Keeping everyone informed
he other day, in my continuous and losing battle to keep my bookshelves in order, I found three management plans written for the conservation of elephants in Sri Lanka. I shall not write about their content (which, over three successive decades, was much the same) nor how much of these plans has been implemented (on a scale of 1 to 10, possibly 0). What I shall present in this essay is the point of view that although much attention has been paid to this charismatic species, our focus in Sri Lanka should be directed instead to its top carnivore – the leopard, Panthera pardus.
The removal of a top carnivore from an ecosystem can have an impact on the relative abundance of herbivore species . . . In the absence of predators, usually one or two herbivore species come to dominate the community. The consequence is often a direct alteration of herbaceous vegetation near to the base of the food web. Top carnivores have an important role to play in the structuring of communities and ultimately of ecosystems. Thus, the preservation of carnivores becomes an important consideration in the discipline of conservation biology” Dr. John F. Eisenberg