Museums are repositories of knowledge and a window to the past. Sri Lanka has many museums, but there was none to showcase wildlife history until 2010. The Wild Life Museum at Girtitale was opened on December 16, 2010 by the Department of Wild Life Conservation.
People can see living animals at the Dehiwala Zoological Garden, Pinnawala Elephant orphanage, Rambukkana open zoological garden and Mirijjawila Dry Zone Botanical Garden.
But to see animal skeletons and replicas of indigenous as well as animals found in other countries, people have to visit the Wild Life Museum at Giritale. All replicas in the museum look like live animals. This is considered the only museum of this kind in Sri Lanka.
To reach the place, you have to travel two kilometres from Giritale along the Giritale – Elahera road and turn right and travel about one kilometre along the gravel road. Giritale is on the Habarana – Polonnararuwa road.
This museum is in the Giritale National Wildlife Research and Training Centre premises. There are several other buildings such as officers’ quarters, circuit bungalows and veterinary units adjoining the museum.
Among the replicas, a significant one is the rare black leopard found in the Sinharaja rain forest. The skeletons of elephants, leopards, monkeys, deer and replicas of butterflies, birds, insects and oceanic mammals are displayed in the museum.
According to officers at the museum, most of these animals have faced untimely deaths due to human activities. “We find some animals that are injured by getting caught to traps while some others are already dead. We bring their bodies here and take action to preserve them,” an officer said.
There are four members in the cat family. Out of them, people can see replicas of three members: leopard, handundiviya and wild cat in the museum. This is a museum of preserved animals. If you are a wild life lover, you can learn a lot by visiting the museum.
