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."



Flash Floods in Southern Spain Prompt Officials to Evacuate over 350 Homes

A van is swept away by the current of the Campanillas river, in Almogia, Malaga province, Spain, 18 March 2025. EPA/JORGE ZAPATA
A van is swept away by the current of the Campanillas river, in Almogia, Malaga province, Spain, 18 March 2025. EPA/JORGE ZAPATA
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Flash Floods in Southern Spain Prompt Officials to Evacuate over 350 Homes

A van is swept away by the current of the Campanillas river, in Almogia, Malaga province, Spain, 18 March 2025. EPA/JORGE ZAPATA
A van is swept away by the current of the Campanillas river, in Almogia, Malaga province, Spain, 18 March 2025. EPA/JORGE ZAPATA

Flash floods unleashed by heavy rains promoted officials in southern Spain to evacuate over 350 homes, shut down roads and cancel classes on Tuesday.

Regional officials ordered the evacuation of 365 homes in the village of Campanillas near Malaga city late on Monday after a nearby river burst its banks. The evacuees spent the night in a municipal sports hall.

Andalusia's interior chief Antonio Sanz said that 19 rivers in Andalusia were on red alert for flooding on Tuesday, as bad weather spread from Malaga on the southern coast to landlocked areas near Sevilla and Cordoba. A total of 40 highways across Andalusia as well as some rail lines had to be closed due to rising waters.

The same area in Malaga was hit in November when heavy rains across a large swath of Spain led to devastating flooding in the country's east, claiming 233 lives mostly in Valencia.

Spain, which has suffered from a prolonged drought in recent years, has received steady rainfall especially in its south for the last two weeks, and the latest storm proved too much for reservoirs and riverbanks.

Scientists and government officials link these swings between extreme dry and wet spells to climate change, which has also produced increasingly hot summers in Spain.