SriLankan helped the department of Wildlife in capturing Sri Lanka’s TOP SEVEN

Department of Wildlife Conservation Sri Lanka invited SriLankan Airlines to join with them on their expedition to capture Sri Lanka’s TOP SEVEN wild animals in photography. The expedition was consists with a team from Department of Wildlife, SriLankan Airlines and Philatelic Bureau of Sri Lanka and they covered the Kumana National Park with extensions to Yala strict reserve. This was primarily planned to capture a rare glimpse of Sri Lanka’s largest bird, ‘Black-necked stork’ that is a very rare species of bird found in Sri Lanka.

TOP SEVEN WILD SRILANKA is the new concept developed by the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) to promote SriLankan wildlife among tourists and general public. Even though the concept is similar to world famous African BIG FIVE, the department has made a twist by adding two species from the ocean with the biggest animal in each family category that are native to Sri Lanka when developing the TOP SEVEN. The species in the seven is Asian Elephant, Sloth Bear, Leopard, Black-necked Stork, Saltwater Crocodile, Leatherback Turtle and the Blue Whale. These species can be seen in Sri Lankan wildlife and marine sanctuaries around the country at any time of the year.

Adding icing to the cake, one of the pictures taken in this expedition was announced the winner for Member category in 6th IUCN Asia Regional Conservation Forum in Bangkok. The picture was taken by Mr. Rohitha Gunawardena, who is a Field Officer for the Department of Wildlife Conservation who is a fellow member of the expedition team. The award winning photograph was titled “Two threatened species, the spot-billed pelican and black-necked stork, fight for food”.