International Conservationist Offers Public Talks About Sri Lankan Elephants

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The department of biological sciences will be hosting Charles Santiapillai, an associate professor of zoology at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, at 12:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9, in room 604 of the Science Engineering building on the UA campus.

Santiapillai will be presenting two seminars on the conservation of Asian elephants in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka, which is thought to be home of more than 4,000 elephants, is facing an increasing conflict between humans and elephants. More and more land is being used for agriculture to sustain an ever-growing human population. However, these changes in land use are resulting in a continuous decline in the elephants’ available habitat. When elephants lose their range, they die.

To ensure the long-term survival of these elephants, steps need to be taken toward land management and the conservation of the elephants.

Santiapillai is an internationally recognized authority on the conservation of large mammals, said Kimberly Smith, chair of the UA department of biological sciences.

"He will be able to give insight to the ecology of part of the world that is unfamiliar to most of the students and faculty," Smith said.

Santiapillai has been the editor of Gajah, the journal of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group, since 1987. He was the deputy chairman of the Asian Elephant Specialist Group from 1998 to 2004 and the senior scientific officer for World Wildlife Fund-International Asia Program from 1984 to 1992.

Santiapillai has been involved with numerous research and animal conservation projects, including the organization of the first and only national survey of the Asian elephant in Sri Lanka in 1993.

He is the 1990 recipient of the gold medal for conservation from His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, is listed as one of the 243 environmentalists by World Wildlife Fund’s De Wereld van het Natuur Fonds in 1998, and was awarded the first place Science Popularization Award in Sri Lanka in 1999.

Santiapillai’s visit is made possible by Riddle's Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary, a nonprofit home for Asian and African elephants located in Greenbrier, Ark. The sanctuary is also committed to general elephant conservation, helping to ensure the long-term survival of these species.

Santiapillai will present two talks Friday: "Conservation and Management of Elephants in Sri Lanka" at 12:30 p.m. and "Conserving Elephants in a Human-Dominated Landscape in Sri Lanka" at 4 p.m. in room 604 of the Science Engineering building on the UA campus. The event is open to the public, but seating is limited.

For more information about Riddle’s Elephant and Wildlife Sanctuary, go to http://www.elephantsanctuary.org.