News
Jackal population has decreased 60% during last 20 yrs in SL
By Rathindra Kuruwita
The population of Sri Lankan jackals has dropped by about 60 percent during the last two decades and this is an indication of serious problems in the Sri Lankan environment, Prof. Sampath S. Seneviratne, of the Department of Zoology and Environment Sciences, University of Colombo has said.
Prof. Seneviratne, one of the authors of the research study, titled ‘The Way of the Jackal’, said that jackals and their cousins, the fox and the wolf, were spreading rapidly in other parts of the world, especially in Western Europe.
Prof. Seneviratne said Sri Lankans did not hunt the jackal for meat or its fur/skin. There are hardly any negative interactions between humans and jackals in Sri Lanka, he added.
“We have been conducting research on jackals. We have looked at their population across the country. We found that the jackal population has dropped by about 60 percent in the last 20 years. What’s going on? Are they the canaries in the mine who tell us that something awful is taking place in our environment?”
Prof. Seneviratne said farmers in some parts of the country told them that the jackal population has dropped, following the widespread use of pesticides.
“Humans live about 70 years and a jackal usually lives for about 10 years. They eat things that are identical to what we eat. The jackal eats rice, jackfruit, coconuts, etc. If you give your plate of rice and curries to a jackal, he or she will eat it. They also eat mice, frogs and small animals that are found in the forest and agricultural lands. When animals die after being exposed to pesticides, the jackals often eat the carcasses because he is a scavenger.”
Prof. Seneviratne said they had also carried out autopsies of many dead jackals. It is possible that eating small animals that have been killed by pesticides might be leading to the deaths of jackals.
“A lot of veterinarians told us that in the wet zone, they encounter jackals with distemper. This virus initially attacks the cells of the immune system, weakening an animal’s immune response and putting it at higher risk of other infections. Later their hind legs become paralyzed and then they die. The veterinarians think domestic dogs develop distemper and this is then spread to jackals,” he said.
On the other hand the ‘ovitas’ in the paddy fields, the chenas, the shrubland and the rubber lands in the wet zone are being cleared. The jackals dig burrows and raise their pups in them. They also keep away from dogs, who usually attack them. Thus, they usually have burrows in a semi-cleared area close to the village and with the gradual destruction of such areas, the habitat of jackals are being destroyed.
“The jackals and farmers are not in conflict. Jackals eat the animals that are a nuisance to farmers. They eat serpents, rodents, peacock eggs, small pigs, etc. He is a great balancer of the ecosystem. When the jackal population drops, we can assume the balance in the ecosystem has collapsed. In parallel, we see a spike in peacock population.”
Prof. Seneviratne said the proliferation of peacocks in the wet zone was quite recent and Sri Lankans must realise that it was the jackals that had kept the peacock population in check and had relegated them to the dry zone.
Prof. Seneviratne said that peacock eggs were vulnerable to other animals, but adult peacocks were without any threats from other animals. “The jackal eats peacock eggs and kill their young. Since the jackal population has dropped, the peacock population has exploded,” he said, adding that they were now conducting a research to determine if the Sri Lankan jackal (canis aureus nariya) was an indigenous species.
Prof. Seneviratne said that the tiger was the animal with most tourist attraction. It is followed by the panda, elephant, lion and the leopard.
“A lot of tourists come to Sri Lanka to see leopards and the value of a leopard in Yala has been estimated at 43 million rupees. In the United States the tourism value of the wolf, the big brother of the jackal, is estimated at 171,000 dollars. The jackal is the little brother of the wolf, but we have not marketed this animal at all,” he said, adding that there were only a few instances where the Sri Lankan jackal had attacked humans. That happens especially when jackals contract rabies from domesticated dogs.
“In 2020, the anti-rabies campaign came to a standstill. In 2019, it was also affected due to the Easter Sunday attacks. Thus, cases of rabies increased and in Horana some jackals got infected by domestic dogs. Those jackals came to the village and bit a few villagers. Two people died and 32 jackals were killed by village dogs when they strayed into the village,” he said.
The Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Damian Fernando paid a courtesy call on the Speaker of the Parliament, Dr Jagath Wickramaratne at the Office of the Speaker, today (7 July
2026).
The meeting marked the Commander of the Navy’s first official interaction with the Speaker following his assumption of command of the Sri Lanka Navy. During the cordial discussion, they exchanged views on the Navy’s role in matters of national importance.
The formal meeting drew to a close with an exchange of mementoes, signifying the importance of the occasion.
At least 26 people, including five prison officers and 20 inmates, have been confirmed dead following violent unrest at Negombo Prison, hospital sources said yesterday, as authorities struggled to restore full control over the facility.
According to unconfirmed reports the prison officers were killed by rioters yesterday morning, in retaliation, and weapons carried by those officers were grabbed by them.
Negombo General Hospital Director Consultant Dr. Pushpa Gamlath said nearly 100 injured persons had been admitted, following the clashes, and eight of the critically wounded had been transferred to the National Hospital, in Colombo, for further treatment.
The violence, which initially broke out on Sunday (5) between remand prisoners and convicted inmates, left two inmates dead and 38 others injured before being temporarily brought under control.
However, tensions flared again on Monday (6), with prison officials reporting renewed unrest inside the facility despite earlier assurances that the situation had stabilised.
Police said the initial confrontation was triggered by a dispute linked to the exposure of an alleged drug trafficking network, operating within the prison, and was reportedly orchestrated by a drug trafficker, identified as Suresh, who is said to have links to an underworld figure known as ‘Booru Moona’.
The violence rapidly escalated, with female inmates staging a protest on the Prison roof in support of those involved in the clashes, while relatives gathered outside demanding information on detainees. Police later facilitated visits for selected family members to hospitalised inmates.
The Negombo Prison, which houses around 1,800 remand and convicted inmates, descended into widespread disorder as rival groups clashed, with reports indicating that the violence later spread beyond the initial confrontation.
Authorities said rioting inmates had allegedly seized firearms during the renewed unrest on Monday, prompting heightened security measures.
The Sri Lanka Air Force deployed drones for aerial surveillance and a Bell 412 helicopter to monitor the situation, while additional military personnel were sent to reinforce security around the prison.
Prisons Department spokesperson A.C. Gajanayake said a special investigation team had been appointed, under the direction of the Commissioner General of Prisons, to probe the incident, while a separate police investigation is also underway.
Justice Minister Harshana Nanayakkara told The Island that he had called for a detailed report on the disturbances.
By Norman Palihawadane
News
Cleaner, cheaper electricity gathers momentum with rapid progress in 50 MW Mannar wind power project
Sri Lanka’s drive towards cleaner and cheaper electricity gathered fresh momentum with the reported rapid progress in the 50 MW Mannar Wind Power Project, which is expected to produce the lowest-cost wind-generated electricity in the country’s history while saving billions of rupees in annual fuel imports.
The Ministry of Energy announced that the first wind turbine for the project had already arrived in the country, while the remaining turbine components have reached the Port of Trincomalee and are currently being unloaded, signalling a major milestone in the construction of one of the country’s key renewable energy ventures.
The project, inaugurated by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, in January this year, is expected to become a cornerstone of the government’s strategy to transform Sri Lanka’s electricity sector by expanding renewable energy generation and reducing dependence on imported fossil fuels.
According to the Ministry, electricity generated by the Mannar wind farm will be purchased at USD 0.0465 (approximately Rs. 14.37) per unit, making it the lowest tariff ever secured for wind-generated electricity in Sri Lanka.
Energy experts say the competitive tariff demonstrates the growing economic viability of renewable energy and could help stabilise future electricity prices.
The Ministry also estimates that once the wind farm is connected to the national grid, Sri Lanka will save approximately Rs. 4.7 billion annually by reducing the import of fossil fuels required for thermal power generation, easing pressure on the country’s foreign exchange reserves.
The Mannar project is expected to support the government’s ambition of substantially increasing the contribution of renewable energy to the national electricity mix, by 2030, while helping Sri Lanka move towards its long-term goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Hayleys Fentons PLC, selected through an international competitive bidding process, is responsible for the installation and maintenance of the wind turbines.
The National System Operator (NSO), operating under the Ministry of Energy, will oversee the integration and management of electricity generated by the project within the national grid.
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