Mysterious Beauties of the Jungle
Protecting Sri Lanka’s Majestic Big Cats, Panthera pardus kotiya
By Risidra Mendis
Among the lush greenery in dense forests, they hide behind large tree trunks. You may even see them perched on top of trees, some with their cubs, others alone. Some like the shade and lie on the ground, their bodies touching the cool green grass. Others prefer the hot sun. It is their majestic presence that attracts thousands of visitors, both local and foreign to the national parks of Sri Lanka – to witness that breathtaking sight of a leopard in all its glory.
Sri Lanka’s iconic leopards are one of the most sought-after wild animals and one that visitors will never get tired of seeing, observing and photographing. Their presence is anything but regal. The roars of a leopard is more than enough to see safari jeeps racing along in that direction to get a glimpse of an animal that some are lucky enough to see. But sadly leopards like many other wild animals are hunted for their skin and teeth. Others are killed in revenge when they venture into human territory to catch and kill cattle and dogs.
Caught in illegal traps and snares these innocent creatures suffer for hours, sometimes days before they die a cruel death that no human would wish upon themselves. Leopard deaths are most often reported from tea plantations, estates and upcountry land areas. Despite their protected status under the Fauna and Flora Protection Ordinance (FFPO) and in the Red- List of threatened fauna and flora in Sri Lanka they are continuously killed.
The importance of this species is further highlighted with the Sri Lanka Leopard Day that was held on 1 August 2025. The Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) has been in the forefront when it comes to protecting the Sri Lankan leopard. Sri Lanka Leopard Day the national day for Sri Lankan leopards was celebrated for the first time on 1 August 2021 and will continue annually.
Leopards – a natural heritage
The day was first declared in 2021 by the WNPS and the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC). Leopards an integral part of Sri Lanka’s natural heritage have been considered to be one of the most famous wildlife species in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka Leopard Day was established to raise awareness on the conservation of the Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya), an endemic subspecies, and to address the threats it faces, such as habitat loss and the human-wildlife conflict.
In promoting Sri Lanka Leopard Day the WNP Sand LOLC Holdings PLC highlight their joint efforts in leading the country’s most comprehensive multi-regional Leopard Research and Coexistence Project (LRCP). WNPS and LOLC Champion Sri Lanka’s Largest Leopard Conservation Initiative Beyond Protected Areas.
“The Sri Lankan leopard is one of the island’s most iconic and ecologically vital species. As the top terrestrial predator, it plays a crucial role in maintaining ecological balance by regulating prey populations and supporting the health of forest ecosystems. Despite their national significance as the only big cat species recorded in Sri Lanka and an endemic subspecies to the island, leopard populations face escalating human-induced threats driven by habitat loss and fragmentation, human-leopard conflict, and illegal snaring, poaching, and retaliatory killings,” says Co Chair Wild Cat Sub Committee WNPS Prof. Enoka P. Kudavidanage.
These pressures are particularly intense outside the boundaries of protected areas she added where expanding human activity increasingly encroaches on natural leopard habitats.
“In response to this conservation emergency, WNPS, in partnership with LOLC Holdings PLC, launched the Multi-Regional LRCP in mid-2022 as a long-term initiative to study leopard populations across human-dominated landscapes and facilitate human-leopard coexistence in Sri Lanka. The project’s activities are based on three main pillars—field research, public awareness, and collaborative partnerships—and are carried out via six regional centres: Panama, Sigiriya, Kilinochchi, Kotagala, Belihuloya, and Kalawana,” Prof. Kudavidanage explains.
Geographically strategic regions
These centres are located in geographically strategic regions, each overseeing specific study areas, she added with the goal of developing tailored conservation strategies for each landscape.
“From its inception, the project was designed not only as a scientific research study but also as a community-integrated conservation movement. Regional coordinators serve as vital links between scientific fieldwork and community engagement, working closely with the DWC, the Forest Department (FD), and Rainforest Alliance. With the support of local informant networks, citizen science data is being collected to assess leopard distribution and the nature of human-leopard interactions across regions,” Prof. Kudavidanage noted.
The professor says based on these insights, the project is actively addressing areas with shared space between humans and leopards through various initiatives to reduce conflict.
“Public awareness sessions are regularly conducted in identified localities, engaging a broad cross-section of the public—including school students, government officials (such as Grama Niladhari and development officers), rural communities, and estate management personnel. These sessions are delivered in native languages with the assistance of regional DWC and FD officers and aim to improve public understanding of leopard behaviour while reducing potential encounters and negative interactions. Over the past three years, these sessions have reached more than 18,000 individuals,” Prof. Kudavidanage explains.
These education efforts are also integrated with environmental safe guarding programs she added such as snare removal and tree planting, particularly in the Central Highlands.
“The ongoing collaboration with Rainforest Alliance has led to sustained engagement with several regional plantation companies and joint activities—such as site inspections and snare removal campaigns—have been implemented to directly address the widespread issue of illegal snaring. To expand public outreach further, a four-part documentary series titled ‘Save the Sri Lankan Leopard’ was co-produced by WNPS, LOLC, and Sirasa TV and launched on 1 August 2025. The series highlights leopard ecology, the ecological and economic value of the species, and showcases conservation efforts driven by this landmark project. Additional educational initiatives are in the pipeline to empower local communities, especially school students, to become active stewards of their environment,” Prof. Kudavidanage said.
She goes on to say the project has also initiated several collaborative research efforts with local and international university students, focusing on areas such as public attitudes towards leopards and the monitoring of field observations.
“Drawing on data from these efforts, a pilot compensation program titled ‘Stop Revenge Killings’ will be launched this year in Sigiriya, Minneriya, and Dambulla. This initiative will offer compensation to farmers for livestock losses caused by leopards in non-protected areas to help prevent retaliatory killings. Findings from the citizen science and field-based data collection have already been recognized locally and internationally, including at the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) and the WILDLANKA Symposium, affirming the project’s scientific contributions,” Prof. Kudavidanage explains.
Camera trapping
Prof. Kudavidanage says camera trapping has also commenced in two regional centres to determine and map leopard distribution and will be expanded in future phases to study activity patterns, habitat selection, and feeding ecology.
“I do some work with Dilmah’s Queensbury estate, because this is something really important, when we are talking about leopard incidents in the Hill Country. We have research stations, we do biodiversity service in nearby forests, we train people who work in there, managers come and get trained on camera trapping, so that is kind of accountability where you take effort to monitor your biodiversity and I don’t see leopard deaths as far as I know in this area. This is just an example to say that if everybody is accountable and takes one extra step you can make a difference,” Prof. Kudavidanage noted.
The professor says the ongoing deaths of leopards underscore the urgent need for comprehensive and immediate measures to prevent such losses in the future. “We call upon the managers of tea estates and other private landowners in leopard habitats to take proactive steps in maintaining a snare-free environment. The responsibility to protect these threatened animals lies with all of us, and estate managers must ensure their lands are safe for leopards and other wildlife. Implementing regular checks and collaborating with conservation organizations for training and awareness can significantly reduce such incidents,” Prof. Kudavidanage noted.
“We are collecting information because most of the research people do are on leopards within protected areas and this is outside protected areas she added where you should understand there should be some mechanism for coexistence.”
“You can’t chase all the leopards into the national parks. With forest fragmentation these animals are inside human dominated land. Leopards are very sensitive animals, they can adjust. We are collecting scientific evidence of the presence and absence of leopards in areas where a lot of incidents are reported. We check if the leopard is there”, Prof. Kudavidanage explained.
She says with a vision of building a multidimensional platform that integrates scientific research, policy interventions, habitat conservation, education, and institutional collaboration, the project seeks to foster proactive, unified stakeholder engagement. “As we mark Sri Lanka Leopard Day, the WNPS–LOLC Multi-Regional LRCP stands as a powerful reminder that the future of Panthera pardus kotiya rests not only on science and policy but also on the collective will of the people who share its landscapes. The partnership between WNPS Sri Lanka’s foremost conservation body and LOLC the country’s largest conglomerate demonstrates how conservation can succeed when driven by both civic and corporate leadership, making leopard conservation a truly shared national responsibility,” Prof. Kudavidanage said.
This article first appeared in Ceylon Today on the 9th of August 2025.