COLOMBO — Yala National Park in Sri Lanka, the island’s most visited wilderness area, has introduced a new information center that lets visitors identify the area’s star attraction: Sri Lankan…
HORTON PLAINS, Sri Lanka — Studying animals in their wild habitat can get quite intrusive. And when that animal is a male sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) with fully grown antlers…
In 1976, a young Asian elephant named Shanthi was flown from Sri Lanka to the U.S. An orphaned calf, she was a gift from the children of the former to…
MANNAR, Sri Lanka — The Vidattaltivu coastal belt in Sri Lanka’s north was once home to the marine unit of the Tamil Tiger guerrilla group, known as the “Sea Tigers.”…
COLOMBO — Located in the suburbs of Sri Lanka’s biggest city, Colombo, the picturesque Thalangama Lake is plagued by at least two invasive predatory fish species that are contributing to…
COLOMBO — Getting out of their vehicle in the middle of the night, armed with small digging tools, UV lights and headlamps, the members of the research team looked like…
POLONNARUWA, Sri Lanka — For centuries, Sri Lanka’s ancient civilization diverted river water to large reservoirs and man-made canals for agriculture. After the collapse of the island’s hydraulic civilization about…
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka -- On June 15, 2020, Sri Lanka’s wildlife and nature lovers were finally able to gain access to several national parks, which had been closed for three…
COLOMBO — For nearly a decade, siblings and scientists Dineth Danushka and Suneth Kanishka have been making field visits to study Dendrelaphis bifrenalis, a snake known as the Boulenger’s bronzeback,…
KURUNEGALA, Sri Lanka -- With the COVID-19 pandemic contained following a strict two-month lockdown, Sri Lanka relaxed restrictions in late May 2020. But now, several farming communities are facing a…
COLOMBO — Sri Lankan researchers have described the first ever species of jumping spiders from the genus Synagelides that are native to the Indian Ocean island, identifying not one but…
HIYARE, Sri Lanka — Bouts of panic buying quickly cleared supermarket and store shelves with each lifting of Sri Lanka’s COVID-19 curfew to allow residents to stock up on essentials.…
There has been much media hype about improved air quality in Sri Lanka, and particularly in the island’s commercial capital, Colombo, during the COVID-19 lockdown phase. However, a close examination…
BUNDALA, Sri Lanka – The glossy ibis (Plegadis falcinellus) is a fairly rare but regular winter visitor to Sri Lanka, seen at the Bundala National Park in the island’s south…
COLOMBO — On May 29, a vanishingly rare black leopard — an actual black panther — died at a government wildlife treatment facility in Sri Lanka. It had been brought…
COLOMBO — Legend has it that a group of pygmy hominids known as Nittaewo — meaning “long clawed” in the local language — lived in Sri Lanka up until the…
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…
Kelanimulla is one of the last remaining wetlands in Sri Lanka’s western district of Colombo, and is a refuge for urban wildlife, including the elusive fishing cat. The wetland absorbs…
COLOMBO — The COVID-19 pandemic has sent half the global population into some form of lockdown. Factories have closed, streets and highways lie empty, restaurants no longer serve customers. Sri…
As climate change impact dramatically alters the world we live in, the biodiversity around us is also experiencing rapid and alarming changes. For dragonflies and damselflies (odonates), having an amphibious…
COLOMBO — On April 22, Sri Lanka eased its nationwide lockdown that was imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. That sparked a buying rush for essential goods, primarily food.…
UDUDUMBARA, Sri Lanka — Twelve years ago, as a young undergraduate, Kanishka Ukuwela was trekking with his colleagues in the Ududumbara area along the 18 Hairpin Bends, a 6-kilometer (4-mile)…
KALPITIYA, Sri Lanka — Sri Lanka is known for the blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus) that occur throughout the year in the waters around this Indian Ocean island. But a lesser-known…
TISSAMAHARAMA, Sri Lanka – Yala National Park in southern Sri Lanka is the most visited wilderness area in the country. From the nearby town of Tissamaharama, would-be visitors leave before…
COLOMBO — Not everyone wants to check these fearsome creatures out, but as a photographer, I find saltwater or estuarine crocodiles quite fascinating to watch. The largest reptile on Earth,…
COLOMBO — A rare new orchid described from a tropical lowland rainforest in Sri Lanka now bears the name of two of the island’s pioneering forest ecologists. A new paper…
COLOMBO — A researcher and passionate advocate of school sanitation and catchment conservation, Kusum Athukorala is a community water practitioner who works closely with water-stressed communities, promoting conservation of the…
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka imposed a lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, but residents of this Indian Ocean island had been panic buying various foods and…
YALA, Sri Lanka — Gemunu is one of about 350 elephants in Yala National Park, the most visited in Sri Lanka. It’s thanks to these visitors that he’s developed a…
COLOMBO — She’s 80 years old, but Baby Nona can still recall the day she contracted chickenpox as a teenager. Her mother spread neem leaves, from the Azadirachta indica tree,…
