Sri Lanka Counts Monkeys, Peacocks and Squirrels to Tackle Crop Damage

FILE PHOTO: A man pulls a cart as he transports sacks filled with potatoes at a market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A man pulls a cart as he transports sacks filled with potatoes at a market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage/File Photo
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Sri Lanka Counts Monkeys, Peacocks and Squirrels to Tackle Crop Damage

FILE PHOTO: A man pulls a cart as he transports sacks filled with potatoes at a market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A man pulls a cart as he transports sacks filled with potatoes at a market in Colombo, Sri Lanka, November 23, 2024. REUTERS/Thilina Kaluthotage/File Photo

Sri Lanka began a wildlife census on Saturday to count monkeys, peacocks and giant squirrels, aiming to manage their populations as farmers complain of agricultural losses.
Agriculture accounts for 8% of the country's economy and employs 8.1 million people, government data showed.
Sri Lanka is the fourth-largest coconut products exporter globally and produces about 3 billion cashew and other nuts annually, according to the Exports Development Board (EDB).
But coconut production, along with vegetable and fruit cultivation, has been hit due to crop destruction by monkeys, peacocks and giant squirrels, a top government official said.
"The problem has become so bad people are giving up farming. We are losing about 20% of total agricultural production. It is estimated that 90 million coconuts are lost every year," Namal Karunaratne, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, told Reuters.
"The census is the first step to understanding the density of these animals in farming areas so we can formulate proper policies to manage them."
The census comes after an incident in February when a monkey caused a nationwide blackout and power cuts lasting for three days.
Edirisinghe Arachchilage Gnanasena, a 72-year-old farmer, counted 45 monkeys, six giant squirrels and nine peacocks, in the five minutes allocated for the census. His eight-acre plot of farmland in Dambulla, a city in central Sri Lanka, has been struggling with crop losses for years.
With an air gun across his shoulder and lead pellets in a plastic bag, Gnanasena spends hours patrolling the neat rows of coconut, mango and banana plants he has carefully grown.
But tribes of monkeys still strip trees of hundreds of coconuts and pick mangoes, while peacocks swallow long beans whole, Gnanasena said.
"Monkeys are used to the air gun, so I light firecrackers to scare them off. But they always come back."
Farmers attribute the rising numbers of monkeys, peacocks, porcupines and wild boars in the area to habitat loss.
"I hope this census leads to long-term solutions. That is what we want," he added.
"This is not the fault of the animals. It is the fault of the humans."



3 Astronauts Return to Earth after 6 Months on China's Space Station

FILE PHOTO: A Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft sits at the launch pad before taking off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for a crewed mission to China's Tiangong space station, near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 30, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft sits at the launch pad before taking off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for a crewed mission to China's Tiangong space station, near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 30, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo/File Photo
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3 Astronauts Return to Earth after 6 Months on China's Space Station

FILE PHOTO: A Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft sits at the launch pad before taking off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for a crewed mission to China's Tiangong space station, near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 30, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Long March-2F rocket carrying the Shenzhou-19 spacecraft sits at the launch pad before taking off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center for a crewed mission to China's Tiangong space station, near Jiuquan, Gansu province, China October 30, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/File Photo/File Photo

Three Chinese astronauts landed back on Earth on Wednesday after six months on China's space station.
The crew’s landing module came down slowly after separating from the return vehicle, descending on a red-and-white parachute, in Dongfeng, in China’s northern Inner Mongolia region on the edge of the Gobi Desert. Their return had been delayed by a day due to strong winds and low visibility, The Associated Press reported. The area is prone to sandstorms this time of year.
The astronauts, Cai Xuzhe, Song Lingdong and Wang Haoze, were launched to the Tiangong space station in October, and they turned over control of the station Tuesday to the new crew that recently arrived to replace them.
The Shenzhou 20 that brought the new crew also carried equipment for space life sciences, microgravity physics and new technology for the space station.
The Tiangong, or “Heavenly Palace,” space station has made China a major player in a new era of space exploration and the use of permanent stations to conduct experiments in space, especially since it was entirely Chinese-built after the country was excluded from the International Space Station over US national security concerns.
China’s space program is controlled by the People’s Liberation Army, the military branch of the ruling Communist Party.
The three Chinese astronauts have carried out experiments and improvements to the space station during their time in space. Two of the astronauts, Cai and Song, conducted a nine-hour spacewalk, the world’s longest, during their mission, China's space agency said.
The country’s space program has grown rapidly in recent years. The space agency has landed an explorer on Mars and a rover on the far side of the moon. It aims to put a person on the moon before 2030.