Giant tarantula that ‘stings like a bee’ part of north’s peace dividend

A tarantula almost as big as a dinner plate has been discovered in northern Sri Lanka by a team of researchers who named it after a keen police officer who helped track down live specimens of the giant spider. �The researchers fortuitously happened to be in Mankulam, conducting an island-wide tarantula survey, when a local villager gave them the tarantula he had just killed – a species then unknown to science.

The spider is a smaller member of the Bird-Eating Tarantula sub-species found in South America that can kill animals as large as lizards, mice, birds and small snakes. �Lead researcher Ranil Nanayakkara said his team needed to find live specimens, preferably females and juveniles, to establish whether the Mankulam spider was indeed a species new to science by the researchers.

His team had to comb pockets of jungles in the area, searching every single tree hole and bark peel that could possibly house this elusive species. The researchers finally managed to find a female spider of the species, along with her babies, in the old doctors’ quarters of Mankulam hospital.

In gratitude for the help given to them by Mankulam’s Sub Inspector of Police, Michael Rajkumar Purajah, Mr Nanayakka and team co-leader Nilantha Vishvantha named the spider Poecilotheria rajaei.�The tarantula found in Mankulam has a ventral band on the belly. No other Sri Lankan tarantulas have such a feature. A similar species is found in India but has different markings on the foot and the body.

The team’s findings are described in a recent edition of the British Tarantula Journal, in a paper authored by Ranil Nananayakkara, Peter J. Kirk, Salindra Dayananda, G.A. Ganehiarachchi, Nilantha Vishvanath and Tharaka Kusuminda.�The tarantula find could be counted as part of the peace dividend following the end of the civil war, Mr. Nanayakkara said, as his team stumbled across the discovery after entering the northern area in October 2009, a few months since the end of the conflict.

Tarantulas are usually arboreal creatures that inhabit bark peels, naturally occurring tree hollows and are also found under rocks, decaying trees and in cracks in brick walls.�During monsoons, they display an unlucky tendency to enter human dwellings that border forested areas, whereupon they are promptly killed by frightened villagers who believe the “diwi mukuluwa” bite is deadly. Literature states, however, that the venom of most tarantula species is similar to the venom of a bee sting.

Mr. Nanayakkara says many people are under the impression that when a tarantula bites, the victim curls up and draws in the arms and legs in a manner of a spider trying to hide. This is, in fact, due to the muscle spasms and pain that a victim experiences after a bite, he said, adding that none of the tarantulas found in Sri Lanka had deadly bites.

He also points out that six sub-species of the Sri Lankan Poecilotheria tarantulas are under threat of extinction. Five of them are listed as “Endangered” while the sixth, P. smithi, is “Critically Endangered”. The research team is endeavouring to gain more information on the population sizes of these species.

“The results indicate that the Sri Lankan tarantulas are in dire need of protection, and if stringent measures are not taken many of them will become extinct,” warns Mr. Nanayakkara. The current rate of deforestation and urbanization brought manifold threats.�The tarantulas recorded in Sri Lanka are: Chilobrachys nitelinus; Plesiophrictus tenuipes; Poecilotheria fasciata (Lemon Leg Tiger Spider); Poecilotheria ornata (Ornate Tiger Spider); Poecilotheria pederseni (Pederseni’s Tiger Spider/ Hambanthota Tiger Spider);

Poecilotheria smithi CR (Smithi’s Tiger Spider); Poecilotheria subfusca EN (Ivory Bird-eating Tiger Spider); Poecilotheria rajaei (new species, yet to assessed); Poecilotheria uniformis. �There is a dire need for a biodiversity survey in the war-ravaged territories in the north.

Prof. Devaka Weerakoon, co-ordinator for animal groups in the National Red List 2012 of Sri Lanka on Conservation Status, recently said some of the animal groups common in the north have received a revised status based on new data.�There are birds specific to the area, he said. The northern part of the country could be considered a special avi-faunal zone with several birds such as the Black Kite found only there. The Black Drongo, Grey Partridge, Long-tailed Shrike, Golden-backed Woodpecker, Indian Courser are other unique representatives of the region. There can be other smaller animals unique to this region, he said.

Conservationists warn that with many areas of the north due to be opened up for development, some of the unique animals and plants specific to the north would be affected.�Peace brings mayhem for the environment under the name of development, they say. The north’s development should be carried out in a planned manner so as not to repeat the environmental destruction recorded in other areas. In this way, the benefits of peace would become available to every creature.

Source:http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130331/news/giant-tarantula-that-stings-like-a-bee-part-of-norths-peace-dividend-39317.html

Pangolins at high risk, warn conservationists

Conservationists have called for the protection of pangolins, a type of ant-eater known as “kaballawa” or “eya” after it was named the animal at the highest risk in the National Red List of Threatened Fauna and Flora’s “Near-Threatened” category.�Pangolins are found throughout Sri Lanka and used to be seen living close to human habitation but poaching and habitat loss has sharply reduced their numbers, said Sampath Goonatilake of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Sri Lanka.

The solitary nocturnal animals used to be found in Attidiya and closer to Colombo in the late 1970s and early 1980s but are no longer found there, he said, calling for a thorough study on their numbers to assess their true conservation status.

A wounded pangolin being treated by members of the Galle Conservation Society

The pangolin, which is covered with protective scales, uses its very long and sticky tongue to suck out ants and termites from their hiding places. When threatened, it rolls up into a ball to protect itself emits a foul, strong-smelling fluid from its anal scent glands.

Although widely thought to be a reptile, the pangolin is a mammal and is hunted by poachers for its flesh. It often becomes entangled in wire traps set for porcupines and other animals and is also targeted when found emerging from hideouts close to human settlements.

An Indian was nabbed while trying to smuggle out 2.2 kg of pangolin scales out of Sri Lanka

 

The president of the Wildlife Conservation Society of Galle, Madura de Silva, says the society’s Wild Animal rescue program based at Hiyare, Galle has, over the years, rescued many pangolins caught in traps and given them a new chance of life.

An Indian traveller was nabbed a few months ago trying to smuggle 2.2kg of pangolin scales out of Sri Lanka. The thick, protective scales, made out of kerotene – the same substance as our fingernails – are powdered and used in Chinese medicine.

The wildlife trade monitoring network, TRAFFIC, says pangolins are the most commonly encountered mammals in the illegal wildlife trade in Asia. They are in high demand in east and south-east Asia, with China and Vietnam identified as the largest consumer nations.
The surging demand for pangolins dealt a massive blow to the species in 2011, with 40,000–60,000 slaughtered that year, according to records compiled by the conservation network, Project Pangolin.

Although the pangolin scales trade is well established in the region, the arrest of the Indian traveller marked the first time an attempt to smuggle pangolin scales was reported from Sri Lanka, said Samantha Gunasekara, the head of Sri Lanka Customs’ Biodiversity, Culture and National Heritage Protection Division.

 source:http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130331/news/pangolins-at-high-risk-warn-conservationists-39310.html

Protecting a memory and nature

An auditorium built by the parents of the late Dr.Ravindra Samarasinha, a conservationist and humanist, in the jungles of Yala that he loved so much, is sadly underutilised

When Derrick and Vivina Samarasinha remember their son Ravi’s funeral, they remember the number of total strangers who came. “We didn’t know who these people were, there were busloads,” says Mrs. Samarasinha. A rough count put them at over a 1000, including humble elderly villagers from Tissamaharama.

Dr. Ravi Samarasinha

Their presence and genuine sorrow that day comforted his grieving family and made it clear to them that Dr. Ravindra Samarasinha would be remembered not only as one of the country’s most genuinely dedicated and clever conservationists but a quiet and generous humanitarian. As the months passed, they realised they wanted to create a solid monument to him, and one park seemed the inevitable choice of location. “We wanted to do something in Yala after Ravi’s death because he more or less lived there, you see,” Mr. Samarasinha says. His mother wanted to put up a building in which people could live and conduct research in the park but they ended up building an auditorium designed by architect Ashley de Vos instead, along with new ticket counters – the first stop for visitors coming into the park.

The auditorium built in Ravi’s memory at Yala

On the table in front of us is a file Mr. Samarasinha filled with all the articles that were published to honour Ravi’s memory. Killed in a collision with a sand-filled lorry on a road close to his parents’ estate in 2007, Ravi was only 44 when he died. A quiet and thoughtful child, he grew up loving the outdoors, never happier than with his dogs or out exploring a new landscape. Eventually, he would study medicine and go to Kuliyapitiya for his internship before asking for a posting to Hambantota, just so he could be near the jungles he so loved.

It was during that time that he became involved in the BBC’s documentary ‘The Leopard Hunters’. The authorities only agreed to allow the team into the park after dark when Ravi assured them he would accompany the crew. “He was working in the hospital then and he couldn’t get leave,” says Mrs. Samarasinha. Ravi’s solution was to pull back-to-back shifts and then rush straight off for a night’s filming. So perhaps it didn’t come as such a surprise to his parents when he told them he wanted to dedicate all his time to his work in the wild.
“We weren’t so happy about him taking a break from medicine because I always felt he was a very good diagnostician,” confesses Mrs. Samarasinha, who only allowed herself to be convinced when her son said to her, “Let me take a break. Even if I have ten years of happiness in doing what I really like, then my life is well spent.”

Ravi was happiest in Yala. He would camp out for days, with only a tracker, a driver and his camera for company. “Sometimes it’s just the love of being there, it doesn’t matter if you don’t see anything, if all you hear is calls in the night. He was that kind of man, a genuine lover of nature and wildlife,” says Caryll Perera, a friend of Ravi’s parents and the person they credit with helping them get the work on the auditorium completed.

Having bought the best equipment he could afford from Singapore, Ravi took an estimated 10,000 images of leopards, elephants and deer; of birds in flight and reptiles in the undergrowth, he took pictures of insects and close ups of flowers and fruit. As with his other interests, Ravi applied a meticulous, exhaustive approach to mastering photography and it was through the lens of his camera that he first began to gather evidence for what would be a ground-breaking approach to identifying leopards – the pattern of their spots was unique to each, observed Ravi, and it was that insight that would help the authorities first count and them keep track of individual animals.

Ravi would co-author or author several books and his pictures would appear in numerous publications. (When she finally brought herself to open up his flat after a year, his mother found that he was working on another and had his content meticulously organised.) He also took a very pragmatic, hands on approach to conservation. When villagers complained of having their cattle taken by leopards, he worked with other likeminded people to design traps that could be used to capture the big cats without harming them. He also helped build and distribute solid cages in which villagers could pen their cattle up at night, safe from hungry predators. “Ravi listened to people,” says his mother, explaining that he would often visit villages with his medicine case, treating simple ailments, doling out medicines and directing the more serious cases toward local hospitals. “People knew he was genuine because he had given up a lucrative medical practice to be there.”

Whenever he could, Ravi liked to speak to children in the local schools, firmly convinced that it would take the young to carry the conservation message. It’s why the simple auditorium seems like the perfect tribute. His parents want the auditorium to be used to screen films, host lectures and display information about the leopard and the other inhabitants of the park. Caryll says it would be ideal if this became a compulsory stop for visitors to the park.

“We want to educate the young people that it’s not just a pleasure trip. If they don’t look after this, we’ll lose it,” says Mrs. Samarasinha. Their only great disappointment, says Mr. Samarasinha, is that despite being opened with some hoopla, the auditorium is not being put to its designated use. His entreaties to the authorities have been ignored and they seem uncertain of the way forward. The one thing the Samarasinhas know is that Ravi would have wanted them to continue trying to inspire young people. “It’s important to teach children to love animals, they are the ones that will have wonderful new ideas, ideas for conservation that we haven’t even thought off,” says Mrs. Samarasinha. She knows if Ravi were alive, he would be in the forefront of the fight to save the nation’s parks. “He would be doing, not just talking.”

As we get ready to leave, Mr. Samarasinha urges us to read something Ravi once wrote in a book he was gifting to a young girl. He feels it sums up his son perfectly. “It is a gift to have a beautiful mind that can admire nature,” Ravi wrote, “but it is a greater gift to have a heart that wants to protect it.”

Leopards: The FutureBy Ravi Samarasinha In Sri Lanka, the greatest threat to the leopard comes from the habitat loss and fragmentation, as land requirements grow with the demands of an ever increasing population. Despite legal protection, leopards are still killed for their skin, poisoned when they kill domestic cattle and accidentally ensnared in wire traps meant for deer and other ‘game.’ The large-scale trade in game meat reduces prey densities in reserves and parks, forcing leopards to prey on dogs and cattle outside protected areas, leading to an increased confrontation with man, a conflict in which the leopard is the ultimate loser. Long-term successful conservation of the leopard requires a multi-pronged approach. The national parks, the last future stronghold of the leopard, need to be linked by corridors, ensuring genetic flow, while laws protecting the leopard and its habitat need to be strengthened and revised. The Department of Wildlife Conservation, which has been entrusted with the solemn duty of protecting the wildlife of this country, badly needs more funds and staff, but more importantly, new vision and commitment when fulfilling its duties. The leopard is a keystone species; its well being is an indication that the ecosystem that we live and depend on is thriving. We, therefore, must strive hard to conserve the leopard. If we fail, the forests and jungles of Sri Lanka will surely be the poorer for the loss of this most perfect of big cats, beautiful in appearance and graceful in its movement. (From Wilds of Lanka, by Ravi Samarasinha and Chitral Jayatilake)

Source:http://www.sundaytimes.lk/130317/plus/protecting-a-memory-and-nature-36704.html

Yala – ruined by its own popularity?

Srilal Miththapala offers a pragmatic approach to mitigate some of the problems faced by the country’s most visited national park

The Yala National Park in the south of Sri Lanka has always been one of the most popular national parks in the country, drawing a large number of visitors, both Sri Lankans and foreigners. However, of late, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of visitors, which is causing a great threat to the environment and the animals.

Flora

The Yala National Park has various eco systems, consisting of open grassland, tanks, water holes, coastal lagoons, estuaries, mangroves, moist monsoon forests, dry forests and fresh and brackish wetlands and beaches.

Avifauna

Yala is an important birding area where over 200 bird species are found, of which six are Sri Lanka’s endemic species. There are flocks of migrant birds, particularly, water birds, who visit the wetlands of Yala.

Fauna

There are 44 species of mammals resident in Yala with Sri Lanka’s ‘BIG 4’ –The leopard, buffalo, bear and the elephant, being quite prevalent. Yala is said to have one of the highest densities of leopards and Mugger crocodiles in the world.

Visitor statistics

Fuelled by the post war tourism boom, visitor numbers to Yala have been growing rapidly. In 2011 Yala had close upon 99,000 foreign visitors and 217,000 local visitors. (ref. Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority –SLTDA) . The 2012 figures are not yet available, but the total visitation is said to have exceeded 700,000 in 2012. In fact it was reported recently that last month -on February 13, there was an all-time record at Yala with 1000 foreign and 500 local visitors, bringing in revenue of Rs 2.6 m for the day.

On an overall basis, local visitors outnumber foreigners almost three fold. Also it is significant that the next two most popular parks record only a mere 197,000 visitors (Horton Plains) and 77,000 visitors (Uda Walawa), compared to the 315,000 visitors for Yala for 2011.

However, the picture is totally reversed when the earnings from park entrance tickets are analysed. For 2011, from a total of 99,000 foreigners visiting Yala, revenue of Rs.155m was generated, while 217,000 Sri Lankan visitors generated only Rs.12.5 M revenue. This vast differential is due to the large price difference in the ticket, between foreigners and Sri Lankans.

Hence Yala( and other National Parks) , are important for tourism, and bring in good revenue to the state.

The Leopard and Yala and its recent popularity

Yala gained considerable enhanced exposure and popularity in the last five years, when research emerged that the park was harbouring one of the largest leopard population densities in the world. Fuelled by strong publicity and exposure by popular wildlife programmes on Animal Planet, National Geographic and BBC, very soon Yala became a ‘hotspot’ for leopard sighting.

Over the years, the leopard population in Yala has grown, and today it numbers close to about 50 leopards inhabiting a very small area of the park. This fairly healthy population, a large number of who have grown up accustomed to humans and jeeps, now enables visitors to have a very good chance of a leopard sighting during a game drive in the park. This single aspect has been the main cause of the drastic increase in visitation leading to the current situation.

The issues

Fundamentally, all the problems really stem from over-visitation and demand, where the supply (safari vehicles and guides / trackers) vie for business from visitors for safari rides. It is estimated that there are over 250 jeep drivers operating in the Yala area, most of who have had no experience nor interest in wildlife, but have gone into the business to make a ‘quick buck’. Profit margins are high with a single safari driver earning Rs.4,000 -Rs.5,000 per safari of approximately three hours, together with ‘handsome tips’ for a unique sighting, particularly of leopard.

This overwhelming demand, especially for leopard, pushes the safari drivers to break the park rules in their effort to please the customers. The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) under whose jurisdiction the park, flora and fauna comes, is often powerless to enforce the park visitation rules and regulations, since there is great interference and patronage for these drivers from powerful external sources.

In addition, due to typical government bureaucracy and other complicated procedures, there is an acute shortage of trackers (game wardens) in the park, which results in more than 50% – 60% of the vehicles going into the park without a tracker in attendance (usually, every vehicle is accompanied by a tracker who is responsible for the vehicle, its occupants and proper adherence to rules).

Hence, all these problems have compounded the issue to a crisis point today.

Tourism

With the rapid growth of tourism in the past three years, and wildlife tourism also gaining popularity in Sri Lanka, the number of tourists to the area has also increased together with new hotel developments. SLTDA statistics reveal that of the 855,975 tourist arrivals in 2011, 198,536 visited the national parks( 23%.). Hence it is clear that while Sri Lanka is not, and never will be, another Kenya, wild life tourism is certainly playing an increasingly important role in Sri Lanka’s tourism offering.

Currently, there are a total of 340 rooms in star class hotels and over 155 rooms in guest houses, in and around the vicinity of Yala, giving rise to a total of 505 rooms. There is also on record from SLTDA, that a further nine hotel establishments have been given approval for construction, which will add another 195 rooms to this current stock of 500.

As it is, with these 500 rooms, at any given time, there could be 75-100 jeeps inside the park, and it will not take any major arithmetic to figure out what a further 195 room occupancy will contribute to the issue.�So there is no running away from the fact that the problems are only going to increase as time goes by, and tourism will be certainly ‘ fuel the fire’.

The solutions

There are multiple solutions to overcome this situation, some of which will require policy intervention from the government, some impractical, and yet some others, which can be implemented without too much difficulty.�So let us approach this is an analytical manner with the following steps

• List out a comprehensive ‘wish list’, somewhat like what is done at a brainstorming session.
• Then identify an implementation authority and responsibility against each of these initiatives
• It will be then clear that almost all of the solutions fall within the purview of the DWC.
• At the same time we all are well aware of the multiple and complex issues that are prevalent with the DWC, limiting their ability to function effectively and efficiently.

Hence the stark reality is that all these grandiose ideas will come up against a gigantic ‘brick wall’, and go nowhere, while we talk, discuss, argue, point fingers and pontificate. In the meantime Yala and its flora and fauna will continue to be decimated,

However there will be several of these activities/ interventions that can be strongly influenced by interested stakeholders, and even be implemented in an indirect manner..
It is evident from this analytical matrix, that some activities , such as limiting the number of visitors into the park at any given time, to prevent overcrowding, will require high level decision making at Government level, which, given the current context, would be a ‘pipe dream’. And no amount of other interested stakeholder activity or pressure, would perhaps help the implementation of such a new regulation.

On the other hand, ensuring drivers obey the rules strictly within the National Park also comes under the purview of the DWC, which they are unable to implement even now, due to various reasons. However in this case, if visitors are made aware that there are such strict rules to be adhered to (through perhaps a leaflet given to all visitors to the park ) at least some proportion of them would then want to abide by these rules. They would then show their displeasure of any bad behaviour by drivers, by not rewarding them well (negative reinforcement) at the end of the safari, as is the normal practice. This will be a very powerful initiative with foreigners in particular, who are accustomed to discipline and law and order. (in fact The Sri Lanka Inbound Tourist Association SLAITO and some committed hotels in the area are already in the process of designing and printing a leaflet of the do’s and don’ts of the park in 3 languages for distribution)

On this basis, there are some activities and initiatives which can be influenced by interested stakeholders:

• Strictly enforce park rules- create awareness among all visitors to bring pressure on drivers to behave properly.
• Punish offenders by suspension- visitors/ tour operators/ hotels/ Destination Management Companies ( DMC) can refuse to hire bad / blacklisted drivers. ( there is enough photographic evidence to identify some of the culprits)
• DWC to set up mobile patrols within the park- hoteliers /DMC’s can fund a patrol vehicle and maintain it, to enable the DWC to operate mobile patrols inside the park ( This initiative is also now underway sponsored by some hotels)
• Surcharge for vehicles with poor load factor (carrying one or two passengers)- Hotels/ DMCs /tour operators can offer single or twin guests the option to double up with others to increase the load factor per vehicle.
• Move away from being leopard centric, and publicize other diversity in Yala (for tourists)- Environmentalists, wild life enthusiasts and tour operators can downplay the leopard and the guaranteeing of a sighting, while promoting the other diverse attractions of the park
• Promote other national parks as an alternativee to Yala ( to tourists)- Tour operators can promote other wild life parks to the general tourist, who is not a hard-core wild life fan

Conclusion

It is quite clear therefore, from the foregoing, that Yala is important not only to environmentalists, but also for tourism and for all Sri Lankans alike, since it is a national asset. Also, it is clear that the problems at Yala will only keep increasing with time. �It is also quite clear that the main agency that should be at the forefront of trying to solve these problems, the DWC, is unable to tackle the issue, due a complexity of reasons.

It is important therefore, that all stakeholders put their ‘shoulders to the wheel’ to help in any way they can, to mitigate the on-going problems, without�being armchair critics, and pointing the finger at others.

We need to act in whatever small way we can, now.

Source:http://www.sundaytimes.lk