What is needed to keep Sri Lanka’s leopards roaming free? (Commentary)
On Dec. 31, a fully grown male Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) was found shot and killed at the famed Uda Walawe National Park. It was also reported that…
Articles by dilrukshi
Dilrukshi Handunnetti is a Colombo based journalist and lawyer. Trained as an investigative journalist, her reporting covers a range of topics. Dilrukshi has won local and international awards for excellence in journalism and collaborates across South Asia.
As 2019 ends, reptile-rich Sri Lanka delivers three more new gecko species
COLOMBO — A group of Sri Lankan herpetologists closed out 2019 in style: by introducing to science three new gecko species from the biodiverse island that seemingly never ceases to…
2019: The year Sri Lanka’s stunning new species came to light (Commentary)
For the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka, it is not a huge surprise to have introduced more than 50 new species just in the past year. For this biodiversity-rich…
Balancing short and long term interests vital for Sri Lanka in 2020 (Commentary)
Sri Lanka enters 2020 at a time of political transition. With a new president in office and a parliamentary election due in the next few months, public and media focus…
Ancient Sri Lankans used ‘flexible’ quartz tools to hunt primates in rainforests
Some 45,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers in the rainforests of Sri Lanka hunted down small tree-dwelling animals like monkeys and giant squirrels using small stone tools called microliths, a new study…
Sri Lanka’s Sinharaja rainforest reserve to be quadrupled in size
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka plans to quadruple the size of the protected area inside its last viable rainforest, in a nod to the ecological significance of the region. The Sinharaja…
The Sri Lankan legume: Extinct, rediscovered, and now at risk again (commentary)
COLOMBO — The recent rediscovery of the endemic plant known as the Sri Lanka legume by three young research scientists in a locality in Sri Lanka’s western district of Gampaha…
As nesting season begins, Sri Lanka’s olive ridley turtles face myriad threats
COLOMBO — The Sri Lankan Navy has rescued 32 sea turtles that were likely being reared for their flesh, highlighting just one of the key threats to turtles migrating through…
Elephant seal native to Antarctica spotted for first time in tropical Sri Lanka
COLOMBO — Uthpala Adaranga, a ranger with Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), was initially doubtful about the call he received of a seal spotted near Unawatuna, off the…
More discoveries, more threats for Sri Lanka’s dragonflies and damselflies
COLOMBO — In late October, swarms of dragonflies began darkening the skies along Sri Lanka’s western coast, sparking speculation about a possible “dragonfly movement.” Among the most charismatic of insects,…
‘Science prevails’ as suspension of award for herbicide research is reversed
COLOMBO — Science prevailing over politics: That’s how a researcher who was snubbed for a high-profile award earlier this year has characterized the decision to finally recognize his achievements in…
Global trafficking threat catches up to Sri Lanka’s endangered pangolins
COLOMBO — The same demand for pangolin scales and flesh that’s driving the animal’s decline across Africa and Southeast Asia is also taking a toll in Sri Lanka, one of…
Less force, more kindness as Sri Lanka tries to defuse human-elephant conflict
COLOMBO — When Chandi, an aggressive male elephant prone to breaking into village homes and destroying crops, was finally captured, he was collared and transferred to a holding ground in…
As birds winter in Sri Lanka, one enthusiast makes sure their memory stays
COLOMBO — His eye was trained from a young age to observe details, be it about a plant, an animal, or a legal document. Jagath Gunawardena, a veteran lawyer and…
Photos: Meet the surprisingly diverse day geckos of Sri Lanka
COLOMBO — “For a small island, there is amazing species diversity here,” says Sameera Suranjan Karunarathna, a leading herpetologist in Sri Lanka. Diversity abounds among the island’s reptiles, many of…
Seven elephants found dead as Sri Lanka’s human-wildlife conflict escalates
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…
Seven elephants found dead as Sri Lanka’s human-wildlife conflict escalates
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…
EU market a factor as Sri Lanka pulls its punches on protection for lizards
COLOMBO — With its spectacular green coloration and reddish eyes set behind a knob-like snout, the hump-nosed lizard (Lyriocephalus scutatus) is probably Sri Lanka’s most charismatic reptile. But that beauty…
Sri Lanka eyes lucrative charismatic species to save lesser-known ones
COLOMBO — Wildlife conservation managers have long known that to protect a species, it helps if the animal is what’s known as charismatic: rare, endangered, beautiful, impressive, dangerous, or a…
Sri Lanka wields mangroves, its tsunami shield, against climate change
KOGGALA/UNAWATUNA, Sri Lanka — About 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, lies the coastal town of Koggala, named after a picturesque lake and identified with…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- Fighting to save an endangered ape, Indonesian activists fear for their lives
- Iran sentences eight conservationists convicted of spying
- Watchdog denounces arrests of four anti-mining activists in Indonesia
Indonesias forest guardians
- Reforesting a village in Indonesia, one batch of gourmet beans at a time
- Restoring Sumatra’s Leuser Ecosystem, one small farm at a time
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
Amazon infrastructure
- After a mine killed their river, a Brazil tribe fights for a new home
- Catastrophic Amazon tipping point less than 30 years away: study
- Amazon’s Munduruku stage daring Christmas raid to recover sacred urns
Asian rhinos
- Indonesian officials wield sharia law in defense of Sumatran rhinos
- Love triangle complicates efforts to breed Sumatran rhinos
- Indonesia to capture 3 wild Sumatran rhinos to add to breeding population
