Discover the Sri Lanka’s National Parks

Sri Lanka is one of the best places in Asia for seeing wildlife. It is also one of the best all-round wildlife destinations in the world thanks to the mix of big game, marine life and varied landscapes. It is a country rich with endemic wildlife packed into a compact area. A very good tourism infrastructure helps too.

The island’s isolation from mainland India, the heavy rainfall of the two diagonally blowing monsoons and the country’s wide range of altitudes, have given Sri Lanka a variation in climate and biodiversity only normally found across an entire continent. On top of that, the island has become known as the easiest place in the world to see the hitherto elusive blue whale, the largest animal to have lived on the planet.

For more than 2,000 years, swathes of land have been preserved as sanctuaries by Sri Lankan royalty – the Mihintale reserve was created here in the third century BC. Now there are more than a hundred areas of protected land in the country, and here is the pick of the bunch…

MINNERIYA & KAUDULLA NATIONAL PARKS

BEST FOR: The largest seasonally and predictably recurring concentration of wild elephants anywhere in the world. Concentrations of elephants in certain African sites may in some years be higher, but are unpredictable to be a recurrent visitor draw.

DRIVE TIME FROM COLOMBO: 5.5 hours.

WHAT’S NEARBY? The ruined monasteries and palaces of Polonnaruwa and Anuradhapura. The forest hermitage of Ritigala, an isolated mountain sticking up from the dry lowland plains. Popham’s Arboretum near Dambulla.

These two parks are within half an hour’s drive of each other in the North Central Province, sited around two large reservoirs. Scrub jungle surrounds the lakes and contains many mammals, but game viewing is generally poor, except for the wonderful seasonal congregation of elephants. The ‘Elephant gathering’ takes place in Minneriya during September and October, when more than 300 elephants can come together on the reservoir bed, which dries out to create a lush grassland.

YALA NATIONAL PARK

BEST FOR: Leopards, Block 1 of the national park, also known as Ruhuna National Park, is believed to have one of the highest densities of these big cats in the world. This normally secretive animal has become bolder and easier to see.

DRIVE TIME FROM COLOMBO: 5 hours.

WHAT’S NEARBY? World-class surfing at Arugam Bay.

Located in the south-east of Sri Lanka, Yala is a beautiful area of lowland dry scrub sitting on a long stretch of coastline, punctuated by rocky outcrops. It is the premier national park of Sri Lanka, and arguably one of the best for mammals in Asia. The top draw is the Sri Lankan Leopard, a subspecies endemic to the country. In certain areas of the park, the average leopard density is as high as one cat to every square kilometre.

During the fruiting of the Palu trees in June and July, sloth bears are often observed. Other animals you might spot include sambar (a large deer), spotted deer, buffalo, wild pig, stripe-necked and ruddy mongoose, langur, toque macaque, golden jackal and Asian palm civet.

The combination of freshwater, marine, scrub and woodland areas ensures a high diversity of birds; over 200 different types and serious birders have recorded 100 species in a single day. Birdwatchers should also visit Bundala National Park (an hour away) or the Palatupana Salt Pans (ten minutes away), especially for migrant shorebirds.

THE WHALE WATCHING TRIANGLE, Mirissa, Kalpitiya and Trincomalee

BEST FOR: Whale-watching, especially blues (Mirissa); dolphins and sperm whales (Kalpitiya); blue whales from the shore and sperm whales (Trincomalee).

DRIVE TIME FROM COLOMBO: 1.5 hours (Mirissa); 3 hrs (Kalpitiya); 7 hrs (Trincomalee).

WHAT’S NEARBY? The Dutch fort and port city of Galle (Mirissa); WiIpattu NP and the Barr Reef Sanctuary, for snorkelling (Kalpitiya); Many rural coastal fishing villages (Trincomalee).

Mirissa, in the south and dose to the Dutch fort and port city of Galle, is studded with luxury villas and great food. It’s probably the most developed for whale-watching tourism, following a media blitz in May 2008 that it was the best for blue whale. The encounter rate is on average over 80% in the months from December to March.

Kalpitiya, a peninsula in the north-west, is famous for its dolphins and periodic visits by super-pods of sperm whales, the largest gatherings in the world accessible to tourists. The peninsula is also close to Wilpattu National Park, while the Bar Reef Marine Sanctuary is great for snorkelling.

Trincomalee, in the north-east has a submarine canyon cutting in close to shore. Blue whales are sometimes seen from the pool-side of resorts with Swami Rock being the best shore-based location for get views of these wonders.

HORTON PLAINS NATIONAL PARK

BEST FOR: Birdwatching and spectacular views around the astounding 880m drop-off of World’s End.

DRIVE TIME FROM COLOMBO: 6-7 hours.

WHAT’S NEARBY? The colonial hill station of Nuwara Eliya.

Towering up in the central highlands, Horton Plains is the highest plateau on the island. The cloud forests here are rich in endemic plants and animals that have adapted to the cooler climes (nighttime temperatures can fall below zero).

Birds such as the Sri Lanka whistling thrush and Sri Lanka bush warbler are best seen here. The dwarf lizard, found only in the montane zone, has evolved the ability to give birth to live young in order to avoid the problems of laying in such egg-chilling temperatures.

THE RAINFORESTS OF GALLE, HIYARE & KOTTAWA

BEST FOR: A blend of beach and rainforest for flora enthusiasts.

DRIVE TIME FROM COLOMBO: One hour to Galle, plus another half hour to Hiyare or Kottawa.

WHAT’S NEARBY? The Dutch fort and port city of Galle, studded with luxury villas, great cuisine and colonial history.

Hiyare and Kottawa are two rainforest sites less than 20km from the port city of Galle. Further away (one-and-a-half hours) is Kanneliya, the largest remaining tract of lowland rainforest in Sri Lanka.

All three make it possible to combine a beach holiday with a rainforest safari to see some endemic plants and animals, especially the giant dipterocarp trees, which are some of the most important timber trees in Asia.

WASGAMUWA NATIONAL PARK

BEST FOR: Elephants-150 to 300 occupy the park’s scrublands.

DRIVE TIME FROM COLOMBO: 5 hours.

WHAT’S NEARBY? The fascinating Buddha-packed caves of Dambulla.

Wasgamuwa is in the dry lowlands of the North Central Province, 40km north of the richly bio-diverse Knuckles Mountain Range. All of the big game is found in Wasgamuwa, but bear and leopard are pretty elusive. However, it is very good for observing family units of elephants, still relatively wild with unpredictable temperaments.

KNUCKLES WILDERNESS

BEST FOR: Endemic lizards such as the dwarf lizard and Tennant’s leaf-nosed lizard.

DRIVETIME FROM COLOMBO: 5 hours.

WHAT’S NEARBY? The medieval hill capital of Kandy with the Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic.

The Wilderness is an area of rolling grasslands and cloud forests home to species of plants and animals found nowhere else. The area is also rich in legend with battles from the epic Ramayana poem having been played out here.

UDAWALAWE NATIONAL PARK

BEST FOR: Wild elephants – there are several hundred in the park.

DRIVE TIME FROM COLOMBO: 4 h ours.

WHAT’S NEARBY? Tea-plantation-covered hills.

Created to protect the watershed of the Udawalawe Reservoir, this park, just south of the central mountains, has extensive stretches of grassland as well as scrub jungle and riverine forest, it’s the best in the continent for observing Asian Elephants in the wild; sightings are highly likely. Otherwise, birdwatchers will enjoy the presence of fabulously named raptors such as the changeable hawk-eagle, serpent eagle and grey-headed fish eagle.

MANNAR ISLAND

BEST FOR: Shorebirds and gulls would have flown over 6,500km from Arctic Russia.

DRIVE TIME FROM COLOMBO: 5 hours.

WHAT’S NEARBY? Wiipattu National Park. Mannar is also great for kite surfing.

Mannar Island is like one large nature reserve. Together with the complex of estuaries and other coastal wetlands on the adjoining mainland, it is an internationally important migratory stop over for wading birds. There is a high density of the nocturnal grey slender loris on the island.

WILPATTU NATIONAL PARK

BIST FOR: Leopards and elusive sloth bear spots.

DRIVE TIME FROM COLOMBO: 4.5 hours.

WHAT’S NEARBY? The sacred 2,000-year-old Bodhi tree amid the monuments of the ancient city of Anuradhapura. Shorebirds and windsurfing on Mannar Island.

Wilpattu, Sri Lanka’s largest park, is situated in the dry lowlands of the island’s north-west and comprises a series of lakes with varying degrees of freshness or salinity.

It’s best to enter from the main gate at Hunuwilagama, near Anuradhapura; however the entrance at Eluwankulama works well if you’re coming from Kalpitiya and using a local safari vehicle as these drivers are allowed at the discretion of the park office to enter the park without a national park guide; if all of the guides are utilised, they will not allow vehicles in unless they’re confident that the driver will not get lost, Wilpattu is famous for its leopards.

Encounter rates are lower than in Yala, but once found, the cats have a reputation for being in no hurry to move away. The park’s fauna is similar to Yala, but visitors also have a chance of seeing the muntjac deer.

SINHARAJA FOREST RESERVE

BEST FOR: Birds – the Sinharaja bird wave; mixed species flocks that offer the best viewing of a tropical bird wave.

DRIVE TIME FROM COLOMBO: 4.5 hours.

WHAT’S NEARBY? The gemfields of Ratnapura.

Situated in the wet south-west of the island, this is the country’s premier lowland rainforest. The canopy towers up to 45m in places and more than half of the trees here are found nowhere else in the world. Mixed-species bird flocks are a key feature of Sinharaja.

A dozen endemic birds may be found in some flocks, including species such as red-faced malkoha, green-billed coucal and Sri Lanka blue magpie. But it’s not just birds here; animals present are purple-faced leaf monkey, three types of squirrel and – if you’re very fortunate – leopard, which may betray its presence with footprints.