The Sri Lankan leopard, also known as Panthera pardus kotiya, is a subspecies native to Sri Lanka and is the country’s apex predator.
However, the University of Peradeniya (UOP) is currently on alert following multiple leopard sightings and related activity on campus premises, raising concerns among students and staff.
The university administration has intensified safety measures after CCTV footage showed leopards – who were believed to have strayed from the nearby Hanthana Mountain Range – roaming around campus and feeding on cattle at the livestock farm owned by the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science.
According to university officials, precautionary measures were already in place. UOP Public Relations Officer Mahesh Abeywickrama explained that a sensor-based light system had been installed by the university. “If a leopard approaches in any way, the sensor light will detect it and the siren will sound,” he said, adding that the forest area around the farm had also been cleared.
How it unfolded vs. long-term reality
UOP Deputy Vice Chancellor Prof. Ranjith Pallegama stated that leopard sightings within the campus region had been “infrequent but not unusual,” noting that the animals had been around the area for years. “There were several leopards, around four or five, on the campus premises as confirmed by sightings from our security officers and CCTV footage,” he said.
Prof. Pallegama further emphasised that the presence of leopards was not a recent development, but rather a long-term reality for the campus. “Leopards have been here for many years and we have displayed notice boards in the areas, while also urging everyone to be careful,” he said, noting that sightings had previously occurred nearby certain university buildings as well.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning on the situation, Sahan Muththanthiri, a student at UOP, said that the leopard sightings initially began at the animal farm at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, where three cattle were reportedly attacked by leopards. He added that leopards were not uncommon at UOP given their frequent presence in the surrounding forest areas, adding that the university’s extensive forest cover provided shelter for these animals.
Campus on caution
Despite these recent concerns, Prof. Pallegama assured that there had been no close encounters or attacks on students, staff, or residents living within the university. “One leopard had attacked the farm animals once or twice. That was the first and only time we experienced a situation like that inside the university premises,” he said, noting that similar attacks had taken place in surrounding estate areas before. He assured that while the university community had been cautioned to remain aware, the situation did not pose a serious security threat.
Meanwhile, Muththanthiri said that university security had later spotted leopard activity near a few student hostels, and due to the potential danger, students – especially couples who frequently roamed around the campus at night – had been alerted to be cautious and limit such movements.
According to Prof. Pallegama, sightings have been previously documented in several areas surrounding the campus, including Hanthana, Wakarawatta, Peradeniya, Uda Peradeniya, and other adjoining estates connected to Pidurutalagala, where the leopards roam through the forest patches, monitored by cameras set up to track their activity. He further noted that several leopards previously sighted around nearby estates, believed to belong to the same group of leopards that attacked farm animals at the university, had been killed by people.
DWC stance
Speaking on the matter, Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) Director General Ranjan Marasinghe said that leopard encounters were conventional in areas such as Hanthana, which were recognised as natural leopard habitats. He added that the situation could have been a result of aged leopards, less able to hunt agile prey, turning instead to easier targets in human settlements such as livestock or stray animals.
Marasinghe noted that no direct interventions, such as relocating the leopards, had been undertaken. “We cannot simply remove these leopards. This area is their natural habitat. Removing them would disrupt their territorial behaviour,” he said, emphasising that relocation would only be considered if the situation escalated to attacks on humans.
According to him, wildlife officers from the Gampola range stations may have visited as a part of the standard operational protocol, but no officers were deployed on site. He stressed that raising public awareness on how to coexist with leopards and encouraging precautionary measures were the only viable solutions, noting that leopards in Sri Lanka rarely attacked humans. “Hanthana is not a protected area. Usually when habitats become fragmented, leopards are often disturbed. That could be another reason for this,” he added.
Noting that the situation was under observation and that the DWC would intervene based on necessity and frequency, Marasinghe said: “Leopards cannot be contained through barriers like what is done for elephants using electric fences. The practical approach is to alert people through sensors so that they can avoid the leopards.”
Ecological perspective
However, environmentalists point to broader ecological pressures. Conservationist and big cat researcher Sethil Muhandiram said that the Hanthana Mountain Range and its surrounding regions had long been known as a leopard habitat. Through research, it has been identified that the region has long served as a migration path, breeding ground, and hunting ground for leopards, while also being a mixed habitat of forest patches, plantations, and human settlements.
“A typical Sri Lankan leopard may feed on dogs and livestock, leading to frequent encounters with humans. But these encounters rarely result in attacks on people. Instead, humans often see them as a threat and show aggression towards them,” he said. “Leopards in Sri Lanka are highly adaptable and often move through semi-urban areas without conflict. Years ago, Kandy was identified as a city where humans and leopards lived harmoniously.”
Muhandiram noted that leopards were harassed by humans more often than not, with official reports recording around 20–50 leopard deaths annually. “There is an ongoing human-leopard misunderstanding rather than a true human-leopard conflict. Because if there were a conflict to be addressed, there must be victims on both sides. But right now, we are seeing more potential deaths and harassment of leopards by humans rather than the reverse,” he said.
Muhandiram acknowledged that several reasons – such as habitat fragmentation, human encroachments, and a decline in natural prey – could be driving leopards towards human-populated areas in search of alternative food sources.
He noted that large forest covers, once abundant, had diminished due to agricultural activities, infrastructure development, and deforestation, which had ultimately shrunk leopard ranges and pushed the animals towards the edge of their habitats, bringing them closer to human settlements.
Elaborating on the decline in natural prey, Muhandiram said that Sri Lanka’s wild boar population had also been affected by a virus, leading to a decrease in their numbers. “When it comes to the Central Highlands, wild boars are one of the primary prey for leopards. So there could be a strong possibility that leopards are coming out of forests more frequently because of the lack of prey,” he said.
“Sri Lankan leopards are highly adaptable and flexible, and they know easy food is available within human settlements, along with reliable prey like goats, dogs, poultry, hens, and calves, unlike in the wild. They have sometimes been seen feeding on garbage as well,” he noted, adding that their flexibility helped them move through human landscapes easily, unlike most big cats.
Muhandiram also noted that leopards were apex predators in Sri Lanka, particularly in the Central Highlands, facing almost zero competition from other carnivores, with their constant need for expanding their territory bringing them to human areas. “Leopards are mostly solitary and highly territorial. They often expand their territories and in the process of intraspecific conflicts, displaced animals may be forced to find new territories altogether.”