Sri Lanka Wildlife
Five things you should know about Sri Lankan wildlife
Best for Big Game Safaris outside Africa
Sri Lanka is the Best for Big Game Safaris outside Africa. Its Big Five are the Elephant, Leopard, Sloth Bear, Blue and Sperm Whale. Few countries can rival its combination of Big Game safari animals, species densities and tourism infrastructure. It is undoubtedly the Ultimate Island Safari. Read More
Why a small island can lay claim to being the Best for Big Game Safaris outside Africa
Why the small island of Sri Lanka is the best for Big Game outside Africa
A British journalist told me that a shortcoming of Sri Lankan tourism is that it has failed to be bold in how it tells its big stories to the world. I am inclined to agree. One of these shortcomings is the failure to educate the world at large that Sri Lanka is the ‘Best for Big Game Safaris’ out- side Africa. It is difficult to imagine that the tiny island of Sri Lanka is the next best to the gigantic African continent for Big Game Safaris. But it is so. Read More
Sri Lanka’s Big Five
Sri Lanka is the top spot for some of the most coveted safari animals in the world
Africa's Big Five is famous and over the years I have heard many people loosely referring to various Sri Lankan equiva- lents. One such example was an article by Srilal Miththapala in the Sunday Times of 14th March 2010. In this article, he advocated a Sri Lankan Big Four. Since around 2008, I had fo- cused on branding Sri Lanka as the Ultimate Island Safari and I had not devoted time to overtly branding a Sri Lankan Big Five, or Four or Three. However, the idea for a Big Five had been forming in my mind. Read More
Seven Wildlife Highlights
Seven animals you have to see in the Pearl of the Indian Ocean
The Sri Lanka department of Wildlife Conservation recently published a list of the seven most iconic wild animals in the island as a way of promoting tourism and the conservation of all species in and outside this list. Sri Lanka is somewhat of an outlier when it comes to biodiversity. Experts have been studying the biodiversity of this small island since the early 20th century, and all with good reason. The number of animal species in the island is said to be five times as much as it is supposed to be in an island of its size, and the number of endemic species in the country is amazing. From endemic birds to endemic primates, Sri Lanka has them all. Read More
Gal Oya National Park
Discover the hidden gems of Sri Lankan nature
There are a plenty of opportunities when it comes to observing wildlife in Sri Lanka. During the peak season, you can get off the beaten track and pay a visit to Gal Oya National Park and see various kinds of birds, mammals, reptiles in their natural habitat. Gal Oya National Park is located with the lake named by Senanayake Samudraya (Samudraya mean lake). This is the only national park located with a lake and where you can enjoy a boat safari as well. Crossing the Senanayake samudraya by boat is one way to access the National park. Read More
Discovering the Hidden Gems of Sri Lankan Nature
Enjoy the wildlife in peace and calm at the less crowded National Parks
Established under the Mahaweli Development programme, the park was designated in November 1983 and provides a sanctuary for wildlife. A community of Vedda people, the indigenous ethnic group of Sri Lanka, live within the boundaries of the National Park. The park lies entirely in Sri Lanka’s dry zone, although the park’s southern boundary is near its intermediate zone. Read More
Small Feline Predators of Sri Lanka
The Fishing Cat, The Rusty Spotted Cat & The Jungle Cat
There are 36 species of small wild cats in the world, based on physical distinction and/or geographic separation; most species are further divided into sub-species. Sri Lanka has four species of wild cats: the Leopard (Panthera pardus), the Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), the Jungle Cat (Felis chaus) and the Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginous). All of them are considered nationally threatened, while the Leopard is considered a globally threatened species. None of the wild cats found in Sri Lanka are endemic. Read More
Pangolin - Scaly and Unique
Pangolins are insectivorous mammals confined to the Afro-tropical and Indo-Malayan regions. They are also known as ‘Scaly Anteaters’ because of their structure and food habits. These burrowing mammals predominantly feed on termites and ants. Pangolins are unique because their bodies are covered with tough, overlapping scales. Read More
