Both conservationists and wildlife authorities have expressed the need to bring in a mechanism to oversee the number of vehicles that enter the Yala National Park and to better protect the wildlife from poaching.

On 29 March, a second sighting of the black leopard in the Yala park took place and sparked a flurry of activity with the tourists jeeps frequenting the area hoping to glimpse the rare creature. 

However, the intense vehicle congestion in the area prompted authorities to close down the road leading to where the sighting was made. 

Vehicle traffic in the Yala was an issue not too long ago when more than 700 vehicles were entering the park on a daily basis soon after the reserve was reopened for tourists after the Covid pandemic and lockdowns ended.  

Sethil Muhandiram from Leopocon, a leopard conservation organisation said that the recent road closure to protect the black leopard, while necessary, must be a short term measure. 

“The road closure should be a temporary arrangement because in the long run it could impact the wildlife in the park as well as tourism. Therefore it’s best to arrange a proper conservation plan for the black leopard because the creature is a rare animal due to the melanistic colour variant that defines it. Other than that, it is just another common leopard.”

Black leopard at risk of being poached 

He warned that the rarity of the animal’s black coat would attract poaching.  

“Because of the pure black colour, it has been given prominence in society and is at high risk of being killed by poachers for its fur coat. As far as we know, there is poaching activity going on within the park itself, particularly in the area of the black leopard’s territory. The Wildlife Department must carry out patrols on a daily basis and do surveillance using modern technology. The department must have a proper mechanism not only to protect the black leopard but to protect all wildlife within the park from poachers.” 

He went on to say that vehicle numbers must also be reduced to protect against pollution. 

“The number of vehicles has to be limited. A large number of vehicles enter the park on a daily basis so there has to be proper guidelines for the drivers to follow when entering the park. Authorities must also mitigate the high number of vehicles entering the park because of the adverse impact they have on the wildlife like the high CO2 emission, noise pollution, and other disturbances to the wildlife. They must do a proper survey to determine the number of vehicles entering the park, how many go to certain areas, etc. and then come up with a plan.”

Road closed for black leopard’s safety

Meanwhile, Department of Wildlife Assistant Director (Uva) W.A.A.D.U. Indrajith said that the road closure was solely to protect the black leopard and that it would be reopened once vehicular traffic reduced.

“As soon as word got out that there was a black leopard sighting, many tourist jeeps began to go into the area. Therefore we took immediate action to close off that road to tourists because we identified that it would endanger the habits of the leopards there. We also deployed teams to keep watch and patrol for poachers. The road closure is temporary. We will study the situation for a week or so and then decide. If there is less traffic that way then we can reopen the road.”

He said there were several dangers that vehicle traffic posed on the animal. 

“Heavy vehicle traffic affects leopards’ habits. The day the black leopard was sighted, we witnessed that due to the large number of vehicles gathered to see the creature, it was unable to cross the road to go to the nearby watering hole. It can prevent the leopard from accessing water and disturb hunting patterns. These are two main factors that ensure its survival.” 

He went on to say that other, larger leopards also posed a threat to the black leopard. 

“There’s another danger to this leopard in the form of a separate dominant male leopard that also lives in the area. This dominant male will compete with the other males for food and territory and pose a danger to the black leopard as well as other male leopards. This is a natural situation however, so we cannot interfere in that. This is the only black leopard that has been sighted at the Yala National Park so far. I have sighted four other leopards in the same area.”

Vehicle congestion at park reduced

Commenting on vehicles entering the park, he said that the congestion was not as high as it once was.  

“Earlier there were regulations on the number of vehicles but that is not there any more. Soon after the Covid pandemic was over and the park was reopened, we saw hundreds of vehicles coming into the park – sometimes as many as 600-700 a day. But now those numbers have reduced so we don’t see a need to regulate the number of vehicles that enter the park just yet.”

He said that a management mechanism to better organise the traffic was needed for the safety of the wildlife. 

“If we are to increase daily vehicle numbers we must introduce a new system to manage the vehicles within the park so that there aren’t too many vehicles on the same road at once and the vehicles are distributed evenly within the park boundaries. The main issue is congestion. That is why we close the park from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. everyday because that is the hottest time of the day and the animals need the freedom to be able to seek shade or water without being disturbed by vehicles and humans.”

Noting the value of Yala National Park in bringing in dollars to the country and thus the inability to limit vehicle numbers, Indrajith said that the best course of action was to increase the areas and roads that vehicles can travel to/on.  

“Due to the importance of Yala park to the tourism industry, which brings in much needed foreign exchange, we cannot limit the number of vehicles even if we wanted to at this point. What we can do is increase the areas in which the vehicles can travel. For example, Lunugamwehera was opened up last year and we have developed more ponds and watering holes. This has become a haven for birds and bird watchers alike. We have also developed more roads. These initiatives allow the park to accommodate more vehicles while ensuring minimum congestion and pollution.”

With recent developments it is clear that both poaching and excessive visitor numbers are having a negative impact on the wildlife within the Yala park and immediate steps are needed to address the twin issues.