Research Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”(Please be sure to submit this report after the trip that supported by PWS.)

2015. 08. 21
Affiliation/Position

Primate Research Institute/D3

NameCintia Garai

1. Country/location of visit
Sri Lanka
2. Research project
Participating on the International Training Program on Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife and Primate Conservation
3. Date (departing from/returning to Japan)
2015. 07. 31 – 2015. 08. 17 (18 days)
4. Main host researcher and affiliation
Dr. Michael A Huffman, Professor at Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University;
Dr. Charmalie Nahallage, Professor at Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of SriJayewardenepura;
Dr. Kamal Ranatunga, Professor at Faculty of Applied Sciences, University of Sri Jayewardenepura
5. Progress and results of your research/activity (You can attach extra pages if needed)
I attended the International Training Program on Terrestrial and Aquatic Wildlife and Primate Conservation in Sri
Lanka in August 2015. I have never been in Sri Lanka or India before, and I feel truly lucky that I had the chance todiscover this highly diverse island and also got to spend some time with its very kind and warm people. I was honored
to have a special role during the trip: making a short film for the program to facilitate its work in the future.
On the first day of the program, 2nd of August, we attended the inauguration ceremony in the outskirts of Colombo, atGolden Rose, Boralesgamuwa. The professors collaborating with the program gave presentations, so we could get a
deeper insight into what we were about to see. We got all the more enthusiastic about the trip ahead of us. We wereamazed by students from the University of Sri Jayewardenepura who kindly presented cultural dances.
Next day we travelled to Sinharaja Forest, and spent 2 days there to observe the flora and fauna of this world heritage
site, one of the biodiversity hotspots of Sri Lanka. In this tropical lowland rainforest we could see – among many others– purple-faced langurs, Sri Lanka blue magpies, several frog species, and the national bird: Sri Lankan junglefowl.
Next we had a boat trip at Madu Ganga in the south, a very diverse river with its mangrove forest, which is a word
heritage site and part of the Ramsar Convention. We could observe cormorants, egrets, kingfishers, hawks and eagles,
and even water monitors swimming in the river. We also had the chance to engage in the culture a little when we visiteda Buddhist monastery and a local cinnamon peeler.
On the 7th August we visited Bundala National Park in the southeast. Bundala supports a very diverse migratory bird
population; hence it is a Ramsar site. Unfortunately we were there one week before the flamingos arrive, but we could
see many other bird species, such as Indian cormorant, spoonbill, black-necked stork, grey heron and painted stork,
among many others. We also saw common monitors and star turtles, mongooses, grey langurs and toque macaques.
On the 8th August we went to Kataragama, a multi-religious town. We could observe the grey langurs living in the parks
in so close proximity with the human population as part of the tolerant culture. People feed the langurs, and the langurs
also steal food from people and from the trashes, they can be just 1-meter distance from us without showing any sign ofstress. This place provides perfect condition to study many kinds of different topics from animal behavior to zoonosis.
On the 9th August we visited Yala National Park, still in southeast Sri Lanka. Yala is, in many ways, similar to Bundala,but it is heavily visited by tourists, almost to the level of traffic jam. The flora is dry monsoon forest with grasslands
and we were there in the dry season: everything seemed to be grey. However, in and around the lakes we could observe
many different species, including elephant, wild boar, water buffalo, toque macaque, mongoose, mugger crocodile,common monitor and many bird species.
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2014.05.27 version

Research Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”(Please be sure to submit this report after the trip that supported by PWS.)
Next we visited Madunagala sanctuary for elephants, and learned about human-elephant conflict in the area. Theelephants are separated from the local people by electric fence, but problems occur regularly: elephants can push thepillar of the electric fence and go to field crops, causing great damage to the farmers. Attacks also happen from time totime. Sri Lanka is home to more than 5000 elephants as for the estimations, and we could see many elephants during
our journey on the road while in the bus. People and elephants seem to be very tolerant, but the conflicts are growing as
the human population is increasing and the elephant habitats are shrinking.
On the 10th August we headed toward the mountains in the center of Sri Lanka, and in the evening we started to prepare
our presentations, because on the 11th each student participant gave a 20-minute speech about one of the sites we visited
during the program. Because of my filmmaking activities I was offered to prepare a rough-cut of my footage as
presentation, and so I edited a 20-minute montage for the evening, and was very happy to see the reaction of theaudience, students and professors as well.
On the 12th we went to the Horton Plains National Park to experience its montane grassland and cloud forest. We could
observe the highly divers flora with many endemic species, and could see many Sri Lankan sambar deers among others.
On the 13th we headed to a very special place: the Pigeon Island National Park, named after its endemic population ofrock pigeon, to observe coral reefs on the 14th. We could even swim with blacktip reef sharks. This was my firstsnorkeling experience, and I was amazed by the richness of the area. Unfortunately the island is overly popular among
tourists, hence the coral reefs are seriously damaged, but the richness in biodiversity made me think that deeper in theocean there is an incredible wildlife living in the national park. It was a truly memorable ending of the program, and thenext day we went back to the outskirt of Colombo.
During every day, throughout all the programs I felt the careful protection of the organizers, and the eager wish fromthe part of professors to convey their knowledge to us.
Sri Lanka is a relatively small island, only 2/3rd of the size of my country, Hungary, but it is incredibly diverse. We
were all surprised how we can get from the beach through the tropical lowland rainforest to the mountains within a few
hours, and how can 20 million people live together with such a huge diversity of wildlife. Of course, such conditions
provide a wide surface for human-wildlife conflicts, and we could see some of these. But we could also see thewillingness of Sri Lankans to conserve the beauty of their island, and I hope they will succeed in doing so for a longtime.
I am currently working on the film for the program and I hope it will be useful in recruiting more students, as I feel thisexperience is invaluable for young researchers as well as future conservationists. I believe I will be able to use mynewly gained experiences in my future work in combining research, conservation and filmmaking.

Hide for elephant watching in the field in Madunagala

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Common monitor

2014.05.27 version

Research Activity Report
Supported by “Leading Graduate Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science”(Please be sure to submit this report after the trip that supported by PWS.)

Our jeep in Sinharaja

At Sinharaja

Grey langur at Kataragama

At Lunugamwehera

6. Others
I am deeply grateful for the support od PWS, which made it possible for me to attend this field trip. I am also very
grateful for Mike, Charmalie, Kamal, and I really enjoyed their company. I thank Dr Prasad M. Jayaweera, DrSwarna Piyasiri, Dr Sampath Amaratunga and the other professors who accompanied us in the different parts ofthe trip, and organized everything for us with such great care. I am grateful for the company of the students; it wasan extremely nice little group, so easy to get along with everyone. I thank Nihal for taking us everywhere; he is agreat driver. I thank Atheeq and Vidyani; I learned so much from them about the culture, they were always there
when needed and they took care of us.	 

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2014.05.27 version