Kumana, once known as Yala East is a less frequently visited National Park located at the far east borders of Yala National Park. In the West, the park is bordered by the Kumbukkan River, and the South border runs to Panama Village, the last populated settlement on the eastern coast. Kumana is one of the best places for watching leopards in Sri Lanka. While Yala National Park is quite busy and crowded with visitors, you can get a more peaceful safari trip in Kumana. Thus, many visitors are heading to Kumana to see these gorgeous big cats.
Identification of Kumana leopards
Leopards in Kumana are identified and given a specific code and a name. The code contains KM or KF before the number, K for Kumana, and M or F for Male or Female. Current studies have identified 70 individual leopards in the park but the actual numbers are estimated to be over 100 individuals. If you like to know more details about these elusive cats, you can view the Kumana Leopard Diary database.
Among the leopards in Kumana, some are well-habituated to the safari jeeps and give epic sightings to visitors. These socialized leopards show some interesting behaviors. In this post, we are showing you the most popular, photogenic leopards in Kumana National Park.
1. KM02 – Wijaya
KM02 – Wijaya aka Bagu is one of the most dominant males living in Kumana National Park. As King Lucas is the ruler of Yala Block I, Wijaya is the King who rules a large area of Kumana. He is a quite photogenic leopard which gives epic sighting to visitors. Hence, Wijaya is among the top-photographed leopards in the park.
First recorded in 2018, he is a legendary male more than 5 years old. He is a bold leopard who doesn’t care about humans or safari jeeps. Wijaya likes to sleep on the safari tracks, blocking the road for many hours without caring a bit about the world. He has no rush to move from safari tracks and likes to rest and sleep offering a show for visitors.
2. KF06 – Black Nose
KF06 – Black Nose is a legendary leopardess living in Kumana National Park. First recorded in 2020, she has got this name due to her black-colored injured nose. Most probably, her nose became injured due to a fight with another leopard. Otherwise, she got this wound during the process of hunting.
Even though she lost part of her nose, she is looking healthy and thriving in the jungle. Black Nose shows the incredible adaptation and courage of a leopard in the wilderness.
Black Nose and KM02 – Wijaya are a legendary leopard couple in Kumana National Park. The famous couple welcomed their cubs in 2022. The 2 female leopard cubs called as KF28- Anuvi and KF29- Avi.
This sweet family was highly popular among wildlife photographers. This is a wonderful photograph that shows one of the cubs of KF06 – Black Nose playing with her father Wijaya. Definitely, observing an adult male leopard with a cub is one of the rarest sceneries in the wilderness.
3. KF10 – Wasuki
KF10 -Wasuki is one of the most beautiful leopardesses in Kumana National Park. First recorded in 2018, she is currently more than 5 years old. She is a bold and fearless leopard who likes to roam around the safari tracks without any fear of humans.
Wasuki gave birth to two cubs in Sep 2022. Unfortunately, one cub went missing and only KM31 – Ritta survived. Wasuki extremely protected this cub and taught him all the survival skills. Thus, he is well-habituated to humans and gives epic sightings in Kumana National Park.
4. KM31 – Ritta
KM31 – Ritta is the most handsome male cub of Kumana National Park. Born in 2022, he is still a sub-adult. However, Ritta is a superstar and a great poser for photographs. He isn’t scared to jeeps at all. Raised by his brave mother KF10 – Wasuki, this bold male is the hottest sensation in Kumana National Park.
With his handsome beauty, Ritta is quite famous among visitors. He is getting stronger and bolder day by day. He is roaming around a large area of the park to establish its territory. Certainly, this promising young cub will become a legendary leopard in the future.
5. KF16 – Kesha
KF16 – Kesha is the hottest and most photogenic leopardess in Kumana National Park. Similar to Queen Strawberry in Yala National Park, Kesha shows the epitome of the beauty of leopards. Her coat has a clearly noticeable color variation than other grown-up females.
First recorded in 2021, this pretty girl is one of the most popular leopards in the park due to her photogenic behavior. Thus, she is among the most photographed leopards and you might be able to catch sight of her during the safari trip.
Beauty queen Kesha is a treasured sight in the Kumana National Park. With her adorable poses, there is no wonder you are going to love this pretty leopardess. Definitely, she will become a legendary leopardess in the future.
6. KM12 – Bhathiya
First recorded in 2022, KM12 – Bhathiya is a bold male leopard in Kumana National Park. He is a massive giant, which exactly represents Sri Lanka’s apex predator. Bhathiya isn’t afraid of humans and there are a number of photographs of this big male, staring straight into the camera lens. Certainly, Bhathiya is an iconic leopard which considered the pride of Kumana National Park.
7. KM04 – Marcus
First recorded in 2016, KM04 – Marcus is a legendary leopard in Kumana National Park. He is among the top-dominant male leopards with an established large area. He was observed having a positive relationship with his male cub KM08 – Rocky in 2019.
8. KF14 -Sugala
KF14 – Sugala is one of the two cubs of senior leopardess KF02 – Gothami. First recorded in 2021, she is still a sub-adult less than 2 years old. She and her sibling Suparnaka are quite popular in Kumana National Park. Although their mother stayed away from visitors, the cubs are socialized and well-habituated to safari jeeps.
9. KF15- Suparnaka
KF15 – Suparnaka is one of the two cubs of senior leopardess KF02 – Gothami. Suparnaka and her sister Sugala have become highly popular leopards in Kumana National Park. Many pictures of this famous duo are available in the media. These beautiful cubs represent the bold and fearless new leopard generation in Kumana National Park.
10. KM32 – Rahal
First recorded in 2023, KM32 -Rahal is one of the youngest leopard cubs in Kumana National Park. His mother KF18 – Raani is an elusive leopard who likes to stay away from media attention. Her cub Rahal became a famous character after he was observed inside an abandoned school building inside the park.
This picture shows Rahal at the Kumana Village School, inside one of the abandoned buildings. This school isn’t in use due to moving people out of the National Park several decades ago. Currently, Rahal is schooling and it seems he is quite enthusiastic student.
To sum up, here we have shown the 10 most photogenic leopards in Kumana National Park. Although leopards in Kumana were more elusive in the past, now they have become much more socialized. Recently, the number of sightings of leopards is increasing as they are becoming more habituated. The advantage of watching leopards in Kumana is the lack of large crowds. Certainly, Kumana National Park is Sri Lanka’s best-kept secret for watching leopards. Welcome to Kumana leopard paradise in Sri Lanka.!
Source Kumana Leopard Diary. Banner image from Jayathu Amarasinghe Photography. Image credits are shown below each picture. All copyrights are reserved by the original authors.
