News
Travails of a biodiversity scientist =The story of Linnean Medalist Rohan Pethiyagoda
by Ifham Nizam
Dr. Rohan Pethiyagoda was this week awarded the Linnean Medal which is considered as the Nobel Prize for naturalists, at a ceremony in London.
He is the first Sri Lanka to win the annual medal bestowed since 1888 to a botanist or a zoologist, or to one of each, in the same year.
At a ceremony at the headquarters of the Linnean Society at Burlington House, Piccadilly recently, Dr Pethiyagoda was awarded the Linnean Medal for his contributions to science.
“As I heard my citation being read out”, says Pethiyagoda, “It occurred to me that this was the very room in which the papers of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace, titled “On the tendency of Species to form Varieties”, were read for the first time on 1 July 1858, ushering in the Age of Evolution on which contemporary biological science is founded. Wallace himself was a recipient of the Linnean Medal, in 1892, followed by Ernst Haeckel two years later.” Other luminaries who have been awarded the Medal include eminent biodiversity scientists of the ilk of Sir David Prain, Sir John Graham Kerr, J.E. Smith, William Donald Hamilton, Sir Ghillean Prance, Stephen Jay Gould, John Maynard Smith, David Mabberley, Georgina Mace and Kamaljit Bawa. In short, its recipients read rather like a Biodiversity Hall of Fame.
Dr. Pethiyagoda is an author, educator and taxonomist and once served as deputy chair of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission. He is also a Rolex laureate.”His impact on biodiversity research in Sri Lanka and beyond through his output and catalytic influence cannot be overestimated,” the award committee wrote, and the author of this commentary explains why this is so.
Amongst his copious outputs, Pethiyagoda has contributed greatly in highlighting the very history of biodiversity in Asia, linking together scientists, artists, travelers, and explorers in both East and West. One of his first books was a comprehensive colour guide to the freshwater fish of Sri Lanka – a best seller.
In November 2020, in a paper published in the journal Zootaxa, an international team of scientists named a new genus of diminutive Asian treefrogs in honour of Sri Lankan scientist Rohan Pethiyagoda.
The genus ‘Rohanixalus’ includes eight species, which range through Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, northeast India, and southern China.
Led by Prof. S.D. Biju and Dr. Sonali Garg of the University of Delhi, the team includes leading scientists also from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences and Chulalongkorn University, Thailand.
Three Sri Lankan leopard cubs that were born at the Singapore Zoo on Jan 1 have now made their public debut at the facility.
The two males and one female, born to mother Yala and father Asanka, are the first of their species yo be born at the Singapore Zoo. The last successful birth in Singapore was recorded at the Night Safari three decades ago.
The triplets, which are the pair’s first litter, are among around 80 Sri Lankan leopards in zoos worldwide.
The species is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with fewer than 800 individuals estimated to remain in the wild.
Visitors can now see the triplets at the Wild Africa exhibit, said the Mandai Wildlife Group in a statement on April 16.
The cubs can be found in the exhibit with their mother daily until mid-May and, subsequently, every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
Yala with her cubs in their nest box, a month after their birth on Jan 1. (Straits Times)
A leopard cub investigating a piece of meat suspended from a tree – one of the several enrichment items in the Wild Africa exhibit designed to keep the cats mentally and physically stimulated. (Straits Times)
Mandai Wildlife Group curator Anand Kumar said it took nearly three years and close collaboration across continents to bring together a compatible pair of Sri Lankan leopards.
(Straits Times)
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singapore-zoos-first-sri-lankan-leopard-cubs-make-their-public-debut?ref=top-stories
The Sri Lanka Navy has seized a local multi- day fishing trawler, it’s four man crew together with a consignment suspected to be narcotics off the Southern Coast of the island.
The vessel is presently being escorted to the Dikowita fisheries harbour for further investigations and legal proceedings.
Latest News
Heat Index at Caution Level in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern and Southern provinces and in Monaragala district
Warm Weather Advisory
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 3.30 p.m. on 15 April 2026, valid for 16 April 2026.
The Heat index, the temperature felt on human body is likely to increase up to ‘Caution level’ at some places in the Northern, North-central, North-western, Western, Sabaragamuwa, Eastern
and Southern provinces and in Monaragala district.
The Heat Index Forecast is calculated by using relative humidity and maximum temperature and this is the condition that is felt on your body. This is not the forecast of maximum temperature. It is generated by the Department of Meteorology for the next day period and prepared by using global numerical weather prediction model data.
Effect of the heat index on human body is mentioned in the above table and it is prepared on the advice of the Ministry of Health and Indigenous Medical Services.
ACTION REQUIRED
Job sites: Stay hydrated and takes breaks in the shade as often as possible.
Indoors: Check up on the elderly and the sick.
Vehicles: Never leave children unattended.
Outdoors: Limit strenuous outdoor activities, find shade and stay hydrated.
Dress: Wear lightweight and white or light-colored clothing.
Note:
In addition, please refer to advisories issued by the Disaster Preparedness & Response Division, Ministry of Health in this regard as well. For further clarifications please contact 011-7446491
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