The Golden Palm Civet is slightly smaller than the Palm Civet and gets its name from the reddish golden color fur. Highly nocturnal and is found in tall trees where it lives in pairs and sleeps in tree holes. It feeds on a mix of fruits, berries and small animals such as birds, insects and…

This nocturnal mammal is very commonly seen around urban areas and also dwells in wooded patches in the wild. Its greyish fur covered body is long and compliments its long tail in a flowing motion. Its diet consists of small insects, rats, mice and also fruits. They mostly live alone but females are accompanied by…

This mysterious animal is so elusive that many in Sri Lanka don’t even know that this mammal occurs in the country. Its short feet webbed in adaptation for aquatic hunting makes it a deadly predator in the waters. Known to raid ponds and wipe out fish in home gardens.  It takes on a chocolate brown…

Known to be the most dangerous animal to encounter by villagers who have many stories of bear attacks. This black uneven fur covered bear has some of the longest and powerful claws in the forests that it occurs in. They live through the dry lowlands where termite distribution is far spread as it is one…

The Golden Jackal is high level carnivore occurring in lowland jungles, especially in the dry zone. They hunt in open habitat such as grasslands and scrub forest. Golden Jackals hunt in small packs but are quite often seen in pairs. Omnivorous – there diet ranges from lizards, birds and small mammals. They are known to…

Rather shy and uneasy around humans. Their natural habitat is tall forests although they are spotted in numbers in urban areas due to their insatiable appetite for Jak Fruits which are common in most home gardens. Except for the northern part of the country they occur in forests with tall trees elsewhere.  Largely folivorous but…

With a graceful dark face and flowing tail the Grey Langur may be mistaken for the Purple-faced Leaf monkey which also has a dark face.  They live in groups of about 20 and are found in dry lowlands where they feed on tender leaves and fruits. They intelligently congregate near Spotted Deer for extra senses…

The most commonly seen species around the island roosting in trees near human habitat. There social organization consists of a dominant alpha male amongst many females who form stable matrilines in a group. Toque Macaque’s are omnivorous and feed on a wide range of plants and animal matter. There are three subspecies that occur in…

There are two subspecies of the Gray Slender Loris out of which the Northern Slender Loris lives in the dry lowlands. It has a grayish coat and yellow pigmentation on the ears, eyelids and muzzle. Oval dark shapes are seen around the eyes. Very widely seen in Sigiriya and Polonnaruwa with frequent visits to most…

In comparison to the Gray Slender Loris the Red Slender Loris is rather small with smaller ears and a longer muzzle. Its reddish color is what defines its name and it has dark reddish circular markings around the eyes. They are confined to forests in the wet zone such as Singharaja and Morapitiya. Their diet…