Following the release of the islandwide animal census results, the Ministry of Agriculture is currently conducting discussions on necessary action to address the growing issue of crop damage and agricultural disruption caused by wild animals.
The report on the national animal census was officially released on Thursday (12).
In a press release, Hector Kobbekaduwa Agrarian Research and Training Institute (HARTI) Director Professor A.L. Sandika revealed the results of the survey: toque macaques (rilawa) – 5.17 million, grey langurs (wandura) – 1.74 million, giant squirrels (dandu lena) – 2.66 million, and peacocks – 4.24 million.
He expressed that a large concentration of monkeys was situated in religious grounds or districts such as Anuradhapura, which reported a total of 160,135.
The highest population of grey langurs was recorded in the Kandy District with a count of 634,668.
Meanwhile, giant squirrels and peacocks were illustrated to have a high distribution in areas such as Kurunegala and Monaragala, with Kurunegala recording 546,715 giant squirrels and 621,517 peacocks.
When contacted by The Sunday Morning, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock Namal Karunaratne emphasised that the updated figures allowed authorities to design more effective strategies in the face of damage caused by various species of wild animals.
“This survey plays a vital role as, up until now, there has been no such quantifiable data as to the number of such wildlife, nor has there been any research on this topic in Sri Lanka. Now, any Government branch, ministry, university, or institution has access to this data,” he said.
Karunaratne further noted that the data from the survey had revealed a high population of the reported species with regard to their surrounding habitat.
According to the report, the total number of the species surveyed across the country exceeds 13 million.
The animal census was conducted on 15 March as a public-driven initiative aimed at identifying and assessing the prevalence of wild animals within residential and agricultural areas during the daytime.