This being the biggest zoological gardens housed on a 47-acre property adjacent to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage has two zones- a “Sri Lankan” zone that houses native animals and a “World” zone that houses non-native animals.

The Leopard viewing area is the largest part of the Open Zoo and among the native animals are the Sri Lanka Leopard, Sambar and Asian elephant. It also houses several species of endemic birds.

The Zoological Gardens, Director General Anura de Silva said that the Open Air Zoological Gardens has been visited by nearly 100,000 people within the first three days of its opening and there had been 29,500 visitors on April 18 while 31,000 had visited on the 20th.