SRI LANKAN ELEPHANTS, TOURISM AND WILDLIFE

Environmentalist and Wild Life enthusiast Srilal MIththapala gave a talk on Sri Lankan Elephants, Wildlife and Tourism at the Sri Lanka High Commission in Canberra on Friday 17th March.

Wildlife enthusiasts and members of the Canberra public who came to listen to Mr Miththapala appreciated very much the informative presentation which provided an overall view of Sri Lanka’s tourism with a special focus on wildlife.

Sri Lanka is home to the largest animal on land, the elephant, and the largest mammal on earth, the Blue Whale, as well as the Sri Lankan Leopard and Sloth Bear. Despite its small size, Sri Lanka is an island with rich bio diversity and is home to a large number of species that are endemic to Sri Lanka.

The highlight of the presentation was the Sri Lankan elephant: Elephas maximus maximus,, which is one of the three recognised sub species of the Asian elephant and is native to Sri Lanka.

Mr Miththapala described the quasi-religious status of the elephant in Sri Lankan society: elephant behaviour: and the importance of this animal to Sri Lanka’s wildlife and tourism industry.

He concluded by discussing the issues surrounding human elephant conflict resulting from the decreasing forest cover and human settlements in elephant habitats.

The full presentation can be viewed here:

Correction: Slide 2 – Languages: Sinhala (official) Tamil (official)

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