Into the wilds through a museum
Museums are repositories of knowledge and a window to the past. Sri Lanka has many museums but there was none to showcase wildlife history until recently. It was in December last year that the Department of Wildlife Conservation opened the first Wildlife Museum at the Wildlife Training Centre at Giritale.
 The rare black leopard found in the Sinharaja rainforest. Pix by Shan Bandu Weerasinghe |
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This museum will be a novel experience for Sri Lankans although a natural history section is part of the National Museum in Colombo and the Zoological Gardens at Dehiwela exhibits live animals and engages in research, it is learnt.
“The museum will provide basic knowledge on wildlife, with several officers being on duty to brief the public including schoolchildren,” wildlife official Gamini Vijith Samarakoon said.
Animal skeletons and around 70 replicas of indigenous as well as animals found in other countries are displayed here. Among the replicas, a significant one is the rare black leopard found in the Sinharaja rainforest. The skeletons of elephants, leopards, monkeys and deer and elephant foetuses are also in the collection.
“We have nearly 30 different animals and species along with a range of birds and butterflies displayed at the museum. We have to look for big animals, when they die or are killed in mishaps to do taxidermy,” Mr. Samarakoon said, explaining that it is the art of preparing, stuffing and mounting the skins of dead animals with lifelike effect. All taxidermy work is being done locally by the wildlife officials in Polonnaruwa.
“This museum is the result of the hard work of Senior Wildlife Ranger A.L. Jayasuriya,” added Mr. Samarakoon who is being assisted by Wildlife Officers Eranda Ratnayaka and Asanka Jayasuriya.Senior Wildlife Ranger Jayasuriya was commended at the opening ceremony of the museum by Agrarian Services and Wildlife Minister S. M. Chandrasena.
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