Keeping everyone informed
This year on 1 August, today, Sri Lanka will celebrate its first national day of the Sri Lankan leopard, a unique subspecies of leopard that we are blessed to have roam our beautiful island. Sri Lanka Leopard Day, which will be celebrated annually, was declared based on a proposal put forward by the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS), Sri Lanka’s oldest (and the world’s third oldest) nature protection society.
On the trail of the ‘one and only’ magnificent Big Cat in Sri Lanka, they trekked across the pristine wilds of the largest National Park in the country and their labours have yielded a deep insight into the lives and times of the elusive and secretive leopard.
Today, leopards live in 26 range countries scattered across the African and Asian continents and are subdivided into nine sub-species based on their genetic divergence and distinction. Of these, the Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) is one of only two sub-species restricted to islands.
WNPS has learned through reliable sources that treasure hunting activities are being carried out in parts of Maduru Oya National Park, in the Gurukumbura and Delkathithuduwa areas. According to sources, vehicles with license plates CP XX 2601 & WP XXX 3175 are inside Maduru Oya National Park which is in the North Central Province. How did they enter the park during a time when the country is under an 'inter-district travel ban'?
The Wildlife & Nature Protection Society (WNPS) has learned that the Director General of the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) has given permission for three officials of the Archaeological Department to conduct a survey around the iconic Akasa Chaitya (Elephant Rock) inside Yala National Park.
Classified Endangered (EN) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, The Sri Lankan Elephant (Elephant maximus maximus) is an iconic species in urgent need of conservation.