Simon King is a recent graduate from England. He volunteered for the Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society for a month in April 2016. Simon was so inspired by the work of the SLWCS - he is coming back again to volunteer for another 3 months starting from September 2016.

As detailed in the recent article by Dr. Anthony Giordano (https://madmimi.com/s/02b6a7), the SLWCS, in partnership with S.P.E.C.I.E.S, recently launched the Sri Lanka Carnivore Project. A number of remote camera traps have been placed strategically in unprotected forest reserves around the Wasgamuwa region in an effort to monitor the carnivore species found in Wasgamuwa to assess their conservation status. Although these cameras will capture the presence of any animal that triggers the infrared sensors, the objective of the project is to gather evidence of the fishing, jungle and rusty spotted cats, the golden palm civet and of the large and elusive Sri Lankan leopard and sloth bear.

During my final two weeks of volunteering with SLWCS, I had the opportunity to assist in the maintenance and monitoring of the camera traps. Personally, I found this work to be one of the most enjoyable aspects of my time spent here. The transects to access these traps takes you on a journey through habitats of head-high Mana grass and dense forest interspersed with breath-taking panoramas. A tense suspense also builds up once we are back at the field house and begin to download the memory cards from the cameras in anticipation of what they had captured of the animal denizens in the jungle.

Our first walk took place through the forest area around Weheragala lake to check three camera traps located there, replacing the batteries and memory cards in the process. Upon coming across a stream running through a clearing in the forest, we came across clear evidence of a leopard in the area in the form of footprints no more than one day old. It seemed as though the elusive big cat had paused here, perhaps for a drink, before continuing to patrol through its territory. We continued on our way, travelling in the same direction as the leopard had to retrieve the memory cards from each of the cameras.

After the morning’s activities, we had the chance to upload the images from the memory cards and inspect them for target species. The first images from the camera showed a series of photos of a proud peacock with his harem of peahens, seemingly inspecting this strange new device that had appeared in his territory. Scrolling onto the next image, we couldn’t quite believe our luck. A clear image of a leopard, albeit facing away from the camera. This was the first time that this carnivore had been captured with a camera trap by the SLWCS and excitement reigned as everyone was called over to view the photo. As we continued to scroll through the photos, an obvious anticipation had grown. Could there be more photos of leopards or had our luck run out? Our answer came sooner than expected in a stunning side-on view of another leopard from the second camera. Furthermore, the time stamp indicated that the photo had only been taken during the previous evening. Perhaps this was the same individual whose footprints we had observed earlier in the day.

If the capture of leopards wasn’t enough to quench our thirst for elusive species, then we had another pleasant surprise in the form of a pangolin. While many people may not have even heard of them, they are an oddity of the animal kingdom, and I have to admit that I have a soft spot for these scaly anteaters. Perhaps it is their bizarre appearance which I find so endearing. Despite being protected by CITES, the pangolin is believed to be the most heavily trafficked mammal, largely due to their scales being used in traditional Chinese medicine. There is a certain irony to the fact that the defence mechanism (rolling up into a tight ball) which makes them so impenetrable to predators also makes them so easy for poachers to pick up. As is the case with many of the species around the Knuckles mountain range and the in dry zone jungles at its’ foothills, little is known about the ecology and distribution of this species, making any information about them such as these photos all the more important.

Two more morning expeditions to check and maintain remote cameras in a further two regions followed. Sampath informed us that poachers had already destroyed one of the cameras that had been installed, presumably after being alerted to its presence when the flash had triggered as they walked past it. The incidence of poaching in this region presents a further challenge to overcome in the endeavour to document the relatively unknown ecology and distribution of species. Unfortunately, there were no images of leopards or sloth bears from these cameras, although plenty of other species had been recorded including golden palm civets, sambar deer, mouse deer and, of course, elephants.

Not only does the use of these camera traps allow volunteers such as myself a glimpse into the diverse fauna present, they are proving invaluable assets in the collection of data to unravel some of the mysteries of Sri Lanka’s wilderness.

Photos Credits:
Sri Lanka Wildlife Conservation Society
Kaiyue Zhang
Anjuli Swift
Ravi Corea

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