“Even though various people quoted different figures, the cost of the census was Rs. 52 lakhs – Professor A. L. Sandika”
In a ground-breaking move for Sri Lanka, the first-ever wildlife census report was released yesterday (12) at a press conference held at the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation. Professor A. L. Sandika, a member of the committee appointed for the census, revealed that the country is home to 5,017,000 toque macaques (rilawa).
““5 million monkeys across the country.””
The census report, commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Land, and Irrigation, focuses on animals that cause damage to crops, namely toque macaques, monkeys, giant squirrels, and peacocks. The report’s findings were unveiled yesterday at the ministry.
During the report’s unveiling by the census committee, Professor A. L. Sandika stated that according to the census, there are 5.17 million toque macaques, 1.74 million monkeys, 2.66 million giant squirrels, and 4.24 million peacocks in Sri Lanka.
He further elaborated on the distribution of these animals by district. Kandy has the highest population of toque macaques with 634,668, while Anuradhapura leads in monkey numbers with 160,315. Kurunegala has the highest populations of both giant squirrels (546,715) and peacocks (621,517). Conversely, Jaffna was identified as the district with the lowest populations of these animals, reporting 689 toque macaques, 1,309 giant squirrels, 1,370 peacocks, and 2,127 grey monkeys.
The committee also stated that the census cost approximately 5.2 million Sri Lankan Rupees.
