Chundikulam National Park

Vinsun Uruththiramoorthy - Google

Chundikulam National Park is located in the center of the strip of land that connects the Jaffna peninsula to the rest of the island. Since 1938, Chundikulam Lagoon and its surroundings had been designated as a bird sanctuary. However, after the area was re-captured from the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) during the civil war in 2009, it was assigned as a national park, administered by the Department of Wildlife Conservation in Sri Lanka, in 2015.

Surrounded by the Indian Ocean and the Chundikulam Lagoon, this has led to the evolution of various habitats, allowing a greater number of wildlife to flock within the area. The Chundikulam National Park, a birders’ paradise, is adorned with numerous water and wader birds, including the black-winged stilt, curlew sandpiper, eurasian wigeon, garganey, flamingo, marsh sandpiper, northern pintail, oriental ibis, ruff, shoveler, terek sandpiper and wood sandpiper. There are also animals such as leopards, sloth bears, deer, mugger crocodiles and saltwater crocodiles as well.