UDAWALAWE NATIONAL PARK, Sri Lanka — Earlier this month, more than 300 people gathered near the borders of the Dahaiyagala Wildlife Sanctuary in Sri Lanka’s Uva province armed with axes, long knives, ropes and handheld hoes called mamoties. Their apparent intention: Take control of sanctuary lands and expand their farms. Triggered by a rumor that […]
Big cats require big home ranges. In February 2016, a young male Indochinese tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) walked from Huai Kha Khaeng Wildlife Sanctuary in western Thailand to Kayin state in Myanmar. After crossing mountains, rivers, roads and national borders over the course of its 170-kilometer (105-mile) journey, he ventured out of the forest into […]
COLOMBO — The killing of a young forest ranger by suspected poachers has underscored that illegal hunting in Sri Lanka, and the bushmeat trade it feeds, hasn’t stopped during the lockdown imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Pradeep Bandara, 25, was shot dead on April 22 while leading his team on an anti-poaching raid […]
On a morning safari into the Tadoba National Park we saw the Oriental Honey Buzzard that came down to the lake to quench its thirst. It was a lovely sighting. The Brown Fish Owl, featured above, was another price catch of the afternoon safari, later that day. While waiting at the camp for the jeep, […]
During one of our safaris in Ranthambore National Park, we went around an area, where a Tiger was spotted the previous day. But today, we saw a handsome Sambar Deer stag standing at the exact spot where the Tiger was seen. After taking a couple of pictures of the Sambar, we headed towards the small […]
A major premise of biology, as any high-schooler can tell you, is the study of the connections between organisms. Perhaps nowhere is there a better example of this than in Malaysia, where the population of Endangered Malayan tigers (Panthera tigris jacksoni) is being undercut by dwindling prey. A recent study by MYCAT, the Malaysian Conservation […]