Sri Lanka gears up for its first ever animal census

Sri Lanka will conduct its first-ever animal census, excluding elephants, officials said on Friday.

Officials said people across the island will count Toque monkeys, purple-faced langurs, giant squirrels, and peacocks between 8 and 8:05 a.m. (local time) on Saturday.

The aim is to assess the impact of human wildlife conflict on annual crop damage.

“We hope everyone will participate and extend support to this valuable exercise,” GVV Shamini, Additional Director for Development from the Department of Agriculture, told reporters.

She said around 40,000 state officials covering the over 14,200 administrative units nationwide will be deployed for the census.

“The data will be important for assessing crop losses and action needed to minimise the impact on animals,” said J. Pushpakumara, Director of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Asked to explain the annual crop loss, Pushpakumara referred to a 2022 census carried out in over 200 agricultural areas and said, “The estimated loss during six months was 93 million coconuts, maize, vegetables and fruit crops, amounting to SLR 30 billion.”

Officials said they anticipated 80 per cent accuracy in the census, dismissing criticism from farmer organisations that the five-minute census would be a farce.

Officials said households have been delivered a form to fill in the data.

Source: PTI
--Agencies