Wilpattu National Park is Sri Lanka’s largest national park, occupying a vast area of land to the west of Anuradhapura. It was closed for many years due to its close location to the front-line during the civil conflict, however in 2009 the glorious 1085 sq. km park was reopened. As you can appreciate conservation wasn’t high on the priority list and therefore the density of wildlife is still poor in comparison with the likes of Yala and Uda Walawe. However, due to its size and low visitor numbers it’s far more peaceful than other national parks in Sri Lanka, and there’s still a good range of flora and fauna to be enjoyed, including the elusive leopard, sloth bear, sambar deer, exotic birdlife and elephant.