Setting out from home to collect firewood on a cool spring morning last year, Harshini Wanninayake and her mother had no idea only one of them would come back alive. The pair were walking to a nearby forest from Eriyawa, a village in north-west Sri Lanka, when they heard a loud rustling close by. “It […]
Tag: Sri Lanka
Proposal to Export Sri Lankan Endemic Monkeys to China Raises Alarm Among Conservationists
The Sri Lankan government is currently considering a proposal from a Chinese private company to export 100,000 endemic toque macaques, a species found only in Sri Lanka, to China. This news has sparked concerns among animal protection groups who worry about the well-being of these primates. The island’s agriculture minister has assembled a committee to […]
In Sri Lanka, a waterbird flips the parenting paradigm on its head
COLOMBO — When it comes to super dads in the animal kingdom, the striking-looking waterbird known as the pheasant-tailed jacana is in a universe all its own. From incubating the eggs to taking care of the young, the male of the species excels. And in a reversal of the typical roles that play out in […]
Asian Elephants Are Ingesting Large Amounts of Plastic From Landfills in India
The highly social and endangered Asian elephant (Elephas maximus indicus) lives in matriarch-led groups and, in addition to foods that can be found in the wild like grasses and the roots, bark and leaves of trees, enjoys foods cultivated by humans like rice and bananas, according to the World Wildlife Fund. Unfortunately, remnants of these […]
Elephants dying after eating plastic trash on open garbage dumps
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka — The issue of trash-foraging elephants in Sri Lanka was brought to national attention thanks to a tweet by Hollywood icon Leonardo DiCaprio. Local conservationists, on the other hand, have long been warning about the problem, which they claim is caused by “short-sighted, politically motivated” planning that continues to harm elephants and […]
Protecting Reef Wildlife by Stopping the Aquarium Trade
Nowadays, when you are snorkeling in the Hawaiian Islands, unless you are in a protected area, you may be faced with the fact that the very marine animals have left the building. I returned to the Big Island to go snorkeling after 15 years and was shocked at the absence of beautiful reef fish that […]
Hundreds of dead turtles wash ashore in Sri Lanka after cargo ship wreck
Hundreds of turtles have washed ashore after a ship caught fire and sank off the west coast of Sri Lanka in June in the country’s worst-ever marine disaster, a court in the capital Colombo has heard. A fire erupted on the Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl on 20 May, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of […]
In Sri Lanka, here be dragonflies and damselflies like nowhere else (Commentary)
A tropical continental island located close to the Indian subcontinent, endemic fauna and flora form an integral part of Sri Lanka’s rich biodiversity. The island’s biodiversity is globally recognized for both its diversity and endemism of fauna and flora, and this is true of its dragonflies and damselflies, or odonates in general. With 130 known […]