Wilpattu National Park has turned parched under the prevailing drought, with water sources across parts of the park running dry, and the Department of Wildlife has begun trucking in water for the animals.
Park Warden R.D.D.D. Samaranayake said the main water sources in the park’s eastern zone — the Maradankaduwa, Parcibendiwewa and Kukulkatuwa tanks — have run dry, leaving nothing for the animals to drink.
Wildlife officers are pumping water from bowsers into concrete ponds as a temporary measure, Samaranayake said.
He added that several lakes in the park’s other zones remain at satisfactory levels, meaning the shortage is at this stage concentrated in the eastern sector rather than affecting the whole park.
Wilpattu is Sri Lanka’s largest and oldest national park, covering roughly 130,000 hectares in the northwest. Its name refers to the natural sand-rimmed water basins, or villus, that fill during the rains and define its landscape and its wildlife — leopard, sloth bear, elephant, deer and water buffalo among them. Those basins depend on seasonal rainfall, which leaves the park particularly exposed when the rains fail.
Bowser-fed ponds are a standard emergency response used by wildlife authorities during severe dry spells, but capacity is limited and the measure cannot substitute for natural water bodies across a park of Wilpattu’s size.
The Daily Mirror report did not say how many bowsers are in service, how long the operation is expected to run, or whether animal deaths have been recorded. Conditions elsewhere point the same way: traders say vegetable supply to the Dambulla Economic Centre has fallen by a third as reservoir levels drop, and forecasters have warned of El Niño-related risks in the months ahead.
