Stories

Let me rest

BySafani Gunasekera 2016 - May2021 - July

One morning inside the Yala national park, we saw a leopard that was sitting on an open grassy field, going in to a nearby wooded area as we approached. We circled around the wooded lot and saw that it was feasting on a kill. After some time, the leopard came out of the woods and went and sat on top of an anthill under a tree. It sat there for some time taking short naps, and finally got up and went inside the jungle, maybe to a better resting spot away from the serious onlookers.

(Yala National Park; May 2016)

Baby bunnies in my backyard

BySafani Gunasekera 2019 - July2021 - July

Throughout the winter, we would always find fresh paw marks in the snow in our backyard which was a sure sign of a rabbit roaming around. Occasionally, we would encounter a rabbit dashing away when we opened the patio door. Last week however, the rabbit ran across the backyard upon hearing us but stopped half-way…

First Flight

BySafani Gunasekera 2016 - June2021 - July

One afternoon, inside the Wilpattu national park, we came across this monarch bird’s nest, which has a distinctive cone shape. There were two chicks in the nest, and two adults were hovering around them. We stopped to watch the commotion and realized that they were teaching the chicks to fly out of the nest. While…

Scanlon Creek Beavers

BySafani Gunasekera 2021 - January2021 - July

Beaverville During a walk through the Scanlon Creek Conservation area, I heard the unmistakable cries of beaver kits coming from the far side of the swamp. I walked through the forest and came upon the den which beavers had built with sticks, rocks, and mud. The cries were coming from inside the den, and the…

Missed Prey

BySafani Gunasekera 2016 - June2021 - July

When we were traveling along the banks of a water body one evening in the Wilpattu national park, a serpent eagle suddenly dashed in front of our vehicle and landed on the edge of the water. Puzzled by what we saw, we looked to see that the eagle was trying to capture a land monitor….

Gemunu

BySafani Gunasekera 2018 - May2021 - July

On one evening inside the Yala national park, we ran in to a mini traffic jam, where all the safari vehicles were stopped. We were told it was because of “Gemunu”, the lone tusker who was notorious for demanding food from passing vehicles. We had seen Gemunu in our previous visits to Yala. Our safari…

Cattle thief’s evening nap

BySafani Gunasekera 2018 - April2021 - July

During one of our afternoon excursions in the Yala park, we stumbled upon this huge leopard known to safari drivers as “Harak Hora”, the cattle thief. The leopard tried to creep inside a culvert but changed his mind and went in to the jungle. The same evening, when we were returning to our park bungalow,…

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