Puwathara: a Memoir of a Senior Naturalist, Zoologist and Dreamer

“I was born in a village in Kelaniya, close to the popular city of Colombo. But, growing up, and even still today, the Kelani river was what was most popular between me and my childhood friends! We’d go for river baths, fish, swim, and just shoot the breeze. Of course, you had to keep on your toes unless you wanted to lose them, as the river was home to many saltwater crocs! It wasn’t just the crocs though; our floodplains teemed with wildlife, and aquatic birds and reptiles like water monitors and water snakes thrived there. If I stayed up past my bedtime, I saw fishing cats or other pole cats like the golden palm civet, toddy cat, and ring-tailed civet just outside my window! It was truly here that I found my love for all things wild, ironically not at all in the wilderness where I live now – Udawalawe! Doing what I do today – a Senior Naturalist at Mahoora Udawalawe, national and NGO conservation volunteer, and researcher for environmental programmes at Horton Plains National Park, Peak Wilderness Sanctuary (Adam’s Peak), and Udawalawe National Park – really does feel like my love for all things wild has been requited, tenfold.”