Yala (or Ruhunu) National Park (1,570-square-kilometres) is mostly open parkland, making the wildlife easier to see, particularly in the December-March dry season. The landscape is varied, with rock outcrops, scrub jungle, lagoons, lakes, rivers and even beaches, and it has a rainy season from April to June (the park closes in September). Yala West is one of the few places in Sri Lanka where it is relatively easy to see a leopard, either strolling beside the track or, with luck, draped elegantly in a tree. There are estimated to be around 35 leopards and 400 wild elephants, as well as wild buffalo, musk deer, mongoose, pangolins, black bears, macaques, jackals and numerous species of bird.