Wild Life In Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is ranked amongst the world’s twenty five biodiversity hot spots. As a country with high rate of endemism  it has many faunal groups  including birds , mammals , reptiles and amphibians which you can not find anywhere in the world. It is world  renowned  as one of the best places to watch elephants and leopards for  nature enthusiastic and photographers.

 There   are season for elephant gathering  where  large concentration of wild elephants  together can be seen during that time at a place known as  Minneriya in the north central province of the country. Primate safaris  are arranged with cultural tours as it is possible to find wide range of primates in place surrounded by cultural heritages mainly in the dry zone. During the early part of the year ( January-April) , the largest animal ever lived   in the world  you may guess as ‘ blue whale’  can be seen in off shores of southern city Galle. Sinharaja, the tropical rainforest of the country is the place to glue one’s eyes on to the  world’s largest mixed species of birds flocking together.

One of the key reasons which makes Sri Lanka a popular wild life destination  is the availability of expertise , well trained field guides and simple photographic guides, booklets and posters of key wild life attractions such as elephants, leopards, birds, butterflies , primates and floral species to the enthusiast. Sri Lankan tour operators too are equipped with sophisticated  technologies , marketing strategies and  high caliber service levels to attract ever increasing tourist both from west and east  with wild life as main interest for  significant proportion of them. Communication is no barrier as in Sri Lanka as tourist industry professionals are  well equipped with skills in English and even with other foreign languages to respond the needs of the foreign visitors  effectively.

Mammals

Sri Lanka is home to roughly 123 species of mammals, 41 of which are threatened (9 critically). 16 of the species are endemic, of which 14 are threatened, including the large Sloth Bear, the endemic Sri Lanka Leopard and Sri Lankan Elephant and the Sambar. Bats have the highest amount of species (out of 200 mammalian orders), with 30 different species. Sri Lanka's surrounding waters are home to 28 species of Cetaceans.

Reptiles

Sri Lanka currently contains 171 species of reptiles, of which 56 are threatened and 101 are endemic. Most of the reptiles are snakes and the largest are two species of Crocodile, the Mugger crocodile and Saltwater Crocodile.

Amphibians

Sri Lanka has one of the richest diversity of amphibians in the world, containing over 119 species of amphibians up to 2015, with 109 endemic species. and has been claimed to have the highest amphibian species density in the world though that has been challenged. 52 species of amphibians in Sri Lanka are threatened, all but one of which are endemic.

Birds

Sri Lanka is home to 227 species of birds (though some past estimates put it as high as 486), 46 of which are threatened (10 critically).

Fish

Cherry barb (puntius titteya) is a tropical fish which is native to Sri Lanka, but introduced populations are established in Mexico and Colombia.

Sri Lanka contains 93 species of freshwater fish, and 50 of which are endemic to the country. 28 species are categorized as threatened by IUCN. There are 8 species of brackish water fish that also come to freshwater, and 24 introduced exotic fish species.

Butterflies

245 butterflies species are recorded from Sri Lanka of which 24 are endemic to the island

 

Insects

Insects belonging to all 32 orders except Grylloblattodea have been recorded from the Sri Lanka.The total number of insect species recorded from the island is about 11,144. Coleoptera number 3033 species , Lepidoptera 2158 species, and Hymenoptera 1519 species.

Bees

There are about 70,000 bee species of bees described in the world with nearly 450 genera and 7 families. Out of them, Sri Lanka comprises 148 species included to 38 genera and 4 families.

Odonates

Main article: List of odonates of Sri Lanka

Damselflies categorized in to Suborder: Zygoptera; and dragonflies into Suborder: Anisoptera. There are 121 described species within 13 families can be found in Sri Lanka. 59 species from them are endemic.

Aphids

Main article: List of aphids of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka comprises 74 species in 46 genera and 6 families. 2 endemic aphid species found on Sri Lanka.

Ants

Main article: List of ants of Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is home to 181 species of ants that included to 61 genera and 10 subfamilies. One endemic genus Aneuretus is also included to the list.

Freshwater Crabs

Main article: List of freshwater crabs of Sri Lanka

All recorded 51 species along with 5 genera are totally endemic to Sri Lanka. 98% of those crabs are IUCN categorized as threatened, endangered or critically endangered animals.

Molluscs

Main article: List of non-marine molluscs of Sri Lanka

There is known over 246 land gastropods of Sri Lanka. Fauna of Sri Lanka also include freshwater snails. The number of marine molluscs of Sri Lanka is not known and there is about 240 species listed meantime in 2006.