Rare sloth bear sighted in Wasgomuwa National Park
by Sumangala RAJAPAKSE
Wasgomuwa is well known for its abundant wildlife, wilderness setting
and the home of several interesting ancient sites. Bounded on three
sides by rivers - the Amban and Mahaweli Rivers, it consists of open
grasslands, closed forests, scrub jungles, riverine forests, rocky
ridges and small tanks. Its location to the East of the Knuckles Range
provides a very scenic park. The National Park lies in the districts of
Matale and Polonnaruwa, and spreads over 39,322 hectares of land area.
The distance from Colombo to Wasgomuwa via Kandy is 225 kilometres.
After a well-planned program I visited the park with a group of nursing
officers of the Cardiology Unit, Theatre "J" of the National Hospital of
Colombo.
We travelled via Kandy, Matale to Rattota and through the river stone
scenic route and reached Hettipola and came to the park office at
Wilgomuwa. A veteran Wildlife tracker - D.K.D. Mudiyanse accompanied us
when we visited the park. With his help we found accommodation at the
Mahaweli Bungalow which is close to the Mahaweli River. On the following
day we left the bungalow at 6.15 a.m. and approached the inner areas of
the jungle.At Yudaganapitiya (another place of historical importance
within the Wasgomuwa National Park where the armies camped during the
battle between Dutugemunu and Elara), about 500 metres ahead, we
observed a 'black ball' rolling on the grassland. We conveyed this to
our tracker - Munidasa. With great happiness he said. A bear! I saw it
after about three years. Let's hurry up, we shall go to the other road,
he said.
As instructed, the well-experienced driver Sunil Jayatissa,
immediately made a detour and came to the other road and stopped the
engine and we awaited the arrival of the bear.
Unique sighting
Within a few minutes a black, furry, coarse and shaggy mammal-sloth
bear - appeared in front of us and crossed the road and crept to the
adjoining forest and disappeared. Its face was whitish and had a 'V'
shaped white mark on its neck. It was a very rare and unique sighting of
a sloth bear, Tharanga, an amateur wildlife photographer was able to
capture the rare animal on his camera. A renowned wildlife veterinary
Dr. Ananda Dharmakeerthi said, "This is a rare sighting. Actually there
is a path running across the Yudaganapitiya Grasslands, where the bear
walks through, towards the Wawul Ebbe bungalow site and then crosses the
Mahaweli waters to reach the rocky ridges located close to the western
boundary of the park".
In the past there had been some human-bear encounters close to the
western boundary of the park especially at villages such as Kiri Oya,
Kumara Ella, Elahera, Bakamuna and Diyabeduma known as sloth bear
roaming locations.
The bear family has seven different species, ranging in size from the
50 kgs Sun Bear (found in South East Asia), which has a distinctive
orange 'Sun' mark on its chest, to the massive and powerful Polar Bear
found in the Arctic) which measures upto 3.5 metres, and weighing an
incredible 650 kgs as heavy as ten people. The sloth bear Melursus
ursinus is the only representative of the family, Ursidae of the
Carnivora found in Sri Lanka. It is ideally adapted for life in Asia's
forests. Most sloth bears live in Sri Lanka and India, but they are also
reported in Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
Sloth bears are small to medium sized bears. They have a body length
of 1.4-1.8m (4.5-6 feet), a tail length of 7-12 cms (2.75-4.75 inches)
and they weigh between 55 and 190 kilograms (120-420 lbs). Their life
expectancy varies from 20-25 years.
The snout of the bear is pale in colour, long with bare lips and no
upper incisors, which are adaptations for its insect-based diet. Sloth
bears are omnivores eating a variety of food, but mainly ants and
termites. They also eat fruits, berries, bees honey and sometimes small
vertebrates.
The writer is a wildlife enthusiast, bird watcher and naturallist.
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