National Park

The latest National Park in the country, "Horagolla" is the smallest under the Department of Wildlife Conservation. The preliminary works were completed for opening the Horagolla National Park officially to the public. This 13.362-hectare National Park is located in the Nambadaluwa village in Udagampattuwa of the Siyane Korale in the Gampaha District. In the seventies' decade the land belonged to the state, but on October 05, 1973 it was declared as a sanctuary considering the rich bio diversity prevalent in the area under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance. Under the same Ordinance, this natural sanctuary was later upgraded as the Horagolla National Park on July 28, 2004. The Horagolla National Park could be reach by travelling 35km on the Colombo Kandy road. Turning in at Nittambuwa and travelling one kilometers towards Veyangoda is the Pinnagolla junction. The Park office is found 6 kilometres from this junction.

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Flora

Horagolla is a low-country evergreen forest. The park has a humus soil structure and hot temperature persists throughout the year. Many tree species are in abundance including Dipterocarpus zeylanicus (Hora), Canarium zeylanicum (Kekuna), Dillenia retusa (Godapara), Caryota urens (Kitul), Pericopsis mooniana (Nedun), Mangifera zeylanica (Atamba), Sacred fig, Alstonia scholaris (Ruk Attana), Acronychia pedunculata (Ankenda), Vitex pinnata (Milla), Mimusops elengi (Moonamal), Breadfruit and Pterospermum canescens (Velang). Also various liana Entada rheedii (Pus-wel) can be seen. In the forests of the park, Gmelina arborea (Ethdemata), Filicium decipiens (Pihimbiya), Mahogany, Teak and Golden Shower Tree (Ehela) are predominant.

Founa

The mammals found in the park include Fishing Cat, Sri Lankan Spotted Chevrotain, Golden Jackal, and Grizzled giant squirrel. Horagolla is considered a birdwatching site. The number of bird species recorded from the park is 68. The most common are Parakeets, Black-crested Bulbul, Barbets, and Asian Koel. Some of the other bird species seen in the park include Sri Lanka Grey Hornbill, Sri Lanka Hanging Parrot, Layard's Parakeet and Oriental Dwarf Kingfisher. The rare Clipper, Ceylon Birdwing and Blue Mormon are the butterflies known from the park. Many threatened species including tortoises are found in Horagolla.Pythons and cobras are among the many reptiles found in the park.