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Kalu Wandura’s days are numbered
View(s):By Malaka Rodrigo
The “Kalu Wandura”, or Purple-faced Leaf Monkey, is only two steps away from extinction. This monkey, endemic to Sri Lanka and once abundant in the Wet Zone and around Colombo, and which was listed as “vulnerable” in the 2007 National Red List on Conservation Status of Species, was identified as “endangered” in the 2012 Red List announced recently.
Shrinking habitat is the main reason for the decline in this monkey’s population. In the ’80s the “Kalu Wandura” flourished in home gardens, where humans were tolerant of their presence. In recent years, however, these monkeys are being treated as a nuisance, because they invade gardens and estates in search of food. Pockets of monkey groups are thinning and disappearing.
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