• Dr. Jody Miller releases ‘Shyamala and the Sloth Bears’

Teaching children about conservation and related topics is important, but also challenging. Phrases used in conservation, such as ‘endemic’ or ‘extinct’, and even the word conservation itself can be difficult to explain in a child-friendly manner. However, Dr. Jody Miller has approached this topic, specifically the conservation of the Sri Lankan Sloth Bear, in a way that children can understand in ‘Shyamala and the Sloth Bears’.

‘Shyamala and the Sloth Bears’ has been translated to Sinhala by Nayomi Madhupani Konara, and Tamil by Lareena Abdul Haq, making the book accessible to children across the island.  The book is Dilmah Conservation’s first children’s book. It also marks Dr. Miller’s debut as a children’s book writer, the author being a professor at Rutgers University and a wildlife enthusiast. The book is illustrated by Narada Ranatunga, a concept artist and illustrator who expertly brings to life Dr. Miller’s story.

‘Shyamala and the Sloth Bears’ follows Dr. Shyamala Ratnayeke, the first conservation biologist to study Sri Lankan Sloth Bears in the wild. It is through Dr. Ratnayeke that the reader learns about sloth bears, the author making it easy for young readers to understand why we need to protect these creatures.

For instance, the book tells us that sloth bears, like sloths, have shaggy fur, long creamy paws, and a lumbering walk. “Plus, both are missing their front teeth.” However, sloths live in the rainforests in South America and spend most of their time hanging upside-down in trees. Sloth bears, on the other hand, live mostly on the ground and is the only bear that lives in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Miller and Ranatunga use words and illustrations to tell us about sloth bears and how conservationists like Dr. Ratnayeke study their behaviour. The book is informative, engaging, and even heart-warming, giving us answers to the question: What good is a bear?

The book also includes a glossary of words highlighted in the story, which explains simply words like species, subspecies, and ecological function. It also includes a list of tips to staying safe if one were to encounter a sloth bear in the wild, something useful for peaceful co-existence.

‘Shyamala and the Sloth Bears’ is an important and interesting read. The book was launched last Tuesday (5), an event at which the author shared what went into writing the story.

Sloth bear sighting to story writing

Sharing that as an academic who teaches criminology, writing a children’s picture book was a bit unusual, Dr. Miller said the inspiration for the book came in three parts. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she spent a lot of time exploring nature and educating herself and others.

“The other thing that happened during the pandemic is that with the absence of tourists in Sri Lanka, myself, my husband, and friends spent a lot of time visiting Sri Lanka’s National Parks. And despite living in Sri Lanka for 25 years, I had never actually seen a sloth bear in the wild and during one of those visits, I finally did,” she said, adding that it was quite an experience.

As soon as she left the park and had access to the Internet, Dr. Miller looked up sloth bears, wanting to learn about them. This led her to Dr. Ratnayeke’s book on sloth bears, which she said was the third part of her journey.

Dr. Miller read the book, learning about the sloth bear’s history, why they are called sloth bears, Dr. Ratnayeke’s research, and the challenges in Sri Lanka, such as the human-sloth bear conflict. The idea for a children’s picture book took form, so Dr. Miller reached out to Dr. Ratnayeke, who agreed to the project with the stipulation that the book, in order to have impact, be published in Sinhala and Tamil and get into the hands of children, especially those living in sloth bear regions in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Miller agreed to these stipulations. Describing her goals for the book, Dr. Miller said she wanted to produce international quality children’s picture books in Sinhala and Tamil for kids in Sri Lanka; to produce a book that could be used in conservation education; and spotlight Sri Lankan women conservation biologists.

This third goal will continue on with an upcoming book, featuring a different personality and species.

The importance of conservation

Dr. Ratnayeke shared an audio message with the audience, as she was unable to join the event in person. Having spoken about how she got involved in the project, with Dr. Miller getting in touch with her after reading ‘Sloth Bear: The Barefoot Bear of Sri Lanka’ and proposing the idea for a children’s book, Dr. Ratnayeke emphasised that if we understand why bears are the way they are, we can find ways to respect their space and keep ourselves safe.

She added: “While animals cannot speak for themselves, they need us to speak for them, and we can do this in different ways – sharing what we know with our friends through our writing, paintings, music, and dance.”

She said that with ‘Shyamala and the Sloth Bears’, Dr. Miller spearheaded it and wrote the book, Narada Ranatunga created the illustrations, and Dilmah Conservation took over the task of getting the book printed. She thanked all three parties for taking this story to the children in Sri Lanka.

The photography for Dr. Ratnayeke’s book is by wildlife photographer Luxshman Nadaraja, who shared his experience working with Dr. Ratnayeke. He started by giving the audience an idea of the background Dr. Ratnayeke came from, which made it no surprise that she would pursue work in the field after returning to Sri Lanka, having completed her higher education overseas.

Nadaraja recalled the story of a young woman who passed out of Colombo Medical School, as it was known then, a hundred years ago. “Being an oddity – a lady doctor at that time – the authorities didn’t know what to do with her, so they sent her out to Jaffna. In one of the hospitals in Jaffna, she was also seen as an oddity – as ladies become nurses, not doctors. So, she was not assigned any work. All she did was walk around the hospital, because one thing you don’t do is to interfere with another doctor’s patient.”

Nadaraja continued his story, saying this female doctor, during one of her walks, happened to see a cow giving birth. However, the cow was having some difficulty. “So this young lady doctor got in there and delivered the calf. Then the other doctors realised that she could do something. After that, she was assigned some work. That lady doctor happened to be Shyamala’s grandmother.”

When Dr. Ratnayeke returned to Sri Lanka, she started with preliminary work in Wasgamuwa and Yala, roping in her cousins – Nadaraja among them – to help out. The next stage of her work took the team to Wasgamuwa to study sloth bears, where Nadaraja recalled his work as a ‘poop collector’, pointing out that bear scat tends to reveal a lot of information about what the bear has been feeding on.

Nadaraja then invited Rohan Peries, who was on Dr. Ratnayeke’s team, to share interesting stories from his time working with her. These stories gave the audience an idea of the effort put in by the team when studying Sri Lanka’s sloth bears and the importance of protecting them.

Education and awareness

The various speakers at the event emphasised the importance of the book in teaching children about conservation. Explaining the role of Dilmah Conservation in such efforts was Dilmah Tea Head of Conservation and Sustainability Rishan Sampath, who shared that Dilmah, in addition to tea production, thought about people and the planet, leading to the establishment of Dilmah Tea’s dedicated environmental arm, Dilmah Conservation.

“At Dilmah Conservation, we strongly believe that education and awareness are strong parameters and strong elements under conservation. Without education and awareness, we don’t think we can do conservation. Because of that, we have included education, awareness, as well as publication under one of our main objectives under Dilmah Conservation,” he shared.

According to Rishan Sampath, Dilmah Conservation has released 15 publications which were targeted at university students and scientific audiences. However, its 16th publication, ‘Shyamala and the Sloth Bears’, was its first for children.

Dilmah believes that educating young minds is very important, he said, describing children as driving forces of sustainability and conservation.

Emphasising the importance of conservation education further was National Institute of Education Director General Prof. Prasad Sethunga, who said ‘Shyamala and the Sloth Bears’ was an invaluable contribution to both literature and conservation education.

He recognised the tremendous work by Dr. Ratnayeke, saying her dedication to sloth bear conservation was truly admirable. “Through her commitment and efforts, as her team pointed out, we are reminded of the importance of protecting our native species and preserving Sri Lanka’s biodiversity,” Prof. Sethunga said.

He also thanked Dr. Miller and Ranatunga, whose words and illustrations breathe life into this story, making it a vibrant journey for readers of all ages.

“As the Director General of the National Institute of Education, I am particularly pleased to see that this book is crafted with young readers in mind, beginning with early childhood. Early childhood education – we all know its importance – is a vital stage for shaping values, attitudes, and curiosity about the world,” he said.

Prof. Sethunga went on to say: “Books like ‘Shyamala and the Sloth Bears’ serve as essential tools introducing children to the wonders of wildlife and fostering a deep-rooted respect for nature from a young age. Education during the formative years is a foundation for lifelong learning.”

He added that there were efforts at present to change early-childhood education in the country to a play-based model, allocating time for storytelling, for instance. Books like ‘Shyamala and the Sloth Bears’ would be incorporated into such a curriculum, as they capture children’s imaginations and help them develop a sense of responsibility toward all living beings.

Prof. Sethunga also spoke about the Sinhala translation of the book, commending its language for not making the bear an animal to fear, referring to the use of the phrase ‘Walas Yaluwo’ or ‘bear friends’, which was more child-friendly.