HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka – Some 215 kilometers (130 miles) south of Colombo in the Hambantota district lies a unique, infrequently travelled, bird-watching location: Lunama and Kalametiya. A quaint coastal wetland,…
COLOMBO — The first time that scientists described the beautiful metallic-green dragonfly that they would later call Flint’s cruiser was in 1970. Based on a single male specimen, they named…
COLOMBO — For decades, the small population of Indian pangolins found in Sri Lanka has faced a single consistent threat: the domestic meat market. Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy…
COLOMBO — For nearly a decade, siblings and scientists Dineth Danushka and Suneth Kanishka have been making field visits to study Dendrelaphis bifrenalis, a snake known as the Boulenger’s bronzeback,…
UDUDUMBARA, Sri Lanka — Twelve years ago, as a young undergraduate, Kanishka Ukuwela was trekking with his colleagues in the Ududumbara area along the 18 Hairpin Bends, a 6-kilometer (4-mile)…
COLOMBO — A rare new orchid described from a tropical lowland rainforest in Sri Lanka now bears the name of two of the island’s pioneering forest ecologists. A new paper…
COLOMBO — A researcher and passionate advocate of school sanitation and catchment conservation, Kusum Athukorala is a community water practitioner who works closely with water-stressed communities, promoting conservation of the…
COLOMBO — Sri Lanka imposed a lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, but residents of this Indian Ocean island had been panic buying various foods and…
COLOMBO — It’s a taxonomic mystery that’s been simmering for nearly 150 years, and in the process dealt out a parade of mistaken identities, dead bodies, and a suspect that…
COLOMBO — When a team of researchers decided to scan some vegetable plots in a murky swamp area in western Sri Lanka, they were looking for live specimens of what…
HAMBANTOTA, Sri Lanka — Herathhami Dissanayake, 71, a rice farmer from Hambantota in southern Sri Lanka, says he’s despondent about the increase in wild animals raiding the crops in his…
COLOMBO — A big part of conserving any wildlife species is to conserve its natural habitat. But when that becomes an increasingly difficult task due to human-driven changes in those…
COLOMBO — When a group of herpetologists ventured into Jaffna in Sri Lanka’s north to conduct their first herpetological field survey of the peninsula, they were largely lured by the…
COLOMBO — A group of Sri Lankan herpetologists closed out 2019 in style: by introducing to science three new gecko species from the biodiverse island that seemingly never ceases to…
Some 45,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers in the rainforests of Sri Lanka hunted down small tree-dwelling animals like monkeys and giant squirrels using small stone tools called microliths, a new study…
COLOMBO — In late October, swarms of dragonflies began darkening the skies along Sri Lanka’s western coast, sparking speculation about a possible “dragonfly movement.” Among the most charismatic of insects,…
COLOMBO — Science prevailing over politics: That’s how a researcher who was snubbed for a high-profile award earlier this year has characterized the decision to finally recognize his achievements in…
COLOMBO — The same demand for pangolin scales and flesh that’s driving the animal’s decline across Africa and Southeast Asia is also taking a toll in Sri Lanka, one of…
COLOMBO — When Chandi, an aggressive male elephant prone to breaking into village homes and destroying crops, was finally captured, he was collared and transferred to a holding ground in…
COLOMBO — His eye was trained from a young age to observe details, be it about a plant, an animal, or a legal document. Jagath Gunawardena, a veteran lawyer and…
COLOMBO — “For a small island, there is amazing species diversity here,” says Sameera Suranjan Karunarathna, a leading herpetologist in Sri Lanka. Diversity abounds among the island’s reptiles, many of…
KOGGALA/UNAWATUNA, Sri Lanka — About 140 kilometers (87 miles) south of Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, lies the coastal town of Koggala, named after a picturesque lake and identified with…
COLOMBO — For nearly five decades he’s helped introduce stunning new species of reptiles and amphibians found only in Sri Lanka to the rest of the world. He’s also inspired…
COLOMBO — Scientists in Sri Lanka continue to voice their support of a colleague under fire from nationalist figures for naming six newly discovered gecko species after a series of…
COLOMBO — In 2017, herpetologist Sameera Suranjan Karunarathna and his team of researchers undertook a detailed study of lizards in more than 100 locations across Sri Lanka to record the…
Researchers in Sri Lanka have described an eye-catching new species of tarantula, in a discovery they hope will underscore ongoing efforts to better regulate the global trade of rare and…
Sri Lanka’s southern coastline is dotted with popular resorts and beaches, but this once pristine landscape hasn’t been spared by the global plastic waste crisis, a study finds. The authors…
A four-year study of streams in the cloud forests of Sri Lanka’s picturesque Knuckles Mountain Range has turned up an unexpected discovery: a new frog species found nowhere else on…
The advent of peace in four countries with long experiences of deadly armed conflict hasn’t been kind to the environment, with a new study showing greater rates of deforestation during…
A general fear of snakes, lack of understanding of reptile behavior, and human encroachment into wilderness areas are putting increasing pressure on a unique snake species found only in Sri…
