Dehiwala Zoo (Sri Lanka) – Location, Geography, Facts

Dehiwala Zoo is a zoological garden in Sri Lanka and is formally designated as the National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka.

Dehiwala Zoo, Sri Lanka.

Country: Sri Lanka
Coordinates: 6.8568° N, 79.8729° E

Dehiwala Zoo overview

Dehiwala Zoo is a zoological garden in Sri Lanka and is formally designated as the National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka. The site serves as the country's central institutional collection for living animals and zoological records, holding organized collections of mammals, birds, reptiles and fish and maintaining an institutional role in conservation, captive‑care standards, and species documentation under national responsibility.

Dehiwala Zoo coordinates

Dehiwala Zoo is commonly mapped at approximately 6.8568° N, 79.8729° E, or 6.8568, 79.8729 in decimal degrees.

Degrees: 6.8568° N, 79.8729° E

Decimal: 6.8568, 79.8729

Where Dehiwala Zoo is located

The garden sits within the Dehiwala‑Mount Lavinia municipal area in Colombo District on Sri Lanka's western coastal plain, immediately south of Colombo city centre. Dehiwala Zoo occupies municipal parkland in a dense urban and suburban matrix, bordered by residential neighbourhoods and municipal green space, and functions as a large urban green landmark within the Colombo metropolitan area rather than as a rural or wilderness reserve.

Why Dehiwala Zoo is important

As the National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka, the collection combines multi‑taxon living assemblies with institutional recordkeeping and species management responsibilities. Dehiwala Zoo holds structured enclosures for terrestrial and aquatic taxa, maintains a documented veterinary and husbandry capacity, and acts as a primary site for national animal transfers and long‑term captive records. Its significance derives from this institutional role together with its integration into an urban municipal parkland setting.

History of Dehiwala Zoo

The zoological garden developed from a colonial‑era menagerie into a formal national institution through successive municipal and governmental actions. Early enclosures and display buildings were enlarged and reconfigured over decades, shifting exhibit design from barred cages toward more landscaped and species‑specific enclosures. The collection’s administrative trajectory moved from local management to formal national oversight, with periodic reconstruction and modernization of animal houses and service facilities during its institutional development.

Natural features of Dehiwala Zoo

The site combines constructed masonry and reinforced‑concrete pavilions, steel mesh aviaries, glass‑fronted aquatic tanks, and planted specimen trees within a largely flat topography. Dehiwala Zoo’s layout features interconnected pathways around central lawns, artificial ponds, and mixed enclosures that juxtapose built structures with mature tropical canopy species such as widely planted shade trees and palms. Materially, the collection’s infrastructure reflects mid‑century concrete work alongside later steel and glass additions for aquatic and flighted exhibits.

Environment, protection, and monitoring of Dehiwala Zoo

Dehiwala Zoo is administered as a national zoological institution under government oversight, with governance responsibilities for animal health, recordkeeping and institutional exchanges. Long‑term management emphasizes ex‑situ conservation themes for native fauna, routine veterinary monitoring, and infrastructure maintenance of enclosure materials and water features. Stewardship activities include specimen documentation, quarantine and care protocols, and participation in inter‑institutional networks for animal transfers and genetic management.

Dehiwala Zoo facts

The institution now commonly called Dehiwala Zoo is officially referred to in records as the National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka.
The garden occupies municipal parkland in the Dehiwala‑Mount Lavinia area immediately south of central Colombo.
The collection includes purpose‑built facilities for both terrestrial species and housed aquatic displays within glass‑fronted tanks.
Architectural fabric at the site combines mid‑century masonry and concrete animal houses with later steel aviaries and glass aquarium structures.
The site transitioned from a colonial‑era menagerie to a nationally administered zoological institution through successive municipal and government actions.

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