Malaka Rodrigo's Blog (19)

Dear All, 

Couldn't share links to my articles on 'Biodiversity Media Alliance' for quite a sometime. During the past few months, I wrote extensively on different aspects of biodiversity of Sri Lanka - ranging from mighty Blue Whales to tiny Bees.

Please visit my blog www.window2nature.wordpress.com for my past articles.. 

Happy reporting, 

Regards, 

Malaka Rodrigo~ 

Sri…

Erabudu is the flower of the Avurudu season but you will hardly be able to find erabadu these days. Instead, rosy trumpet (tabebuia) flowers bloom, marking the onset of the New Year season becoming the messenger of Biodiversity to announce the dawn of the spring. (photos by Susantha Udagedara) 

This is the famous sakura flower season in Japan with thousands of cherry trees in full bloom. The cherry trees shed their leaves in winter and in spring…

verybody loves a butterfly and perhaps Sri Lankans more than most: four years after the Sri Lanka Birdwing was declared the national butterfly each of the nine provinces are to get their own butterfly.

The nine are considered flagship species due to their attractive colour patterns and have been selected because they are endemic to Sri Lanka, charismatic and readily seen. None of the butterflies are a pest at any stage of its life cycle nor a vectoring agent of…

This week, an enigmatic whale first described studying a specimen found in Sri Lanka has been reclassified as a new marine mammal species. The whale species – member of a family known as beaked whales for their elongated beak-like snouts – bears an interesting history.On 26 January 1963 a specimen of a dying 4.5m-long, blue-grey female beaked whale was washed ashore at Ratmalana. After…

A gecko has become the first creature in 2014 to join the impressive list of endemic species of Sri Lanka. The new species, discovered in Rammalakanda forest, has been named Rammale day gecko (Rammale diva huna), classified scientifically as Cnemaspis rammalensis.

New species: Active during the day

Unlike the common house gecko that is found hunting insects near lamps in most households at night, the new species is mostly active during the day.

Sri…

An animal or plant is considered ‘extinct’, if it has not been recorded for more than a century. The Sri Lanka Emerald Spreadwing (Sinhalestes orientalis) a beautiful Damselfly that had not been recorded for 154 years and thereby considered extinct had made a re-appearance last year. The information about this rediscovery has been published few weeks ago in Asian Journal of Conservation Biology authored by young researcher Amila P Sumanapala and expert on dragonflies M.…

They are a household nuisance and the sight of lines of ants marching towards food lying about can drive one crazy. But researchers from Peradeniya University studying a group of ants are excited by their discovery. The cause of the excitement was the existence of the rare endemic Sri Lankan Relict Ant (Aneuretus simoni Emery) among the sample of ants being studied.

The Sri Lanka Relict Ant may be one of the tiniest members of Sri Lanka’s unique biodiversity but it has a big…

Two species of mosquitoes belonging to a genus new to Sri Lanka have been discovered, scientists at the Medical Research Institute (MRI) have announced. The mosquitoes of this genus, known as Topomyia, are found in countries like India and Thailand. These species are…

An international study has placed Sri Lanka among top 20 countries that catch sharks.

Noting that these 20 countries account for 80% of the world’s annual shark catch, a report based on the study puts the survival of many shark varieties in their hands.

Shark fins laid out to dry in Negombo

This report titled “The future of the Shark: A Review of Action and Inaction” was produced by the wildlife trade…

Overfishing threatens the magnificent and prized ‘Ali Maduwa’, writes Malaka Rodrigo�

A giant “maduwa”, or manta ray, was netted last week by fisherman in Welipatanwila, Ambalanthota, on the South coast. The ocean creature was pregnant and weighed 1,500 kilograms. A week earlier, another manta ray was caught by fishermen in Akkaraipattu, on the East coast. Both sea…

http://window2nature.net/2012/04/19/over-100-sperm-whales-gather-in-kalpitiya-onlookers-puzzled/

by Malaka Rodrigo…

A fully grown sloth bear was killed by a speeding vehicle near the 11th kilometre post on the Panama-Pottuvil road in Sri Lanka late last month raising concerns over the prudence of having public roads across biodiversity rich National Parks, while vehicles speeding…