Category Archives: wild life
Sri Lanka’s Jungles: Many Attractions & Curiousities
Jayantha Jayewardene, in The Island, 20 February 2022, where the ttile runs thus “The lure and the lore of our jungles” **
Sri Lanka, formerly known as Ceylon, and even before that as Serendib and Taprobane, has different types of jungle that are of great interest to naturalists. The island has montane cloud forests, wet and dry zone forests – some of which are secondary forests – and savannahs. The coastal areas have a variety of mangroves. The extent of forest-land in the country has of late reduced to a large extent, mainly due to the demands for land from a rapidly increasing population. With three climatic zones in the island, the jungles have different types of vegetation.
Wild Boar Invasions! From Rome to the Cane Fields of Australia
ONE: ABC News item, 27 September 2021, with this title = “Calls for cull as scavenging wild boars trot across Italy and into Rome”
Rome has been invaded by Gauls, Visigoths and Vandals over the centuries, but the Eternal City is now grappling with a rampaging force of an entirely different sort: rubbish-seeking wild boars.
The Wild Side of Sri Lanka: Its Jungles
H. I. E. Katugaha, in The Island, 6 February 2022, where the title runs thus “More on jungle treks: Lahugala and bold leopards”
ONE: I have had a long innings of jungle trips. Many of these were with my uncle, Sam Elapata Dissawe, who had an unrivalled knowledge of elephants and their ways. I learnt from him many things about the jungle and its denizens. I remember now with nostalgia the trips I shared with him. After his death, the interest in the jungle, which I acquired from him as a young schoolboy, has persisted to this day.
Greater Flamingoes in Mannar and Sri Lanka
The Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is an uncommon migrant bird species found in Sri Lanka, and is a major attraction among avitourists. Jaffna Peninsula, Mannar Island, and the southeastern coastal areas are the known strongholds of this species in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s Wildcats: In the Depths of the Jungle
Uditha Devapriya, in The Island, 18 December 2021, …. Review of Phantoms of the Night: Wildcats of Sri Lanka, by Thilak Jayaratne, Janaka Gallangoda, Nadika Hapuarachchi, and Madura de Silva ….. Chaya Publishers, 2022,… 160 pp…. with highlighting imposed by the Editor, Thuppahi.
The leopard is perhaps the most photographed animal in Sri Lanka. Slinking through grassy terrains and up sprawling trees, it has acquired a life of its own. Elusive and enigmatic, it tends to avoid human contact, preferring to lay low. This only belies its reputation as one the country’s most fearsome hunters, the undisputed elite among its predators. Indeed, the number of photographs and exhibitions organised every other year attest to its place in our collective consciousness. Although the lion has become the definitive symbol of the country, it is the leopard which has come to epitomise our forests and our parks.
Eerie Splendour: Wild Animals in The Depths of Darkness
Introducing “Phantoms of the Night” by De Silva, Gallangoda Happuaracchi & Jayaratne
“Phantoms of the Night” – Wild Cats of Sri Lanka, a book offering an incredible window into four species of felines making a living in their shadowy realm. Stunning photographs and their story will lure you into a world shrouded in mystery. Penned by amateur naturalists: Thilak Jayaratne, Janaka Gallangoda, Nadika Happuarachchi and Madura De Silva. The book is the result of their two decades of wandering about in various parts of the country and their fascination with nature.
Filed under art & allure bewitching, heritage, life stories, photography, tourism, travelogue, wild life
Aggressive Defence! Encountering Emus in Belair National Park
Thuppahi’s recent item on the readiness of mother wild animals – an Elk in this tale – to enter into human contact at close quarters encouraged a Sri Lankan friend to present this Email Note: “Hi Michael, …. This is an amazing and heart-warming incident. This story is different from your normal writing in politics and history which educates me immensely. This elk story and potential attacks by wild dogs reminds me of an incident when we were at a picnic in the Adelaide woods near your place: an ostrich (sic) came and forcibly grabbed our lunch from our hands and from the table. I never experienced that before – What they can do with their long necks and heights they can reach! …..
The Red Crabs: Amazing Phenomenon on Christmas Island
Christabel, Fiona, Cat and Connor in November 2021 … with frontispiece pix from Samantha Wright
One of the top ten natural wonders of the world, according to David Attenborough, is happening right now in the thriving rainforests and deserted beaches of Australia’s Christmas Island. Christmas Island is globally significant, home to a wealth of unique and rare sea birds, land crabs and marine life. There are few comparable unspoiled tropical environments left in the world.
The Leopard: A Shadowy Killer in Our Lankan Jungles
Janaka Gallangoda
The Shadows of the Forest – stunning, mysterious and deadly.
Leopards are more feared than seen – a sinister, lethal presence lurking in the undergrowth. They are the undisputed heavyweight champions amongst all terrestrial hunters in Sri Lanka. Killing machines in their purest form and as such, the leopard evokes reverence and dread bestowed to no other animal in the country………………………….
#wildcatsofsrilanka #phatomsofthenight #srilanka #yala #wilpattu #leopard #wildcats #bigcats #wildlife #wildlifephotography
— in Sri Lanka.
SinhaRaja Tammita-Delgoda and 32 others
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ALSO NOTE
Janaka Gallangoda’s Other Pictorial Collections
Filed under photography, travelogue, wild life
