Chital

The chital, or spotted deer, is the most numerous deer in the dry-zone parks. In a distance-sampling survey of Wilpattu National Park from November 2024 to January 2025 it reached a density of 111.34 ± 30.11 deer per km², far higher than the sambar and barking deer sharing the park (Gunawardhana et al. 2025).

Chital in Wilpattu formed larger groups than the other two deer, with a mean of 7.48 ± 0.40 animals, and were mostly in mixed groups (Gunawardhana et al. 2025). The 2012 national list gives it a status of Nationally Least Concern (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).