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.