The Wilpattu National Park is the largest and oldest national park in Sri Lanka. It was widely regarded as the place to spot the Sri Lankan Leopard in its natural habitat. It is also home to endangered animals such as the Sri Lankan Sloth Bear and the Sri Lankan Elephant. Wilpattu National Park consists of a complex of lakes called ‘Villus’ surrounded by grassy plains, set within scrub jungle. Many of the `big game’ found in Sri Lanka including elephant, sloth bear, water buffalo, and spotted dear can be seen here, though the biggest attraction at Wilpattu is Leopard.  Covering an area of 131,000 hectares that stretches from the Northwestern coast to the north-central province, the Wilpattu National Park is one of Sri Lanka’s oldest wildlife parks. Wilpattu’s varying natural habitats; coastal belt, natural lakes (villus), cliff tops, scrublands, open grasslands and dense forest provide for numerous species of animals. Many of the `big game’ found in Sri Lanka including elephant, sloth bear, water buffalo, spotted dear and leopard can be seen here. The coastal belt and natural lakes attract many species of birds such as Painted Storks, Black-headed Ibis, Asian Open-bills, Whistling Teals, Eurasian Spoonbills, Little & Indian Cormorants and many species of kingfishers as well as water monitors and mugger crocodiles. It also contains a number of important cultural sites.

The shortest route to Wilpattu National Park is to travel from Colombo via Negombo on the Chilaw-Puttalam road. The turn off to the Wilpattu National Park is near the 45 Km post on the A12. From here follow the B028 for about 8 Kms.

Flora & Fauna of Wilpattu
Three types of vegetation can be seen in the park, Littoral vegetation including salt grass and low scrub immediately adjacent to the beach; a 5-10 km coastal belt of monsoon scrub of very low stature. Further inland, is the monsoon forest with tall emergents such as Palu, Satin, Milla, Weera, Ebony and Wewarana. Some 73% of the park is dense forest or scrub and the rest is more open habitat.

Mammals
Over 31 species of Mammals have been recorded in Wilpattu. Some of the regular big game seen in here include the Asian Elephant, Leopard, Sloth Bear, Wild Buffalo, Spotted Deer, Muntjac/ Barking deer which is the most common herbivore.

Birds
Endemics spotted here include Sri Lanka Jungle Fowl, Brown-capped Babbler, Sri Lankan Woodshrike and Black-capped Bulbul. Wilpattu is also very good for migrating birds like waterfowl and waders. Some of the commoner migrants seen include Black-tailed Godwit, Common Redshank, Common Sandpiper, Great Stone-curlew, Whiskered Tern, Gull-billed Tern, Curlew Sandpiper,Black-winged Stilt, Gargany & Northern Pintail. Forest birds include Chestnut-winged Cuckoo, Small Cuckoo, Racket-tailed Drongo, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Coppersmith Barbet, Red-wattled Lapwing, Brown Fish Owl, Spot-bellied Eagle Owl, Crested Hawk Eagle and water birds include Painted Storks, Asian Open-bill, Eurasian Spoonbill, and Spot-billed Pelican.

Reptiles
Mugger Crocodiles are frequently seen in the Villus, with a few species of fresh water Terrapins are also found in the park. Indian Rock Python, Russell’s Viper, Indian Cobra, Sand Boa, Saw-scale Viper & Hump-nose Viper.

Butterflies
Some butterflies recorded include the Great Eggfly, Great Orange Tip, Glad-eye Bush-brown, Blue Mormon, Common Mormon, Common Rose and Crimson Rose.