Monday Nov 18, 2024
Monday Nov 18, 2024
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one off guard while it strolls along the many roads that criss-cross Yala National Park Block 1, as with it being quite a shy animal, it would rather prefer to avoid human contact at all costs.
This is what I found out when I joined Cinnamon Nature Trails on a trip to try and catch a glimpse of Melursus Ursinus Inornatus during one of the bear’s most favourite times of the year – the ‘palu’ season. Palu or ‘Manilkara Hexandra’ is probably the sloth bear’s only little guilty pleasure.
"The sloth bear has unwittingly taken the backstage to its other more famous wild compatriots – leopards and elephants. With more tourists attracted to the country’s big cats and large elephant herds, the sloth bear is somewhat a hidden treasure of sorts and in my previous encounters with them, I have grown fond of their antics where they display an almost haughty contempt for the humans that visit their home to see them"
During the fruit season from May to July, the usually shy and mostly nocturnal sloth bears can be seen feasting on the sweet ripe fruits all day 
atop the trees. The fun begins however once they’ve had their fill and the fruits ferment in their digestive tracts, causing probably just a little bit of intoxication for the bears. At this point the sloth bears will be found lounging at the foot of the trees or sleeping off their day’s efforts.
The Yala National Park is one of the best locations to spot and observe at close quarters the Sri Lankan sloth bear in its natural habitat. While staying at the Cinnamon Wild game lodge, resident Cinnamon Nature Trails Naturalists Sampath and Gayan – both having individually been on a few thousand safaris into the park already – are possibly the best guides to have along with you. Armed with both a long-held passion for nature and years of academic study in the country’s fauna, the duo have both the instinct and understanding of both the park’s bears’ habits and haunts.
By the time I reached Yala finally, after a surprisingly quick five-hour drive using the new Colombo-Matara Expressway, there had already been a few bear sightings in the previous days that had gotten me excited, and add to that the abundant palu fruits on the trees dotting the Cinnamon Wild premises when I finally reached there, I was feeling quite confident.
Not as popular
The sloth bear has unwittingly taken the backstage to its other more famous wild compatriots – leopards and elephants. With more tourists attracted to the country’s big cats and large elephant herds, the sloth bear is somewhat a hidden treasure of sorts and in my previous encounters with them, I have grown fond of their antics where they display an almost haughty contempt for the humans that visit their home to see them.
Being as elusive as they are and the fact that they are quite more dangerous than the leopard in that they are known for unprovoked attacks during mating season however is probably why, for me, they are the more exciting species to discover. Whatever attacks that have been reported however have been isolated incidents and the fact that bears are more active in the night makes the likelihood of this happening very minute.
Early start
We left on a morning safari at 5:30 a.m. and entering the park at just past 6 a.m. we were confident that we could wrap this up by breakfast. The 
Sri Lankan sloth bear however, proved to be a bit more elusive than we expected. Passing by numerous bear tracks on our way to their known haunts, we could deduce that they had been quite active overnight.
We did manage to encounter every other famous Yala resident on the way. Lazy leopards lounging on tree branches, elephants crossing our paths on the way to distant watering holes, our national bird – the colourful jungle fowl – foraging in the underbrush, jackals slinking around looking like they’re up to no good, spotted deer grazing in peace, open mouthed mugger crocodiles sunning themselves, and a large and magnificently antlered sambar that stopped in its tracks in the middle of the road and looked at us like it was challenging us to come further. This is the magic of Yala. You never know what you will expect.
We drove on for the next couple of hours stopping at each palu tree and squinting through binoculars at their branches in hopes of spotting at least a tuft of black fur. This however proved fruitless (excuse the pun). The only explanation that Sampath could deduce was that the heavy winds that we experienced throughout our morning sojourn through the park were keeping the animals off the trees. Animals such as the leopard and bear both prefer to stay on the ground during windy conditions due to the unsteadiness of the branches.
Luck plays a big role I guess on trips like this. There is no way that conditions such as what we experienced that day can be predicted, and Sampath’s own determination to bring us this experience has to be commended. He does take his job very seriously and his intimate knowledge of the park’s numerous leopard haunts is second to none.
This was proven by what I consider the highlight of my trip, the sighting of the park’s largest resident male leopard – and largest not only by physical size but also in terms of territory – ‘Hamu’. There he was lounging close to one of his favourite watering holes and seemingly happy staying on firm ground in the shade of some bushes. He was as magnificent and imperious as I pictured him to be when Sampath related his exploits prior to spotting him. With a large brood attributed to him as well, my respect for Hamu was absolute.
Fulfilling experience
Even though I couldn’t accomplish what I set out to do in the end – spot the sloth bear – I still consider my trip wholly complete for three reasons. One is obviously the wildlife I did see. We take it for granted that these animals will always be there for us to visit and watch but with so many threats to their habitats and the shrinking of their physical populations unbeknown to most of us, the experience was all the more special.
The second of course is the ability to experience nature in a setting such as the Yala National Park with expert naturalists such as Sampath and Gayan from Cinnamon Nature Trails. Their knowledge alone plays a huge role in building awareness on the conservation efforts required to properly manage some of the country’s most precious resources – its flora and fauna. To a nature lover such as me, spending four hours on a safari with them increased my own limited knowledge of the various species we encountered. From their habitats and quirks, to even their social interactions with each other as well as other animals, it’s definitely the better option than watching a nature documentary.
Cinnamon Wild is my third reason with its great accommodation, service and ambience. As a game lodge with a focus on retaining its natural environment in every way, its success in these efforts was clearly evident in how I would encounter wild animals such as buffalo, wild boar and monkeys outside my own little chalet every night. The hotel’s Manager Operations Keerthi Wimalasooriya is himself quite knowledgeable on the hotel’s environs and its wild inhabitants and was every bit the host right throughout my stay there.
In Yala, as I said earlier, you never know what to expect and it’s always better to have a ready stream of information on hand like what the Cinnamon Nature Trails staff provided us with. I for one can’t wait to try it out again. My date with Melursus Ursinus Inornatus, or the Sri Lankan sloth bear, remains open.
Pix by Daminda Harsha Perera
