Sloth Bear

 

During the many visit to the National Parks in the country I had been fortunate enough to witness the most spectacular animal in the wild the “Leopard” and my luck had never disappointed me from Day 1

Having many encounters and great moments to experience natures beautiful creation I was very much eager now to spot the most elusive individual in the Sri Lankan wilderness, the sloth bear.

During my last visit to the Yala National Park with my team mates I was very fortunate enough to witness many memorable sittings. It was around 3 pm as we entered the park for an afternoon safari with a ranger named Sajith who accompanied us. Our ride for the evening was in a Land Cruiser luxury jeep, very comfortable and I would say the park was less crowded. It was indeed a treat to listen to a well experienced ranger during our journey, the many stories about leopards and their territory and also about the many conservation projects that were been created the beautiful sightings he had witnessed in the past, gave us so much hope for this journey. Well for me it was all about seeing more leopards and at least a glimpse of a sloth bear as it was my very first time.

The day was just more than a blessing to us as the park was filled with so much to offer, as we were lucky to witness a beautiful peacock dance, herds of elephants enjoying the lushes greenery, deer’s and many more.

Our ranger was incredible, as he narrated many stories he was still giving good ear to the monkey call and the deer call for us to spot a leopard. And Yes! The moment arrived that we were patiently waiting for where a leopard came out of the thick jungle and crossed the road right in front of our jeep. Oh how happy was I, the sighting of a leopard is something that I will never get enough of.

Moving on further, we managed to find another female leopard who was very quick in giving us some beautiful captures and disappeared to the forest.

It was the Palu season during this time. (As the ‘Palu’ season sets in, it is the best time to visit some of Sri Lanka's National Parks, looking for the elusive Sloth Bear as it ventures out, enticed by the aroma of its favourite food! The period from May to July is the time that the ‘Palu’ (Manilkara hexandra) trees come alive, filled with ripe golden and scented fruits within the dry zone jungles of Sri Lanka. If there is anything that's irresistible to a wild Sloth Bear, it's the scent of the juicy ‘Palu’ fruits. These giant furry black lumps will climb their way to the top of these trees and spend hours feasting on the fruits and dozing off on either the top of the tree or beneath it. This becomes a common sight during the ‘Palu’ season. For a guest travelling with us during this period, this will be a great sight to witness and experience, plus a great photo opportunity as well) so it definitely gave me more hope in witnessing a sloth bear.

Sajith was indeed a great support to us, very patiently giving time, instructing the jeep driver to take different routes to see if we had the luck needed to witness this bushy jet-black animal.

The time had arrived as we all were surprised to see a black fur ball on a forward march towards us, from the swingy walk it was a sure fact that it had indulged in its share of the palu fruits for the day. It was mesmerizing, I was out of words, clicked the best pictures that I needed, gave myself some time to witness its behavior and walk as it went near the water stream to quench its thirst. Its long nails and the swingy walk was what grabbed my attention. Spent a good few minutes observing the animal as I felt I was so lucky to see this animal so close and observe it for a long time.

It was a great day after all, a very lucky day in other words, it only takes us a few hours to get away from the busy city life and hideaway in this wilderness. The calm and quietness, soothes ones soul, the fresh air that goes through your lungs gives nothing but the best time out from our busy lives. Nature indeed is mesmerizing and makes us wonder how lucky we are to be blessed with such beauty.

A bucket list experience was ticked off – Happy me!