There have been incresingly high number of both local and foreign tourists visiting the Wilpattu National Park during the past several months. The Sanctuary which had been closed for a number of years due to terrorist activities was reopened in February last year.
Chief Warden of the Wilpattu National Park, Weerasinghe Dissanayake said that 18,800 local and foreign tourists had visited Wilpattu during the last ten months. The income from ticket sales from March 2010 to January 2011 was Rs 5,631,996.
The Wilpattu National Park was opened on February 25, 1938 and is 140,000 acres in extent. It covers the Anuradhapura, Puttalam and Mannar districts. The Wildlife Department is at present designing a master plan for developing and improving the Wilpattu Park to international level.