Team hunted down hidden quarry in Jaffna’s rugged terrain
Remnants of war were still evident in 2014 when this team launched its search operation in the Jaffna peninsula. Members combed the territory, checking muddy marshes, waterholes, beaches, thorny scrub jungles and abandoned facilities; they moved carefully across the rugged landscape, turning rocks, lifting decaying logs and even fallen palm leaves in their path.
They conducted the operation both in daytime and by stealth at night, maintaining silence and listening for movements and sounds from those disturbed by their presence. They chased down those trying to flee.
This team was, however, not a search party looking for caches of weapons or landmines but a group of herpetologists studying the reptiles and amphibians in the Jaffna peninsula.
Altogether, 44 species of reptiles and 15 species of amphibians were found, including 18 that had not previously been reported from Jaffna. The documented tally of the peninsula’s reptiles and amphibians now stand at 85 species.
The findings of the team, consisting of Majintha Madawala, Thilina Surasinghe, Dinesh Gabadage, Madhava Botejue, Indika Peabotuwage, Dushantha Kandambi, Sameera Karunaratna and wellknown herpetologist Dr. Anslem de Silva, were published this week in the Russian Journal of Herpetology.
The team had some pleasant surprises. “Soon after we landed from the boat on Delft island and had just started turning over fallen palm leaves we found 15 saw-scaled vipers, known as weli polanga in Sinhala.
“They are all venomous snakes, but it was a happy start for herpetologists like us,” study author Sameera Karunaratna said. now,” Mr. Karunaratna said.
“There are dozens of them in the area and in drier periods the shallow areas dry out but water remains in the deeper sections, giving a lifeline to the fish.”
Killifish are small creatures that are short-lived
The last battles of the three-decade-long war took place at Nandikadal Lagoon and that is where the research team found the rare Beddome’s striped skink (Eutropis beddomei), a beautiful red skink that moves rapidly.
“It is so fast and makes sudden and lay eggs. Some lay their eggs where floating plants grow while others bury them in the sand of the pools they inhabit. When the pools dry up the fish die but when rains return and the pools fill up, the eggs hatch and life begins again.
We found softshelled terrapins and hard-shelled terrapins in the drainage of Jaffna town itself. We also found some empty shells that indicate they would have been targeted for meat.
moves to elude pursuers so you’d need at least a team of 10 people to catch one,” said Mr. Karunaratna, laughing. “The good news is that there is a healthy population of this skink.”
Among other special findings, the research team found a green whip snake ( ahatulla) which is not common in this area.
Mr. Karunaratna said there is considerable urban biodiversity in Jaffna. “We found soft-shelled terrapins and hard-shelled terrapins in the drainage of Jaffna town itself,” he said. “We also found some empty shells that indicate they would have been targeted for meat.”
He said the team’s field survey was based on four field visits covering 12 days, so the area covered was small.
“The fact that we managed to find this many reptiles indicates that Jaffna and northern Sri Lanka could harbour even more reptile species,” Mr. Karunaratna said.
“Our study will provide a basic foundation for conservation planning and future research,” he said.