On the next leg of our 2025 Sri Lanka visit, four of us with the excellent Ranil as driver and guide, travelled up the west coast of the island, from Colombo to Jaffna, stopping at two notable wildlife spots on the way.



The first of these was the Anavilundawa bird sanctuary. This 3,5000 acres wetland consists of a group of shallow cascading tanks, ranging from 12 to 50 ha in extent, built around 1140 AD by King Parakramabahu the Great. We only stayed a short while, but there was much to see, and the first 5 shots of the album are from there.



The next day was a safari trip through Wilpattu National Park, the largest and one of the oldest national parks in Sri Lanka. It extends over an area of 1,300 sq km, and is notable for its 100 plus "Willus" – natural, sand-rimmed water basins or depressions that fill with rainwater. It has a wide range of bird and animal species, but is most famous for its leopard population. Although guides assure visitors that the place is stiff with leopards, in fact there are probably no more than 150 in the 1350 acres reserve, or on average, one per 9 sq km.



However, as is usual in these parks, if a leopard is seen, the word gets out and all the jeeps converge a respectful distance away from the animal. We were lucky to catch a long-distance glimpse of our leopard, but thanks to the long range of my new zoom lens, I was able to get quite a nice shot of it, as well of the other surprisingly diverse bird and mammal population.





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