Tyron Vimukthi Fernando, a 15-year-old student of Joseph Vaas College, Wennapuwa held his first art exhibition when he was just seven years old. Now eight years later, the young artist is getting ready for his second to be held this week. The exhibition will be titled ‘Untamed’.�A member of the junior group of the Young Zoologists’ Association of Sri Lanka ...
A dugong swimming in the sea (c) Mandy Etpison Sri Lanka has pledged its support to the long-term survival of the dugongs and the protection of their critical sea grass habitats by becoming a signatory state to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the Conservation and Management of Dugongs. The secretary of the Agrarian and Wildlife Ministry Udeni Wickramasinghe on ...
A roar of protest has gone up from animal lovers at a plan to transfer four young sloth bears under the guardianship of Department of Wildlife to the National Zoological Gardens, with calls for the bears to be rehabilitated and released to live free in the wild instead of in a cage. The bears were to have been released into ...
The controversial Sethusamudram Canal project is back on the Indian government’s agenda under pressure from some Tamil Nadu Political parties such as the DMK the Indian Media reported recently. This in turn has raised concern among environmentalists in Sri Lanka. The project aims at shortening the sea route between India and Sri Lanka by dredging the canal as the sea ...
The annual wildlife art exhibition together with the wildlife photographic exhibition by the Young Zoologists Association (YZA) will be held this week. ‘Kin Wild’ -the exhibition of wildlife paintings and sketches by the Young Zoologists is probably the longest running wildlife art exhibition in the country. The Young Zoologists Association established the ‘Wildlife Arts’ group in 1989 to assist talented ...
The Sri Lanka Spiny Eel, a freshwater fish that was common in the early ’80s is probably now extinct. This was revealed by Prof.Devake Weerakoon delivering a talk on the Red List, at an event organised by the Open University’s Botany society. Sri Lanka is home to six species of eel known as ‘aandha’ in Sinhala, given its slippery, slimy ...
Many are the negative stories reported regarding conservation of animals, especially that of reptiles. But proving this trend wrong, a group of wildlife enthusiasts hatched a clutch of crocodile eggs and they are now the proud foster parents of baby crocs. Making an entry to the world: An egg hatches under the protective care of WCSG members The group is ...
Climate change, over-extraction of groundwater due to resettlement and with no rivers flowing through the peninsula, its aquifers are fast depleting The first elections in Jaffna since the war ended was held yesterday with many political promises. However, experts point out a water shortage silently looming in Jaffna, that will affect the people beyond these political promises. The fact that ...
A group of drivers who were present at last week’s forum As the situation worsens in Yala regarding Visitor and Jeep Driver misbehavior and Leopard-chasing, a short workshop titled “Visit Yala, Don’t Invade” was organized by Lakdasun, an internet-based conservation group (www.lakdasun.org), providing a platform for jeep drivers and activists to interact. This workshop was unique in that it was initiated as ...
The grace period given for registering illegally caught wild elephants is being made use of by certain dishonest people to register baby elephants newly captured by them, environmentalists charge. Several environmental groups raised a concerted voice at a news conference, against this move to give a grace period for registering illegally kept wild elephant calves. The existence of a racket of ...
A pair of young lionesses arrived at the Dehiwala Zoo last Wednesday (July 3). They were a gift from Tierpark Hggenbeck Zoo, in Hamburg, Germany. In April last year the Dehiwala Zoo got down an African lion from South Korea with the aim of breeding lions. The lion family whose cubs were sent to the Dehiwala Zoo seen in the ...
Fisheries authorities and the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) have stepped up action against illegal fishing methods used by local fishermen, officials said. The SLN arrested 89 fishermen off the east coast, for using ‘Hambili del’ or ‘Purse Seine’ nets meant for deep sea fishing. Navy spokesman, Commander Kosala Waranakulasuriya said the arrests made by Eastern Naval Command’s SLN Dockyard on October ...
Lanka lauded for not procrastinating as crops grow vulnerable Sri Lanka’s modern farming use of rainwater stored in ancient tanks is a best practice strategy to combat the effects of climate change, says CGIAR, a global partnership of research bodies – but an expert warns that we are ruining this precious legacy. CGIAR’s research programme on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food ...
Rising ocean would drown valuable projects Sri Lanka will be hit hard by climate change and is not giving this enough thought when executing development projects, a new report warns. The report, “Turn Down The Heat: Climate Extremes, Regional Impacts, and the Case for Resilience” builds on a World Bank report released late last year, which concluded the world would warm ...
“Birds’ welfare comes first” is the message of the FOGSL photography exhibition. This article has been published on SundayTimes on 07.12.2014 - http://www.sundaytimes.lk/141207/plus/birding-with-the-3rd-eye-130738.html Dushantha Wasala’s photograph “The Battlefield” showing a mid-air fight of Malabar Pied Hornbills was the overall winner of the “Birding with the 3rd Eye” exhibition. Sandaruwan Abayaratne, S.N.P. Rodrigo, Dr. Gihan Rajeev and Dr. Sudheera Bandara won first ...
After several days of waiting the wildlife officers captured the crocodile from Nilwala river at Malimbada. The croc is 11 ft long and captured closer to the place a school girl was killed by a killer croc. The wildlife officers believes the crocodile could be the same that had attacked the girl, but also on the look for other ...
An international study has placed Sri Lanka among top 20 countries that catch sharks. Noting that these 20 countries account for 80% of the world’s annual shark catch, a report based on the study puts the survival of many shark varieties in their hands. Shark fins laid out to dry in Negombo This report titled “The future of the Shark: ...
Monsoon rains have clearly increased in intensity, experts said, as continuing bad weather damaged at least 132 houses and causing a death – and the government warned that the economy would be a victim of our changed weather patterns. The country experienced heavy flooding in 2011 and 2010. Prolonged drought affected 2012, and floods returned over the past few months of ...
The real story behind the shooting incident in Yala is now fully revealed. The images of the incident has been posted on “Sri Lankan Wildlife” group by biologist Manory Gunawardane. She stresses that the incident should be taken to rethink on issues Yala National Park faces due to over-visitation. I’m re-posting this series of images on my blog for future references..
Programme from year end to monitor and control vehicle emissions, air pollution to meet WHO targets by 2020 – By Malaka Rodrigo Air pollution is set to get worse with the use of low quality diesel, warns Air Resource Management (AirMac) Director Anura Jayatilleka. Sulfur in fossil fuel is one of the worst air pollutants, and this is high ...
