YALA NATIONAL PARK known as Yala West or Ruhunu National Park,Sri Lanka's most visited and most rewarding wildlife reserve. Yala covers an area of 1260 square kilometres, four-fifths of this is designated a Strict Natural Reserve.

Yala's most famous residents are its leopards – it boasts a higher concentration of these elusive felines than anywhere else in the world. They can be spotted at any time of year and sightings are reasonably common. Very visible are the resident elephants, which can usually be seen on most trips.

Other resident mammals include sambar and spotted deer, wild boar, wild buffaloes, macaque and langur monkeys, sloth bears, jackals, mongooses, pangolins, porcupines, rabbits and (rare) wild cats, as well as plentiful crocodiles.

Bundala National Park is one of Sri Lanka's foremost destinations for birdwatchers, an important area of coastal wetland famous for its flocks of greater flamingoes and abundant aquatic (and other) birdlife, as well as being home to significant populations of elephants, crocodiles, turtles and other fauna.

Although it doesn't have quite the range of wildlife or scenery of nearby Yala National Park, Bundala is much quieter, and makes a good alternative if you want to avoid Yala's crowds

Uda Walawe is one of the best places in Sri Lanka to see elephants. There are about 500 in the park in herds of up to 50 although in other respects it doesn't have the range of fauna and habitats of Yala or Bundala.

Elephant Transit Home – usually referred to as the "Elephant Orphanage". Founded in 1995, the orphanage is home to around 25 baby elephants rescued from the wild after the loss of their parents