Mammals of Sri Lanka: Every Species and Where to See It

Asian Elephant Common Endangered

Elephas maximus

Asian elephants are smaller eared and more forest adapted than their African cousins, moving through jungle in tight family herds led by a matriarch. They gather at salt licks and grassy clearings, most active around dawn and dusk.

Where: Dry zone parks, tank margins and the corridors between them. Best: Year round, best at the Gathering from July to October. Sri Lankan bulls are mostly tuskless, so a tusker here is a genuine rarity rather than the norm. The island holds around six thousand wild elephants, one of the largest Asian populations. Also on: Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks, Udawalawe National Park, Yala National Park, Wasgamuwa National Park, Gal Oya National Park, Kumana National Park.

Chital (Spotted Deer) Common

Axis axis

Bright rufous with white spots kept into adulthood, a dark dorsal stripe and lyre-shaped antlers on the stags. Herds graze in the open and stay close to water.

Where: Dry zone grassland, scrub and woodland near water. Best: Year round. The prey base the whole leopard story rests on. Also on: Yala National Park, Wilpattu National Park, Udawalawe National Park, Kumana National Park, Gal Oya National Park, Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks.

Indian Flying Fox Common

Pteropus giganteus

Large, with a chestnut mantle, a dark back and a fox-like face. Colonies roost communally in tall trees, squabbling and fanning through the day, and stream out at dusk to feed on fruit and blossom.

Where: Tall trees near water and settlement, often in the middle of towns. Best: Year round. Roosts are in the most public places imaginable, and the dusk flight costs nothing to see. Also on: Kandy, Colombo and the wetlands, Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks, Udawalawe National Park, Wasgamuwa National Park, Gal Oya National Park.

Spinner Dolphin Common

Stenella longirostris

A slim, long-beaked dolphin famous for spinning several times on its long axis during high leaps. It rests in bays by day and hunts small fish and squid at night in big schools.

Where: Surface water offshore, on whale and dolphin boat trips. Best: November to April on the west and south coasts. Kalpitiya produces super-pods of many hundreds and sometimes over a thousand animals, which is the largest dolphin spectacle in South Asia. Also on: Trincomalee and Pigeon Island, Kalpitiya, Mirissa.

Toque Macaque Common Endangered

Macaca sinica

Golden-brown and slight, with a distinctive whorl of hair radiating from the top of the head. Troops are large and noisy, with a strict dominance order that is obvious to watch even briefly.

Where: Forest and forest edge from the dry zone to the highlands. Best: Year round. Endangered and endemic, and like macaques everywhere it becomes a problem where it is fed. Also on: Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Yala National Park, Kandy, Sigiriya, Dambulla and the Cultural Triangle, Arugam Bay and the East Coast Lagoons, Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks.

Tufted Grey Langur Common Near Threatened

Semnopithecus priam

Pale silvery-grey with a black face and hands and a crest of hair on the crown, with a tail longer than the body. Troops feed on leaves and fruit and spend a good deal of time on the ground in open country.

Where: Dry zone forest, scrub and archaeological sites. Best: Year round. The monkey most visitors photograph, and not a nuisance species. Also on: Yala National Park, Wilpattu National Park, Udawalawe National Park, Sigiriya, Dambulla and the Cultural Triangle, Gal Oya National Park, Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks.

Wild Water Buffalo Common Endangered

Bubalus arnee

Massive and grey-black with enormous crescent horns sweeping outward and back. Herds wallow in tanks and marsh through the heat of the day with only heads and horns showing.

Where: Tanks, marsh and wet grassland in the dry zone. Best: Year round. Endangered as true wild stock. Most animals seen in the parks are feral domestic buffalo. Also on: Yala National Park, Wilpattu National Park, Wasgamuwa National Park, Gal Oya National Park, Kumana National Park, Arugam Bay and the East Coast Lagoons.

Blue Whale Regular Endangered

Balaenoptera musculus

Mottled blue-grey, immensely long and slender, with a tiny dorsal fin set far back and a blow that goes up nine metres or more. The northern Indian Ocean population is a distinct subspecies, and the animals are smaller than Antarctic blues while still reaching over twenty metres.

Where: Deep water off the south and east coasts, close inshore where the shelf drops away. Best: Nov-Apr south, May-Sep east. Largely resident rather than migratory here, which is what makes it seeable almost year round. Also on: Mirissa, Trincomalee and Pigeon Island, Kalpitiya.

Bryde's Whale Regular

Balaenoptera edeni

A sleek rorqual whale of tropical seas that feeds by rushing up through shoals of small fish, jaws agape. Unlike most great whales it does not migrate to cold water.

Where: Blue water beyond the continental shelf edge. Best: December to April off the south and west, May to September off the east. The whale most often seen alongside blue whales off Mirissa, and often mistaken for one. Also on: Kalpitiya, Mirissa.

Golden Jackal Regular

Canis aureus

Slender and sandy-gold with a dark saddle and a bushy black-tipped tail. Pairs and family groups hunt small prey, scavenge kills and take fruit, and they are vocal in a rising chorus that other groups answer.

Where: Dry zone forest, scrub and open country. Best: Year round. One of the more reliable carnivores in the dry zone parks. Also on: Yala National Park, Wilpattu National Park, Bundala National Park, Jaffna and the Northern Peninsula, Arugam Bay and the East Coast Lagoons, Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks.

Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin Regular Near Threatened

Tursiops aduncus

A coastal dolphin, slimmer than its ocean cousin and often spotted on the belly with age. It lives in fluid social groups and uses sponges and tools to forage in some regions.

Where: Surface water offshore, on whale and dolphin boat trips. Best: December to April off the south and west, May to September off the east. Also on: Mirissa.

Pantropical Spotted Dolphin Regular

Stenella attenuata

Pantropical spotted dolphins travel in fast, acrobatic schools of tens to hundreds in deep offshore water. Spotting increases with age, from a plain grey calf to a heavily freckled adult.

Where: Surface water offshore, on whale and dolphin boat trips. Best: December to April off the south and west, May to September off the east. Also on: Mirissa.

Purple-faced Langur Regular Endangered

Semnopithecus vetulus

Dark brown to black with pale side whiskers and a long tail, moving through the canopy in small groups and feeding almost entirely on leaves. The montane subspecies has a notably thick shaggy coat against the cold.

Where: Wet zone and montane forest canopy. Best: Year round. Endangered and endemic, and the lowland form has lost most of its forest. Also on: Horton Plains and Nuwara Eliya, Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Kandy, Kanneliya Forest Reserve, Adam's Peak and Peak Wilderness, Ella and the Uva Highlands.

Ruddy Mongoose Regular

Urva smithii

Grizzled reddish-brown and noticeably larger than the common grey mongoose, with a distinctly black-tipped tail held upcurved when moving. Usually seen alone, hunting reptiles, rodents and eggs.

Where: Dry zone forest and scrub. Best: Year round. The mongoose most often seen in Sri Lankan parks, and rarely named by guides. Also on: Yala National Park, Wilpattu National Park, Udawalawe National Park, Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks, Kumana National Park, Wasgamuwa National Park.

Sri Lankan Leopard Regular Endangered

Panthera pardus kotiya

A heavy, thickset leopard with a broad head and dense rosettes. Males can exceed 70 kg, well above the size of leopards elsewhere in Asia. Sri Lankan leopards are seen in the open far more readily than African or Indian ones, and they hunt by day as well as at night.

Where: Dry zone scrub forest, and at lower density in the hills and wet zone. Best: Year round. Endangered, perhaps eight hundred to a thousand animals. Top predator here, which is why it behaves so differently. Also on: Yala National Park, Wilpattu National Park, Kumana National Park, Horton Plains and Nuwara Eliya, Arugam Bay and the East Coast Lagoons, Gal Oya National Park.

False Killer Whale Occasional Near Threatened

Pseudorca crassidens

False killer whales are large, slender black dolphins that hunt cooperatively for large fish including tuna and mahi-mahi. They routinely share prey within the pod and have been filmed passing fish to humans in the water.

Where: Blue water beyond the continental shelf edge. Best: December to April off the south and west, May to September off the east. Also on: Kalpitiya, Mirissa.

Grizzled Giant Squirrel Occasional Near Threatened

Ratufa macroura

Grey-brown grizzled with white, with pale underparts and a very long bushy tail. It moves through the canopy in long fluid bounds and flattens itself against a branch when alarmed rather than running.

Where: Tall riverine and hill forest. Best: Year round. Needs tall forest, so it is absent from open scrub. Also on: Wasgamuwa National Park, Knuckles Range, Wilpattu National Park.

Risso's Dolphin Occasional

Grampus griseus

Risso's dolphins have a blunt, vertically creased head and no beak, and darken to pale grey then near white as scars accumulate. They dive deep for squid, mostly at night, and travel in pods of a dozen or so.

Where: Blue water beyond the continental shelf edge. Best: December to April off the south and west, May to September off the east. Also on: Mirissa.

Short-finned Pilot Whale Occasional

Globicephala macrorhynchus

Pilot whales are large black dolphins with a bulbous head, travelling in tight matrilineal pods that stay together for life. They dive to 600 m or more, mostly for squid, in fast sprints that researchers call cheetah dives.

Where: Blue water beyond the continental shelf edge. Best: December to April off the south and west, May to September off the east. Also on: Mirissa.

Sloth Bear Occasional Vulnerable

Melursus ursinus

Black and shaggy with a pale muzzle, a white chest mark and enormous curved claws. It has no upper front incisors, which leaves a gap it uses to suck termites and ants out of their nests with a noise like a blocked pipe.

Where: Dry zone forest and scrub. Best: Jun-Jul when palu fruit ripens. Vulnerable, unpredictable, and mostly nocturnal outside the fruiting season. Also on: Wilpattu National Park, Yala National Park, Wasgamuwa National Park, Gal Oya National Park, Minneriya and Kaudulla National Parks, Kumana National Park.

Sperm Whale Occasional Vulnerable

Physeter macrocephalus

Unmistakable: a vast square head making up a third of the body, a wrinkled grey skin like a prune, and a blow angled forward and to the left rather than straight up. It logs at the surface between dives, then lifts its flukes clear and goes down for the best part of an hour.

Where: Deep water off the east and northeast coasts. Best: Mar-Aug. Unusually large aggregations have been recorded here, occasionally running into the hundreds. Also on: Trincomalee and Pigeon Island, Kalpitiya, Mirissa.

Fishing Cat Rare Vulnerable

Prionailurus viverrinus

About twice the size of a house cat, spotted and stocky, the fishing cat haunts mangroves and marshes. It is rare and shrinking as its wetland habitat disappears.

Where: Lagoons, estuaries and mangrove creeks at Puttalam, Negombo and Kalametiya. Best: Year round. A cat that dives for fish, and Colombo's wetlands hold one of the few urban populations anywhere in its range.

Golden Palm Civet Rare Vulnerable

Paradoxurus zeylonensis

Uniform golden to rich brown with no spots or stripes, a long tail and a short pointed face. It is arboreal and nocturnal, feeding mainly on fruit and moving through connected canopy rather than on the ground.

Where: Wet zone and hill forest canopy. Best: Year round, after dark. Vulnerable, endemic, and almost unknown to visitors. Also on: Sinharaja Forest Reserve, Knuckles Range, Adam's Peak and Peak Wilderness.

Indo-Pacific Finless Porpoise Rare Vulnerable

Neophocaena phocaenoides

A small, rounded porpoise with no dorsal fin, only a ridge of bumps, that slips through shallow coastal water almost unseen. It is easily overlooked and increasingly scarce.

Where: Lagoons, estuaries and mangrove creeks at Puttalam, Negombo and Kalametiya. Best: Year round. Shy, small and finless, so it is missed far more often than it is absent. Also on: Mannar and the Gulf of Mannar.

Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin Rare Vulnerable

Sousa chinensis

Humpback dolphins live in shallow estuaries and coastal waters rarely more than a few kilometres offshore, hunting fish over soft bottoms. Adults lose pigment progressively, so the oldest animals are a startling mottled pink.

Where: Lagoons, estuaries and mangrove creeks at Puttalam, Negombo and Kalametiya. Best: Year round. Sri Lanka's animal is Sousa plumbea, the Indian Ocean humpback dolphin, not the Sousa chinensis of Southeast Asia. Also on: Mannar and the Gulf of Mannar.

Indian Pangolin Very rare Endangered

Manis crassicaudata

Covered in large overlapping keratin scales, with a small head, a long sticky tongue and powerful digging claws. It walks partly on its hind legs with the tail counterbalancing, and rolls into a tight ball when alarmed.

Where: Dry zone forest and scrub, in burrows by day. Best: Year round, strictly nocturnal. Endangered, and the most trafficked wild mammal on earth. Also on: Yala National Park, Wilpattu National Park.

Killer Whale Very rare

Orcinus orca

Unmistakable: glossy black above and white below, with a white eye patch, a grey saddle behind the fin and a dorsal fin that on a mature male stands nearly two metres tall.

Where: Deep water off the continental shelf edge, usually in small pods. Best: December to April off the south and west, and around Kalpitiya. Sri Lanka is one of very few places in the northern Indian Ocean where orca are seen with any regularity. Also on: Kalpitiya, Mirissa.

Omura's Whale Very rare

Balaenoptera omurai

Omura's whale is a small rorqual with strikingly asymmetric jaw colouration, white on the right and dark on the left. It feeds by lunging through plankton and small fish in warm shallow shelf waters, unusual for a baleen whale.

Where: Blue water beyond the continental shelf edge. Best: December to April off the south and west, May to September off the east. Only confirmed as a living species in this century. Also on: Mirissa.

Rusty-spotted Cat Very rare Near Threatened

Prionailurus rubiginosus

Tiny and grey-brown with lines of rusty blotches along the back and flanks, and dark streaks on the face. It hunts rodents and birds at night and is an accomplished climber.

Where: Dry zone scrub and forest. Best: Year round, strictly nocturnal. The smallest wild cat in the world, and almost never seen deliberately. Also on: Yala National Park, Wilpattu National Park.

Dugong Ultra rare Vulnerable

Dugong dugon

Dugongs are placid, slow breeding marine mammals that graze seagrass beds in coastal shallows. Shy and increasingly rare, a sighting is one of the ocean's quiet marvels.

Where: Seagrass beds in the Gulf of Mannar and Puttalam lagoon. Best: November to April on the west and south coasts. The Gulf of Mannar is the last Sri Lankan stronghold and the population is now very small. Most reports turn out to be dolphins. Also on: Kalpitiya, Mannar and the Gulf of Mannar.