News
Lanka experimenting with IUDs to tackle monkey menace
By Meera Srinivasan
In a bid to address Sri Lanka’s “monkey menace”, a Sri Lankan academic is testing out intrauterine devices (IUDs) on female macaques, to possibly control the population of the species commonly found in the island nation.
There is no official number, but authorities estimate there are roughly three million toque macaques in the country. Some scientists have contested the claim, saying the number is much less, close to five lakh. Last year, the Sri Lankan government resumed issuing shotguns to farmers, amid mounting complaints of serious damage to crops by wild animals. The government’s move came after it scrapped an earlier proposal to export monkeys to China that was widely criticised by conservationists.
The ongoing experiment seeks to adapt intrauterine devices (IUDs), an increasingly popular long-term contraception method for humans — upon insertion into the woman’s uterus, an IUD prevents pregnancy — to the monkey species. Use of the device on animals is only at an experimental stage, according to Prof. Ashoka Dangolla, a senior veterinary scientist attached to the University of Peradeniya, in Sri Lanka’s central Kandy district, who is leading the experiment.
“We fit the IUDs in eight monkeys about three months ago and are monitoring their response. The next stage will require introducing sexually mature male monkeys. If the monkeys mate, we would be able to study if the females get pregnant. The third stage would be a field trial,” he told The Hindu.
Prof. Dangolla has been involved in various community initiatives to tackle the monkey population for some 15 years now. “It takes many years for [birth control] surgeries in male monkeys to begin impacting the population,” he said. For his ongoing experiment, he used regular IUDs sourced from India, after resizing them locally for use on the monkeys. “To complete the experiment, I would need more support,” he said, adding that there is currently little government backing for his experiment.
Meanwhile, experts remain sceptical of birth control measures on animals, that have been tried in other contexts. Wolfgang Dittus, a renowned primatologist based in Sri Lanka, who has been studying the island’s toque macaques for over half a century contended that contraception takes many years to affect population reduction, and that it is neither desirable nor practical to capture and treat all monkeys.
While noting that the ongoing experiment was of interest, he said similar experiments on free-ranging monkeys in Asia have shown that it is effective only if contraception is combined with a legally imposed strict ban on feeding wild monkeys, since access to human food fuels monkey survival, birth rates, immigration, and the resulting population growth.
Further, reducing the monkey population will not necessarily reduce the human-monkey conflict, in his view. “Sri Lanka needs to think out of the box, implement new strategies for quality living. Issuing guns to farmers to kill wildlife is obviously not a cogent solution to any current challenges. Plantations and crops can be protected from loss to wildlife, but it requires a receptive culture for implementing novel methods of doing agriculture in coexistence with nature,” Dittus said.
(The Hindu)
The Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CEYPETCO) has announced a revision of fuel prices, effective from midnight on Saturday (May 30).
Accordingly,
the price of Auto Diesel has been increased by Rs. 15 to Rs.407 per liter,
the price of Super Diesel has been increased by Rs. 20 to Rs. 478 per liter.
the price of Petrol 92 Octane has been increased by Rs. 24 to Rs. 434 per liter
the price of Petrol 95 Octane up by Rs. 25 to Rs. 495 per liter
the price of kerosene by Rs. 20 to Rs. 285 per liter.
Former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has called for a comprehensive reform programme within Sri Lanka’s Buddhist clergy, warning that repeated efforts to strengthen the Sasana have in the past been derailed by opposition from within sections of the Sangha itself.
In a statement addressed to the Mahanayake Theras of the three Buddhist chapters, Kumaratunga stressed that the long-term preservation of Buddhism depends on safeguarding both the Dhamma and Vinaya, or disciplinary code, and urged urgent internal reform to address what she described as deep-rooted structural weaknesses.
She noted that Buddhist history has consistently demonstrated that periods of institutional crisis were addressed through reform processes, citing precedents from the First Buddhist Council to reforms during the Kandyan era under Welivita Sri Saranankara Thera.
Referring to post-independence efforts, Kumaratunga said initiatives taken during the 1956 Bandaranaike administration to strengthen Buddhism were left incomplete following the assassination of former Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike.
She further stated that during her own presidency, plans to convene a Buddhist Council under the guidance of the late Madihe Pannasiha Mahanayake Thera had received government backing but were ultimately abandoned due to resistance from certain sections within the clergy.
The former President alleged that, on both occasions, vested interests benefiting from existing weaknesses within the Buddhist establishment had worked to obstruct meaningful reform efforts.
Warning that Buddhism in Sri Lanka is currently facing serious challenges, she called for a broad internal dialogue within the Sangha to identify root causes and implement both short- and long-term corrective measures.
Kumaratunga urged the Mahanayake Theras to take the lead in convening a Dharma Sanghayana, or Buddhist Council, and said she was prepared to work with senior lay Buddhist leaders to support such an initiative.
The Colombo Fort Magistrate’s Court on Friday ordered the arrest of former Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Tourism Promotion Bureau Chairman Bhashwara Gunaratne, Managing Director Rumi Jauffer and several others over the alleged misuse of Rs. 7.8 million belonging to the Tourism Promotion Authority during the 2014 Uva Provincial Council election campaign.
Magistrate Pasan Amarasena directed the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to arrest and produce the suspects before court, after it was informed that they would be named under the Public Property Act on the advice of the Attorney General.
The CID told court that attempts to take the suspects into custody from their residences had been unsuccessful as they were not present.
The Magistrate also imposed an overseas travel ban on the suspects and ordered that the Controller of Immigration and Emigration be notified.
Investigations have reportedly revealed that the funds were used to print 12,000 T-shirts bearing an image of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on one side and the name of a political party on the other.
According to the CID, the T-shirts were later distributed at a political event held in the Monaragala District.
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