ANURADHAPURA/COLOMBO — Wildlife authorities in Sri Lanka have launched an investigation after seven elephants were found dead late last month in the north-central district of Anuradhapura. Four of the elephants were found dead near the city of Habarana on Sept. 27, and three more on the following day. All except one were female, and all […]
Tag: Sri Lanka
Deadlier than guns: Explosive bait haunts Sri Lanka’s elephants
KURUNEGALA, Sri Lanka — Residents of the farming village of Irudeniyagama in Sri Lanka’s North Western province were taken by surprise last week when they saw a wild elephant calf trying to enter a house. They gave chase, but instead of returning to the nearby forest, the calf next tried to find shelter inside another […]
How ethical is the elephant ‘sanctuary’ you’re visiting?
“Many parks advertise themselves as sanctuaries but they are not,” says Maria Mossman, founder of non-profit group Action for Elephants UK. “Never go to a park that advertises shows, unnatural behaviour, tricks or painting – and please, never ride an elephant.” Mossman, who has been involved in elephant activism since 2013, and also organises global […]
POLL: Should Asia’s elephant tourism be banned?
Businesses in Asia have often justified so-called elephant tourism by arguing that the industry benefits elephants and helps safeguard this endangered animal. But new research shows that elephant tourism is actually rife with cruelty. The survey, conducted by internationally recognized animal welfare group World Animal Protection, found that three out of every four elephants recorded […]
POLL: Should the use of elephants for “entertainment” be banned?
Thousands of elephants being used for entertainment across Asia are kept in cruel, abusive conditions fuelled by the growing tourism industry, World Animal Protection has found. Three out of four elephants surveyed in south-east Asia’s popular tourist destinations are living in harsh conditions where they are being used for rides, with mostly steel or wooden […]
Scientists discover new gecko hanging-on in single forest fragment
Scientists have identified a new species of day gecko that is the largest in its genus (Cnemaspis) to be found in Sri Lanka. To date, it has been observed only within the Rammalakanda Reserve in southern Sri Lanka, an area spanning just 1,700 hectares, raising questions about the viability of this population and hence the […]
Not seen in over 130 years, ‘extinct’ frog rediscovered in Sri Lanka
In 1876 – the same year that the first telephone call was made – the British scientist Albert Günther described a new species of frog from Sri Lanka, but the species, known as the webless shrub frog (Pseudophilautus hypomelas), was never seen again. Having disappeared into history, scientists considered the species extinct—that is until a […]
New giant tarantula that’s taken media by storm likely Critically Endangered (photos)
Described by a number of media outlets as “the size of your face” a new tree-dwelling tarantula discovered in Sri Lanka has awed arachnophiliacs and terrified arachnophobes alike. But the new species, named Raja’s tiger spider (Poecilotheria rajaei), is likely Critically Endangered according to the scientist that discovered it in northern Sri Lanka. “I would […]