Expert views on leopard conservation
View(s):
Leopards of Wilpattu. Pic by Kithsiri Gunawardena
Prof. Enoka Kudavidanage, Rukshan Jayewardene and Kithsiri Gunawardena moderated by Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne will focus on the topic of ‘Conservation of the Leopard’ in this month’s Wildlife and Nature Protection Society (WNPS) lecture on August 18 at 6 p.m. at the Jasmine Hall, BMICH. The lecture is open to all and will be on Zoom and FB.
At the beginning of the 1900s, it was estimated that there were 1,600 wild leopards in Sri Lanka. It was probably more of a ‘guesstimate’, based on the accumulated knowledge at that time and even today, we have to rely on such guesstimates.These estimates vary between 800 and 1,000, for the entire country.
What is certain, however, is that the number of confirmed leopard deaths has been increasing. 41 were killed in the last five years, mostly upcountry, and a number have already died this year.
Prof. Kudavidanage is a Professor in Conservation Biology, affiliated to the Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka since 2001 with a Ph.D. at the Department of Biological Sciences, the National University of Singapore. She co-founded the Topical Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) and is Co-chair of the Wild Cat Conservation Committee of the WNPS.
Rukshan Jayewardene, is a founding trustee at the Leopard Trust; Chairman of the Wilderness and Protected Areas Foundation, former Director at the Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL) and past President of the WNPS.
An expert on Wilpattu, Kithsiri Gunawardena also a well-known ornithologist has set up an invaluable database to record the leopards of the Park.
Moderator Sriyan de Silva Wijeyeratne, a former President of the WNPS and a previous chair of the Wild Cat subcommittee, conceptualised Leopard Day which later became a reality.
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