Wildlife Dept. has capacity to supply 400,000 litres of water to animals in forests visited by tourists

By Rathindra Kuruwita

The Forest Conservation and Wildlife Departments held about two million hectares of land between them in Sri Lanka’s dry zone, Director General of Wildlife Conservation, Chandana Sooriyabandara, said.

The Department also had water bowsers with a total capacity of 400,000 litres of water, he said, adding that they could pump 600,000 litres of water and therefore, they had the ability to provide water to animals in the forest areas used for tourism.

Sooriyabandara said they did not provide water to areas outside forest areas used for tourism purposes.

“Periodically, animals face drought and this is a natural course of events whether we like it or not.

“We provide water to areas used for tourism to help retain and attract animals to these areas. Tourists visit these areas to view animals and tourism contributes to the national economy.”

Sooriyabandara said that in many national parks there were tanks built in ancient times for the benefit of wild animals. It was adequate if there was water in the cruising radius, he said.

“There is no need to have water all over the place. If we can provide water to the most logical points, that will be enough. From the beginning we have been renovating and using these tanks,” he said.