Quick answer
Yala National Park was declared one of Sri Lanka's first two national parks in 1938, together with Wilpattu, after roughly four decades as a protected sanctuary from about 1900. Before that it was a colonial hunting ground, and much earlier it was farmed and settled as part of the ancient kingdom of Ruhuna, whose capital lay at today's Tissamaharama. The park has grown in blocks since 1938 and is now roughly 1,000 square kilometres.
Key takeaways
- The land inside Yala was part of the kingdom of Ruhuna, and monastic ruins such as Sithulpawwa still stand within the protected area.
- Under British rule the Yala area was a hunting ground, and leopards, elephants and deer were shot there in large numbers.
- Yala was protected as a sanctuary from roughly 1900, and in 1938 it became one of Sri Lanka's first two national parks with Wilpattu.
- Henry Engelbrecht, a Boer prisoner of war who stayed on in Ceylon, is remembered as Yala's first game warden.
- The park was enlarged in stages after 1938 into the five blocks used today, and the Yala Strict Nature Reserve remains closed to visitors.
Yala in the ancient kingdom of Ruhuna
Long before it was a park, the land that is now Yala lay inside Ruhuna, the southern of Sri Lanka's ancient kingdoms. Its capital, Magama, stood where Tissamaharama is today, and the plains around it were irrigated from tanks and farmed for centuries. Buddhist monks lived in caves and rock monasteries in what is now the park, Sithulpawwa being the best known.
As the island's centres of power moved north and later west, much of the south-east was abandoned to forest. Malaria, the decay of the irrigation works and shifting politics all played a part. The wilderness visitors admire today is in many places forest that grew back over a settled landscape.
- →Magama, Ruhuna's capital, lay at today's Tissamaharama.
- →Sithulpawwa rock monastery sits inside the protected area.
- →Ancient tank bunds and stupa mounds survive in the scrub.
The hunting years under British rule
In the nineteenth century the Yala area was a hunting ground, prized by colonial officials and planters for its leopards, elephants, bears and deer. Hunting accounts from the period describe bags that seem staggering today, and elephants in particular were shot across the island in large numbers.
By the end of the century the losses were obvious enough that the colonial government began setting land aside. The first protections were about keeping game for sport rather than conservation in the modern sense, but they drew the first lines on the map that the park still follows.
From sanctuary to national park, 1900 to 1938
Yala was declared a sanctuary in roughly 1900, and hunting there became restricted. Henry Engelbrecht, a Boer prisoner of war who had been sent to Ceylon after the South African War and chose to stay, is remembered as the area's first game warden, and his name still comes up in stories told by trackers.
In 1938 the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance made Yala and Wilpattu Sri Lanka's first national parks. What was then protected was a much smaller area than today, roughly the core of the present Block I.
- →Roughly 1900: Yala declared a sanctuary.
- →Early twentieth century: Henry Engelbrecht serves as game warden.
- →1938: Yala and Wilpattu become Sri Lanka's first national parks.
- →After 1938: further blocks added in stages to reach five.
How Yala grew into five blocks
After 1938 Yala was enlarged in stages, with new blocks added to the north and east until the park reached roughly 1,000 square kilometres. Adjoining areas became the Yala Strict Nature Reserve, closed to visitors, and Kumana, sometimes called Yala East, became a separate park across the Kumbukkan Oya.
The block system explains why a first visit feels so concentrated. Block I is the original core, closest to the coast and the towns, and it still takes most of the jeeps. The later blocks are larger, wilder and much less visited.
Modern Yala: war, tsunami and tourism
Parts of the eastern blocks were closed for long periods during Sri Lanka's civil war, which ended in 2009, and some areas were affected by violence. On 26 December 2004 the Indian Ocean tsunami struck Yala's coast, destroying the Patanangala bungalow area and killing dozens of people inside the park.
Since 2009, visitor numbers have risen steeply, and with them the problem of jeep congestion around leopard sightings. The park's managers now face the same question as many famous reserves: how to keep the animals at the centre of a place that a great many people want to see.
- →Civil war, to 2009: eastern areas closed at times.
- →26 December 2004: tsunami strikes the Block I coast.
- →After 2009: rapid growth in visitors and jeeps.
Seeing Yala's history on a visit
Most of Yala's history is visible if you ask for it. Your tracker can point out ancient tank bunds and stupa mounds in Block I, the Patanangala memorial is a designated stop, and Sithulpawwa makes a fine morning outside the safari. Tissamaharama's great stupas show what the kingdom of Ruhuna once was.
Lankan Stays & Trails often adds a Sithulpawwa visit or a Tissamaharama morning to a Yala stay, so that the park is seen as a landscape with a past rather than a backdrop for one animal.
Frequently asked questions
When was Yala National Park established?
Yala became a national park in 1938, one of Sri Lanka's first two together with Wilpattu, under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance. The area had been protected as a sanctuary since roughly 1900, and the park was enlarged in stages afterwards to reach its present five blocks.
Is Yala the oldest national park in Sri Lanka?
Yala shares that title with Wilpattu. Both were declared national parks in 1938, the first in the country. Yala had been a protected sanctuary for roughly four decades before that, which is why it is often described as the oldest protected wildlife area on the island.
Was Yala a hunting ground?
Yes. In the nineteenth century the Yala area was a hunting ground for colonial officials and planters, who shot leopards, elephants, bears and deer in large numbers. The first protections, from roughly 1900, were partly intended to preserve game for sport before modern conservation took over.
Who was Henry Engelbrecht?
Henry Engelbrecht is remembered as Yala's first game warden. He was a Boer prisoner of war sent to Ceylon after the South African War who chose to stay on, and he is said to have patrolled the area in its early years as a sanctuary.
Why is Yala also called Ruhuna National Park?
Ruhuna was the ancient kingdom of southern Sri Lanka, with its capital at Magama, today's Tissamaharama. The park lies within that kingdom's old territory, and Ruhuna National Park is its official name in some records, while Yala is the name almost everyone uses.
Are there ruins inside Yala National Park?
Yes. Ancient tank bunds, stupa mounds and cave shelters survive inside the park from the Ruhuna period, and Sithulpawwa rock monastery lies within the protected area. Your tracker can point out sites in Block I, and Sithulpawwa can be visited separately by road.