Malaka Rodrigo

Sri Lanka

Science and Environmental Journalist at Freelance

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Articles

Second ship sinking off Kerala coast revives fears in Sri lanka of worst maritime disaster

1 week ago | scroll.in | Malaka Rodrigo

Sri Lanka is once again facing a significant marine environmental crisis, as tiny plastic pellets, commonly known as nurdles, have begun washing ashore along the island’s northern coastline. This time, the pollution is linked to the sinking of the Liberia-flagged container ship MSC ELSA 3 off of Kerala, India.
Twin ship disasters in India threaten widespread pollution on Sri Lankan coasts

1 week ago | news.mongabay.com | Malaka Rodrigo

The Liberia-flagged vessel MSC ELSA 3, carrying 640 containers, including 13 with hazardous cargo, along with almost 85 metric tons of diesel and 367 metric tons of furnace oil, sank off of Kerala, in southern India, on May 25.
Mounting risks due to climate change threaten Sri Lanka’s endemic species

1 week ago | news.mongabay.com | Malaka Rodrigo

Sri Lanka’s isolation during past glacial cycles resulted in the evolution of unique species, but ongoing human-induced climate change now poses a major threat to their survival. Using species distribution models, researchers have discovered that montane amphibians and reptiles that are particularly restricted to narrow ecological niches with limited mobility are particularly vulnerable to rising temperatures.
After 15 years, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court blocks road upgrade in national park

4 weeks ago | news.mongabay.com | Malaka Rodrigo

In a landmark judgment, Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court recently ended a 15-year legal battle over plans to upgrade a road through Wilpattu National Park, making conservationists heave a sigh of relief. The court ruling follows an election pledge by Anura Kumara Dissanayake during the presidential race to reopen the road, which drew sharp criticism from environmentalists.
Sri Lanka’s elephant corridor plan ‘unscientific’

1 month ago | scidev.net | Malaka Rodrigo

[COLOMBO, SciDev.Net] Wildlife experts question the wisdom of adopting “elephant corridors” in Sri Lanka to end the country’s deadly human-elephant conflict, calling instead for a more science-based approach. Nearly 5,000 elephants and 1,600 people have been killed in the last 15 years in clashes between elephants and humans in Sri Lanka, home to one of the largest remaining populations of Asian elephants, according to official figures seen by SciDev.Net.
Sri Lanka’s golden jackals reveal importance of urban wetlands for wildlife

1 month ago | news.mongabay.com | Malaka Rodrigo

Recent sightings of golden jackals (Canis aureus naria) in Sri Lanka’s capital city underscore the significance of urban wetlands as sanctuaries for wildlife amid rapid urbanization. The jackals in Sri Lanka belong to a distinct subspecies, Canis aureus naria, have recorded a sharp population decline due to multiple reasons ranging from habitat loss to roadkills and diseases transmitted by stray dogs.
A migrating flycatcher returning to the same Sri Lankan garden sparks interest in birders

1 month ago | news.mongabay.com | Malaka Rodrigo

An Asian paradise flycatcher (Terpsiphone paradisi) with distinctive markings on its head that has returned to the same home garden in Colombo for four consecutive migratory seasons has sparked interest among bird enthusiasts in Sri Lanka. Many birds, especially migratory species, possess a remarkable ability to return to the same location year after year, sometimes to the exact tree or nest, which is a behavior known as site tenacity or site fidelity.
Kumana, a historic national park in eastern Sri Lanka, emerges as leopard stronghold

1 month ago | news.mongabay.com | Malaka Rodrigo

A new study reports a notably high density of Sri Lankan leopards (Panthera pardus kotiya) in eastern Sri Lanka’s Kumana National Park, highlighting the park as a significant habitat for the leopards. Using camera traps, the study recorded more than 90 leopard encounters, including 34 identified individual leopards, captured on film across a 16-month survey period.
Indian trawlers leave Sri Lankan small-scale fishers a ravaged, bereft sea

2 months ago | news.mongabay.com | Malaka Rodrigo

Bottom trawlers from India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu have been encroaching Sri Lanka’s northern waters for years, carrying out destructive fishing practices that have caused serious depletion of fish stocks and damaged marine habitats.
Sinharaja loner checks in and goes about on its rounds

2 months ago | sundaytimes.lk | Malaka Rodrigo

View(s): By Malaka Rodrigo As Sri Lanka prepared for Avurudu festivities, an environmental research center in Deniyaya saw an unexpected visitor at dusk on April 8. Silently emerging from the shadows of the rainforest, the lone elephant stepped gently onto the rain-soaked earth, leaving deep footprints in the muddy ground. It paused to feed on a banana tree before retreating into the forest.