Udawattakele Forest Reserve
Facts and practical information
Udawattakele Forest Reserve often spelled as Udawatta Kele, is a historic forest reserve on a hill-ridge in the city of Kandy. It is 104 hectares large. During the days of the Kandyan kingdom, Udawattakele was known as "Uda Wasala Watta" in Sinhalese meaning "the garden above the royal palace". The sanctuary is famous for its extensive avifauna. The reserve also contains a great variety of plant species, especially lianas, shrubs and small trees. There are several giant lianas. Many of small and medium size mammals that inhabit Sri Lanka can be seen here. Several kinds of snakes and other reptiles might be seen. Udawattakele was designated as a forest reserve in 1856, and it became a sanctuary in 1938. ()
Nuwara Eliya
Best Ways to Experience the Park
Wildlife
AnimalsSee what popular animal species you can meet in this location.
Indian pangolin
The Indian pangolin, also called thick-tailed pangolin and scaly anteater is a pangolin native to the Indian subcontinent. Like other pangolins, it has large, overlapping scales on its body...
Mammals
Toque Monkey
The toque macaque is a reddish-brown-coloured Old World monkey endemic to Sri Lanka, where it is known as the rilewa or rilawa.
Mammals
Golden Palm Civit (Musang)
The golden palm civet is a palm civet endemic to Sri Lanka. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Its distribution is severely fragmented, and the extent and quality of its...
Mammals
Indian cobra
The Indian cobra, also known as the spectacled cobra, Asian cobra, or binocellate cobra, is a species of the genus Naja found, in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Bhutan...
Reptiles
Dusky palm squirrel
Dusky palm squirrel is a common name applied to two rodents that were formerly considered to be a single species.
Nuwara Eliya