News
Lankan ‘snow-white’ monkeys become a magnet for tourists
(Mongabay) For a small village near the Sinharaja Forest Reserve in Sri Lanka, “snow-white monkeys” have become a major tourist attraction. These white monkeys are a color variant of the endangered purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus), also known as the purple-faced leaf monkey, found only in Sri Lanka.
Purple-faced langurs typically have black coats and purplish-black faces with white sideburns, but some individuals around the village of Lankagama near the Sinharaja forest have completely or partially white coats.
The white color is a case of leucism rather than albinism, Rodrigo reports. In albino animals, a mutation in a gene prevents the individual from producing melanin, a pigment that mainly produces brown and black colors. Albinism doesn’t affect other pigments like carotenoids (or red-orange pigments). Leucism, on the other hand, involves a partial loss of all pigments.
There are four subspecies of purple-faced langur in Sri Lanka: southern (S. v. vetulus) northern (S. v. philbricki), western (S. v. nestor) and mountain (S. v. monticola). White langurs have mostly been reported from populations of the southern subspecies, Madura de Silva, president of the NGO Wildlife Conservation Society of Galle (WCSG), told Rodrigo.
The presence of white monkeys in the Sinharaja forest isn’t new knowledge. Reports about them go back centuries: local folklore talks about ghostly white monkeys in the forest, considered omens of both good and ill fortune, and community elders recount sightings of pale-colored langurs, Rodrigo writes.
In a 2011 survey, WCSG formally documented 30 such “snow-white monkeys” in Sinharaja among the 14 troops it observed.
The village of Lankagama is benefiting from the growing awareness of leucistic monkeys living around it, Rodrigo reports. Many tourists are now choosing to enter the Sinharaja reserve through Lankagama to see the white monkeys, instead of the main point of entry, another village named Kudawa.
White animals worldwide, from Africa’s white lions to Canada’s spirit bears, have been major tourist draws. Sri Lanka’s white monkeys could hold similar tourism potential.
A positive perception toward Sri Lanka’s white monkeys is especially relevant at a time when monkeys are increasingly being seen as nuisance animals in the country.
Sri Lanka is home to three species of monkeys: the endemic toque macaque (Macaca sinica), gray langur (Semnopithecus priam) and purple-faced langur. A recent nationwide survey found that monkeys, especially toque macaques, have emerged as top crop-raiders.In addition to white purple-faced langurs, naturalists and researchers in Sri Lanka have reported albino individuals of toque macaques and gray langurs as well.
It has been reported that veteran Sri Lankan actress and former member of parliament, Malini Senehelatha Fonseka, popularly known as ‘Malini Fonseka’ or the “Queen of Sri Lankan Cinema,” has passed away this morning (24) at the age of 76, while receiving treatment at a private hospital in Colombo.
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The Terrorism Investigation Division (TID) has begun extensive questioning of former Minister Duminda Dissanayake regarding how he came into possession of a gold-plated T-56 assault rifle and for what purpose it was hidden, after the weapon was seized from a house in the Havelock City luxury housing complex in Colombo.
Investigations have revealed that this T-56 rifle had been hidden for a long time at an official ministerial residence located in Bambalapitiya, which was previously assigned to Dissanayake.
Following the change in government, it was discovered that the former Minister had sent the T-56 rifle through his personal aide to the residence of a 68-year-old woman living in the Havelock City complex, after vacating his official residence.
The aide is reported to have placed the weapon in a travel bag and carried it on foot from the Bambalapitiya ministerial residence to the Havelock City apartment, where it was handed over to the woman.
Subsequent investigations into the T-56 rifle, which was recovered from the Havelock City residence, confirmed that the weapon belonged to former Minister Duminda Dissanayake, leading to his arrest and the commencement of further inquiries.
At that time, the Minister’s aide had also been taken into custody and provided full details regarding the weapon.
According to the aide’s statement to the police, he had been instructed by the former Minister to deliver the bag containing the weapon to the woman at the Havelock City residence during the process of clearing belongings from the official residence.
In line with this information, TID officers inspected a house in Kotte yesterday morning, but the former Minister was not found there. He was later arrested at a luxury residence in Thimbirigasyaya during a follow-up search.The Terrorism Investigation Division continues to carry out further investigations in connection with the case.
By Norman Palihawadane and Hemantha Randunu
News
IMF signals difficult obstacle course for Lankan government to complete, including power tariff hikes to ensure cost recovery
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that the approval for the fourth review of Sri Lanka’s programme, under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF), is contingent on the government completing prior actions, including restoring electricity cost recovery pricing.
Addressing the IMF’s weekly press briefing on Thursday the IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack stated that the completion of the review is subject to approval by the executive board and that the IMF expects the board meeting to take place in the coming weeks.
However, Kozack noted that the precise timing of that board meeting is contingent on two things – the first is the implementation of prior actions. She stated that the main prior actions are relating to restoring electricity cost recovery pricing and ensuring proper function of the automatic electricity price adjustment mechanism.
The second contingency is the completion of the financing assurances review which will focus on confirming multilateral partners committed financing contributions to Sri Lanka and whether adequate progress has been made in debt restructuring, the IMF spokesperson highlighted.
“So in a nutshell, completion of the review is subject to approval by the executive board. We expect the board meeting to take place in the coming weeks and it is contingent on the two said matters”, Kozack expressed.
On 25th April, the IMF staff and the Sri Lankan authorities reached staff-level agreement on the fourth review of Sri Lanka’s programme under the EFF. Once the review is approved by the IMF executive board, Sri Lanka will have access to about USD 344 million in financing.
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