The nationwide five-minute survey (animal census) to assess crop-raiding wildlife — including peacocks, macaques, wild boars, giant squirrels and monkeys — was successfully carried out yesterday across rural farming areas and urban and rural households, Agriculture Ministry officials told the Sunday Observer.
The rapid survey, aimed at addressing the growing threat to agriculture posed by wildlife, was coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Plantation Industries in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Conservation. Elephants were not included in this census and will be surveyed separately.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture Namal Karunaratne said the exercise was not intended to gather precise animal population data, but rather to support the formulation of mitigation strategies and compensation policies for crop damage, based on real-time, area-specific information.
The Opposition has ridiculed the survey’s short timeframe and questioned its effectiveness in gathering reliable data to address crop damage caused by wild animals.
“The objective of this rapid census was participatory mapping to identify high crop-raiding zones and implement mitigation strategies to improve agricultural productivity,” Deputy Minister Karunaratne said.
“The wildlife problem has become so bad that some people are giving up farming. We are losing about 20 percent of total agricultural production due to the damage caused by wildlife. It is estimated that 90 million coconuts are lost every year due to this problem,” he added.
Thousands of Government field officers — including Agricultural Instructors, Grama Niladharis, Samurdhi Officers — along with village-level community members and farmers, took part in the initiative. Public participation was encouraged through community centres and Local Government bodies in each area.
Grama Niladharis distributed survey forms (with information in all three languages) in advance, permitting residents in individual Divisional Secretariats to record sightings of nuisance wildlife on their properties, compounds and farms between 8.00 a.m. and 8.05 a.m. Those who had not received a form were advised to note the animals observed during the designated five-minute window and submit their records to the local Grama Niladhari.
Agriculture, Livestock, Lands and Irrigation Ministry officials said that Rs. 2.4 million had been spent on printing documents for the census, but said the cost would be far outweighed by the benefits accruing from any wildlife menace mitigation programs emanating from the survey. “Each census form costs around 30 cents, and approximately seven million documents were printed by the Government Printing Department,” they said.
