Northwest · dry zone
Wilpattu
Sri Lanka's largest park, with sandy tracks and dozens of natural lakes (villus), leopards with far fewer jeeps, and a buffer-zone night drive for the nocturnal cast.
Wilpattu is quieter than Yala, and its leopards are all the more rewarding for it. Pale sand tracks wind between natural lakes called villus. Kumbuk Wila and Manik Wila are favourites, giving wide, open settings for wildlife and landscape work.
After dark, a buffer-zone night drive opens up a different cast: fishing cat, jungle cat, grey slender loris, chameleons and owls.
When to go
February to October, with the dry months from May onward bringing animals to the water.
What you’ll see
Leopards on the sand, sloth bears in the scrub, elephants, golden jackals and spotted deer, and the nocturnal species on the night drive.
Expeditions that visit Wilpattu
Free guide
Planning Wilpattu? Start with our field guide
Every park, the best months for each and how to plan a first safari. Or tell us your dates and we'll build a route.