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Wild water buffalo wallowing in a lake in Yala National Park

Axis axis ceylonensis · Bubalus arnee

Deer & Buffalo in Yala

The prey base — and the reason the leopards are where they are.

Mammal species
44 in Yala
Always present
Spotted deer, sambar, buffalo, boar
Listen for
Repeated alarm calls
Best hours
Any

Spotted deer and sambar are everywhere in Yala, along with wild water buffalo and wild boar. Guests often photograph them last and remember them first.

Learn to read them and the drive changes. A herd standing rigid and facing one direction, or a single alarm call repeated, is the most reliable leopard signal in the park — our drivers stop and listen long before anything is visible.

Where to look

Open glades, tank edges and the grass beside every track.

How often it is seen

Seen on every drive

From our jeeps

Deer & Buffalo photographed on our safaris

Wild water buffalo wallowing in a shallow lake in Yala National Park
Buffalo cooling off
A wild water buffalo submerged up to its horns in a waterhole in Yala
Up to the horns
A herd of wild water buffalo resting in a muddy waterhole in Yala National Park
The afternoon wallow

Also in the park

Keep looking.

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From $26 / person