Keeping everyone informed
Rapid urbanisation has posed considerable challenges to the balance of sensitive ecosystems and inhabitants. Wildlife are usually at the receiving end of haphazard urbanisation. In Sri Lanka for instance, the human-leopard conflict arose over the last few years as leopard habitats were encroached, fragmented and as people expanded their territories in leopard dominated regions. In an attempt to add more weight on conserving the Sri Lankan Leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) the ‘Sri Lanka Leopard Day’ was declared on August 1. As conservationists continue to stress on the importance of this charismatic keystone species, more research is being done to study the interactions between leopards and humans and minimise conflict in an increasingly shared landscape.
On August 1, Sri Lanka’s celebrates Sri Lanka Leopard Day, Sri Lanka Leopard Day, which is celebrated annually, was declared based on a proposal put forward by The Wildlife and Nature Preservation Society of Sri Lanka (WNPS), Sri Lanka’s oldest (and the world’s third oldest) nature protection society.
It is important to keep in mind that leopards have occupied this island for tens of thousands of years, perhaps hundreds of thousands of years. The important thing to remember is they predate the arrival of human hunter gatherer bands in the island and have out competed and out survived the tiger and the lion. (pre historic evidence exists for the presence of both these larger cats).
Of all the charismatic animals seen in Sri Lanka, there is none that has created so much interest and popularity, than the Sri Lankan leopard. And today it has become arguably one of the most sought-after tourist attractions in the country. But is the leopard’s own popularity leading to its own destruction?
Today marks the fourth annual Sri Lanka Leopard Day – the day was first commemorated following a proposal made by the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) in 2021 based off of a research paper by conservationist and leopard researcher Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala which showed that the Sri Lankan leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya) is a unique subspecies of leopard endemic to our little island
On the 1 st of August each year, conservationists and the public in Sri Lanka take a break from the mundane to call out our National Leopard Day. Based on a proposal made by the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka (WNPS) to the Department of Wildlife, the day was picked to coincide with the thesis date where Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala confirmed Panthera Pardus Kotiya as an endemic sub species. But the question of what this day is supposed to deliver is still evolving. What is certainly evolving in the wrong direction is the number of confrontations being faced with leopards, and the increased reporting of leopard deaths due to snares and other reasons. One wonders about the correlations between trends on this front.