All 4 in 3 days here: ~90%
Yala National Park
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
Indian Subcontinent, Sri Lanka 703 spp. recorded
Yala National Park sits on the southeastern tip of Sri Lanka, combines tropical dry forest, savanna grassland and coastal lagoons. The landscape supports a trio of iconic mammals: Asian elephants wander the grasslands and river edges, mugger crocodiles bask on the banks of the park’s water bodies, and leopards stalk the dense forest patches.
6.548° N 81.393° E
🦜 Nature
337 Species sighted
56,959 Verified sightings From 2019 to 2026
Nov Best month
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
📊 Most Spotted
⭐ Iconic Species
🌙 Most active after dark
+ 447 more species with insufficient data
Challenges you can complete here
Recent sightings in Yala National Park
LIVEiNaturalistSighting Calendar
How many species you'd see in a day
71Jan
75Feb
67Mar
65Apr
62May
67Jun
58Jul
55Aug
59Sep
62Oct
79Nov
70Dec
Sighting Zones
Warmer areas are where all species together are recorded most often.
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Patanangala Tank
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6.465° N, 81.471° E
🏕️ 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
ExcellentHow rich is the wildlife?
4.7
Species by taxon
🦅 Birds 440
🐒 Mammals 126
🦎 Reptiles 113
🐸 Amphibians 24
703 Total Species
828 Global average across 316 parks
64 Threatened 4 Endemic
🔭
Sighting
ExcellentHow likely to see animals?
5.0
🎯
Top-12 Avg Probability
84% 📊
Coverage (217 species at ≥5% of 703 in the inventory)
31% 🔀
Taxon variety in top 12 (5 mammal, 5 bird, 2 reptile)
83% 🔭
Species per 10 outings (distinct species a visitor would meet over 10 outings — effort held equal across parks)
152 🌟
Iconic-group species (≥15%) (every species from the 19 iconic groups — monkeys, cats, toucans, macaws, sloths, crocodilians… — not just the 4 highlighted above)
26 ⭐
High-prob species (>40%)
73 🏕️
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
We saw a lot: water buffalo wallowing in the waterholes, elephants, peacocks displaying, storks, a spoonbill fishing right in front of a resting crocodile, sambar deer, spotted deer with big antlers, a mongoose, and more crocodiles.
The few of us who managed to enter the park early saw a leopard as our first animal of the full-day safari.
We’ve seen quite a few crocodiles in Yala, but after a while, we spotted a crocodile crossing the road and another one eating a young buffalo.
We’d travelled halfway across the world… to see an ibis and a crocodile.
Before you go
What animals can you see in Yala National Park?
703 species
Yala National Park has 703 recorded vertebrate species. The ones wildlife watchers report most often on a given day are Axis Deer (about 90%), Asian Elephant (about 90%), Mugger Crocodile (about 90%), Common Peafowl (about 90%) and Bengal Monitor (about 90%). Among amphibians, the most-seen is Chunam Tree Frog (about 40%).
When is the best time to visit Yala National Park for wildlife?
February and November
In those months the park's 12 most-seen species average about 90% on a given day, against about 80% in March–October and December–January. Those are among Yala National Park's wettest months, with about 200 mm of rain a month against 35 mm in June.
Can you see a Leopard in Yala National Park?
Yes
About 80% of wildlife watchers report a Leopard sighting in Yala National Park on a given day, based on 245 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is July to April (about 80%).
Can you see an Asian Elephant in Yala National Park?
Yes
About 90% of wildlife watchers report an Asian Elephant sighting in Yala National Park on a given day, based on 457 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is January–February, April, June–July and September–November (about 90%).
Can you see a Sloth Bear in Yala National Park?
Yes
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Sloth Bear sighting in Yala National Park on a given day, based on 64 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is June and July (about 70%).
Can you see a Mugger Crocodile in Yala National Park?
Yes
About 90% of wildlife watchers report a Mugger Crocodile sighting in Yala National Park on a given day, based on 536 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. The best time is June, August, October and December–February (about 90%).
Is Yala National Park good for wildlife watching?
4.9 out of 5
On the Wallace's Line Score, Yala National Park rates 4.9/5: 6th of 316 parks worldwide and 1st in Asia. 81 of its species are reported by about 40% or more of wildlife watchers on a given day.
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