In to the wild..................

(by Yashoda Somarathne)

   Kitulgala, a small village full of friendly locals, little shops and a handful of food spots, is halfway to Hatton from Colombo, and en-route to the hill town of Nuwara Eliya. It is a fabulously peaceful, colourful and historic attraction that is a great place to either relax or take up some of the activities offered, such as white-water rafting, bird watching and cave exploration.

    It may already be familiar to many due to its starring role as the beautiful main location for the 1957 Oscar-winning film, The Bridge on the River Kwai. Though there is no bridge remaining, since it was blown up at the end of the film, it is still a popular place for film buffs to visit. But what better place to view the bridge location from than the river itself whilst doing what Kitulgala is now most famous for – white-water rafting? A handful of operators are now offering rafting trips from here on the Kelani River, which originates in the Adam’s Peak area, though one of the best is run from the natural luxury of The Rafter’s Retreat which is also a great place to stay. Rafting is great fun and best when the rapids are a grade three to four, and it is perfect for beginners as well as rafting experts!

(by Yashoda Somarathne)

 Away from the river, bird watching in Kitulgala is considered top class and can result in you seeing many of the country’s endemic bird species as well as reptiles. There are good treks offered into the Kelani Valley Forest Reserve, a rich lowland tropical rainforest, to see many butterflies and insects. You’ll go on a charming local ferry ride across the river in the early misty morning, walk up through rural villages to the wooded mountain above and to a waterfall. Another place to spot wildlife is at the Beli Lena Caves that are five kilometres up a little mountain road just outside Kitulgala. It is here that a head and many bones were found of Balangoda Man, including a child dating back over 30,000 years.

Nannophrys ceylonensis (by Yashoda Somarathne)

    Nannophrys ceylonensis (Ranidae) is a terrestrial breeding frog that is endemic to central, western and southern Sri Lanka.It is a largely aquatic species, found mostly in rocky cascades, on wet rock surfaces and under boulders, in lowland and sub-montane tropical moist forest. Non-breeding adult males and females take refuge in separate crevices in the rock surfaces during the day and emerge at night to forage.  Paternal care of this species is obligatory; hatching success decreases without it. Females do not contribute to parental care. Males show nest site fidelity and defend territories against conspecifics.

 

Common Mormon

Common Mormon

(by Yashoda Somarathne)

Common Mormon

(by Yashoda Somarathne)

This species is very common across the island. This is a bit larger species. It is typically found in Southeast Asia, especially in China, Japan, Sri Lanka and India. A deep black color, the male butterfly has a band of yellow across the back of its wings, with yellow spotting in the wings' edges. The female has three different patterns of color. While the male is a faster filter, the female protects itself with colors similar to another type of swallow-tail that is poisonous to predators. The Common Mormon is bred at the conservatory and reaches a size of 10 cm.

Fejervarya limnocharis (by Yashoda Somarathne)

          Snout pointed, projecting beyond mouth. Canthus obtuse, loreal oblique, more or less concave. Internarial space is longer than interorbital width, which is much less than width of the upper eyelid. Tympanum distinct, half to two third the diameter of eye. Fingers obtusely pointed, first longer than second, subarticular tubercles very prominent.Tibiotarsal articulation reaches tympanum or naris. Toes obtuse or with slightly swollen tips, half webbed, subarticular tubercles small and prominent. Body with small tubercles, sometimes small longitudinal folds are present, ventrum smooth except belly and thighs which are granular posteriorly. Male with loose gular region, with brown or blackish W-shaped mark, fore limbs stronger, with pad like subdigital tubercles under first finger. Snout-vent length 39-43 mm.( source: Amphibia web)

 

Fejervarya greenii   (by Yashoda Somarathne)

        A montane species, having been recorded at altitudes above 1700 m asl in the central hills. This frog can be found in margins of shallow, slow-flowing streams, and under grass tussocks in marshes and smal water holes. This frog is active during daytime. Endemic to Sri Lanka. Listed as Endangered, because its extent of occurrence of less than 5,000 km2 and its area of occupancy is less than 500 km2, its distribution is severely fragmented, and there is a continuing decline in the extent and quality of its habitat. 

Human- Elephant conflict in Sri Lanka

African elephant’s misfortune is its tusks, which are carried by both sexes, and for which ivory poachers slaughter it in large numbers. Among Asian elephants, females do not have tusks and not all the males carry them either. In Sri Lanka, 93% of the bulls are tusk less and are referred to as maknas. Since, 7% of tuskers are present in Sri Lanka, ivory poaching is a minor conservation problem. Much more important for Asian elephant are habitat loss and fragmentation due to the high human population.  Changes in the land-use patterns are resulting in a continuous contraction of habitat available to the elephant. Over much if the island of Sri Lanka, given its small size (65,610 km²) and there is no longer room for elephants to move about and adjust their densities to changing vegetation pattern.

Except at lowest densities, large wild animals and humans are fundamentally incompatible. This incompatibility increases rapidly as both animal and human densities increase.  The conflict between man and elephant is the result of competition for land and its resources, and it has become one of the most serious conservation problems, for which general solution remains still elusive. Crop raiding by elephants is a chronic problem in areas where cultivators live in close proximity to elephants. In addition the conflict includes crop depredations, destruction of houses and properties by wild elephants, loss of human lives, and the death of elephants from land mines. Elephants also kill and injure livestock and disrupt the social and economic activities of the local communities. The traditional approach towards mitigating the conflict in Sri Lanka has mainly depended on legislative protection of the species and reservation of its habitat.

      Source:http://sanjaygubbi.blogspot.com/

Elephants are not being killed in Sri Lanka mainly because they interfere with agriculture. The loss in elephant lives, if allowed to continue unchecked, would become unsustainable, given the relatively small size of the local elephant populations and their slow rate of reproduction. Disproportionate killing of one sex can alter the adult sex-ratio. In Sri Lanka, the adult male: female sex ratio is 1:3, which is not as skewed as what is seen in Periyar Tiger Reserve in South India, where the adult male: female sex ratio reached a peak of 1:122 in 1987-1989 through indiscriminate poaching of tuskers.