Leopard expert killed in motor crash

By Hiran Priyankara Jayasinghe and Nadia Fazlulhaq
Well-known wildlife explorer, researcher and conservationist Dr. Ravindra Samarasinghe (44) was killed when his motor car collided with a lorry at Mundel in Puttalam on Friday night. Dr. ‘Ravi’ Samarasinghe, a well known leopard watcher, was killed when he had been on the way to bring his dinner from his house situated at Mangalaeliya in Mundel. The car had collided with a lorry transporting sand.

Working as a doctor at the Hambantota Hospital for eight years, Dr. Samarasinghe left his career and joined as a full time leopard expert at the Yala National Park. He had also produced with the BBC nine video documentaries on leopards in Yala and Wilpattu. The documentaries were popular all over the world as they contained many important facts and information on the leopards of Sri Lanka.

He had also written a book on Sri Lankan leopards and two books on the environment. His untimely demise occurred while he was conducting a study on leopards of Wilpattu to write a book. Dr. Samarasinghe was one of the pioneers to popularise the Wilpattu National Park among tourists amidst LTTE attacks and road closures and worked hard to reopen the place for wild life enthusiasts.

Even after the landmine explosion in 2006 which killed local tourists, Dr. Samarasinghe frequently visited the Wilpattu National Park. Meanwhile, environmentalist Jagath Gunawardena said that he had met Dr. Samarasinghe at the Bird Club 20 years ago. “Although Dr. Samarasinghe was in the field of medicine he had an interest in birds and wildlife and continued researching and working towards the conservation of wildlife,” he said.

“Choosing wildlife which was his life long passion, Ravi gave up his medical profession and started studying the leopards of the Yala National Park. He virtually lived at Yala studying leopards for months,” he said. “Ravi’s death is a great loss to society. Such a wildlife enthusiast is a rare gift to a country,” Mr. Gunawardena said. Dr. Samarasinghe was a Director of the Environmental Foundation.