All 4 in 3 days here: ~50%
Udawalawe National Park
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
Indian Subcontinent, Sri Lanka 655 spp. recorded
Udawalawe National Park is a protected wildlife reserve situated in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The landscape consists of expansive grasslands, thorny scrub jungle, and open plains surrounding a large reservoir. This vast wetland environment makes the park especially famous for its large populations of Asian Elephants, which frequently gather in the open grasslands during the afternoon to feed and bathe near the water.
6.499° N 80.898° E
🦜 Nature
313 Species sighted
25,008 Verified sightings From 2019 to 2026
Dec Best month
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
🌙 Most active after dark
+ 464 more species with insufficient data
Challenges you can complete here
Recent sightings in Udawalawe National Park
LIVEiNaturalistSighting Calendar
How many species you'd see in a day
58Jan
58Feb
57Mar
50Apr
51May
50Jun
52Jul
49Aug
55Sep
53Oct
56Nov
65Dec
Sighting Zones
Warmer areas are where all species together are recorded most often.
-
South park edge
-
Udawalawa Park Office
Daily sight. prob.vs avg -
Udawalawa Reservoir (southeast end)
Daily sight. prob.vs avg -
Elephant Transit Home
Daily sight. prob.vs avg
🏕️ Experience
Essentials
Entrance
Paid
Tourism
Medium
Typical stay
1–2
daysTrails
Easy
World Heritage
No
Climate
Temp °C Rain mm
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
0.0 World-class
Wallace's Line Score
How good is this park for seeing wildlife? 🦜
Biodiversity
Very goodHow rich is the wildlife?
4.5
Species by taxon
🦅 Birds 409
🐒 Mammals 97
🦎 Reptiles 107
🐸 Amphibians 42
655 Total Species
828 Global average across 316 parks
78 Threatened 75 Endemic
🔭
Sighting
ExcellentHow likely to see animals?
5.0
🎯
Top-12 Avg Probability
80% 📊
Coverage (217 species at ≥5% of 655 in the inventory)
33% 🔀
Taxon variety in top 12 (7 bird, 3 reptile, 2 mammal)
76% 🔭
Species per 10 outings (distinct species a visitor would meet over 10 outings — effort held equal across parks)
132 🌟
Iconic-group species (≥15%) (every species from the 19 iconic groups — monkeys, cats, toucans, macaws, sloths, crocodilians… — not just the 4 highlighted above)
25 ⭐
High-prob species (>40%)
56 🏕️
Experience
ExcellentHow easy and pleasant is the visit?
4.4
Climate Pleasant High
Entrance Paid Low
Tourism Medium Medium
Trails Easy High
World Heritage No —
What visitors say
Over the next 2 hours, we spotted a diverse range of the park’s birds and mammals - water buffalo, deer, colourful peacocks, eagles and, wonderfully, more elephants.
As a tracker who has spent over 15 years navigating these trails, I can confidently say that Udawalawe offers the most consistent wild elephant encounters in Asia.
It was a short walk to the habitat where we spent the afternoon birding, on the edge of the great Udawalawe reservoir, where the scrubby margins and marshy shallows was absolutely heaving with birds.
Before you go
What animals can you see in Udawalawe National Park?
655 species
Udawalawe National Park has 655 recorded vertebrate species. The ones wildlife watchers report most often on a given day are Asian Elephant (about 90%), Pearl-necked Dove (about 90%), Common Peafowl (about 90%), Asian Green Bee-eater (about 90%) and Oriental Garden Lizard (about 80%). Among amphibians, the most-seen is Common skittering frog (about 30%).
When is the best time to visit Udawalawe National Park for wildlife?
March–October and December–January
In those months the park's 12 most-seen species average about 80% on a given day, against about 70% in February and November.
Can you see an Asian Elephant in Udawalawe National Park?
Yes
About 90% of wildlife watchers report an Asian Elephant sighting in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, based on 289 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is September to July (about 90%).
Can you see a Mugger Crocodile in Udawalawe National Park?
Yes
About 80% of wildlife watchers report a Mugger Crocodile sighting in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, based on 86 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is March, May, July–September and November–January (about 80%).
Can you see a White-throated Kingfisher in Udawalawe National Park?
Yes
About 70% of wildlife watchers report a White-throated Kingfisher sighting in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, based on 378 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is November and December (about 80%).
Can you see a Crested Hawk-Eagle in Udawalawe National Park?
Yes
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Crested Hawk-Eagle sighting in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, based on 380 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is March–April, June, October and December–January (about 60%).
Where in Udawalawe National Park is wildlife easiest to see?
Around South park edge
The richest sighting zone is around South park edge, followed by Udawalawa Park Office and Udawalawa Reservoir (southeast end), ranked by how many of the park's headline animals visitors can expect to see in each. See the zones on the map.
Is Udawalawe National Park good for wildlife watching?
4.8 out of 5
On the Wallace's Line Score, Udawalawe National Park rates 4.8/5: 18th of 316 parks worldwide and 5th in Asia. 71 of its species are reported by about 40% or more of wildlife watchers on a given day.
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