A NEWBORN BABY ELEPHANT TRAVELING ALONE WITH ITS MUM – AN UNUSUAL BEHAVIOUR
Almost 6 weeks ago, I was informed that there was a new elephant birth outside the Wasgamuwa National Park closer to a bordering village. This news brought excitement to the villagers who started to go there to see the baby. My informer told me that the mum was alone...
Habituating endemic birds to human in Sinharaja Forest
ne morning whilst I was having my morning cuppa at Martin's Lodge in Sinharaja, I noticed a group of Sri Lankan Blue Magpies flying into the lodge. Those magpies were searching for insects in the dining room and they barely took notice of me. This...
Beautiful destroyers – Rose-ringed Parakeets damaging sesame fields
farmer (called Banda) in Wasgamuwa one day told me" I really want to kill all the parakeets in Wasgamuwa " frustratingly and angrily. I immediately understood this serious consideration of him. Banda grows Sesame (Thala in Sinhala) in his chena...
Toothed-Billed Bower Bird- The lazy Architect
Male birds use different strategies to attract females- such as visual signals, courtship dance, melodic harmonies etc. Some birds use their creativity to attract their mate. In Australia and PapuwaNewguini there is such a bird group. They are named after the structures they build ??? Bower. Bower birds have a very unique courtship ritual among the birds. They are architects and artists and these craftsmen build their bowers in a romantic way to win their lovers heart. Each species is different with what they build, among them there are ???platform???, ???maypole??? and ???avenue??? builders.
Fruit eating butterflies – Some observations on frugivorous behaviour of some Nymphalidae
Since fruits are available year around in the tropics not like in temperate climate some butterflies have evolved to feed on rotting fruits.So why these butterflies prefer fruit juice over nectar? It has been experimentally shown that Sodium and other microbial products such as Amino Acids are deficient in nectar ,where as fruits are richer in Sodium and Nitrogen . So the next question is , are these butterflies interested in both Sodium and Nitrogen equally or more interested in one over the other.
Sexual harassment of a juvenile elephant by a bull elephant ??? a highly unusual sexual behaviour
It was March 28th, 2014 – a bright and cheerful Friday evening at the Sanstha-pitiya wewa in Wasgamuwa National Park. There were around 40 elephants of different sexes and ages. They exhibited high levels of activity; several were mud bathing, while others were foraging, drinking, and socializing in various ways. We even observed two bulls chasing each other around a grove of trees with the one behind attempting to grab the tail of the one in front.