitat, the exploitation of native species, prolonged drought and the spread of invasive foreign species and a series of inadequate land management practices. Bundala also suffers from the invasion of two species of plants that are currently estimated to cover 60% of the ground, while a cactus covers the ground, the bush Prosopis juliflora (Sinhalese "Katu Andara") grows above it, obstructing the passage of sunlight to plants at lower levels. An investigation carried out by the IWMI has concluded that the Bundala lagoons are contaminated by surface water drainage from agricultural areas. Which leads to a decline in populations of shrimp, crabs, and other small crustaceans on which birds feed.