9 years and below
My favourite wild animal
My favourite animal is the dolphin. I like it because it jumps and it is good at diving. There are a lot of dolphins in Sri Lanka. They are the bottle-nosed dolphin and the spotted dolphin and many more. Dolphins live in the deep ocean of Sri Lanka and can be seen in Kalpitiya and Mirissa.
The dolphins eat fish and they hunt as a team. The baby dolphin is looked after by the mother and the mother must feed the baby dolphin. The mother dolphin loves the children very much. Dolphins live as families. The first time I saw them was at Water World. It was a lovely experience seeing the dolphins jump. I saw them swimming together, the mother with the baby dolphins. I love to watch the dolphins do tricks.
Nihara Epa Seneviratne (6 years)
Colombo Int. School
10 – 12 years
An exciting wildlife safari
One Saturday evening we made a trip to Uda Walawe sanctuary in my father’s car. Unfortunately we couldn’t make it on time as the road was closed so we stayed overnight in a hotel, determined to visit Uda Walawe the next morning. My brother and I were excited about going to Uda Walawe.
At first we just toured the place and then went to the area where Safari jeeps were parked for tours to the sanctuary. We were fascinated with the vehicle we were going to travel in because it was an old army jeep. We parked our car beside a shop and got into the jeep.
I was so happy because I had a computer game called ‘No Retreat’ in which we travelled in an old-fashioned jeep. The jeep we were going in didn’t have a roof. I held on to the iron bars of the jeep and travelled standing for a short distance. Fascinated with the surrounding I was very happy and active but soon became tired and sat down. Then as we passed a lake my father spotted a ‘Diyacava’ and wanted to photograph it. While father photographed it I looked at it with my binoculars.
We bought tickets and organized a guide to show us the way into the forest area where the animals roam. We didn’t see any elephants for quite a while but suddenly the driver stopped the vehicle on seeing a herd of wild elephants. There was a baby elephant too. My brother cried as loud as a loudspeaker asking for the baby elephant but the guide calmed him down and said he would get him one later. After we travelled about five kilometers, we spotted a crocodile near a muddy lake. Then later we saw elephants and peacocks on the way back home. After a fabulous two hour safari we went back home. I was very happy too.
Kisan Amarasinghe (10 years)
Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa
13 – 15 years
What we can do to protect our wildlife
Well, Noah was the first person concerned with the preservation of the Earth and the survival of endangered species of wild animals. Just like Noah, we can be patrons of ecological stewardship to prevent wildlife by being responsible citizens. In fact, today the Earth and its inhabitants are threatened as never before by human wickedness, greed for money and carelessness.
So, before the Earth is devoid of wildlife and becomes uninhabitable, we should protect the delicate ecology – our wildlife.
Well, “If there is a will, there is a way.” We can begin with awareness programmes, debates, prose and verse competitions, paintings and poster competitions at school level to train every citizen to protect wildlife by taking care of the environment.
When people cut down trees to get rid of jungles, and forest-fires due to carelessness of people, the wild animals lose their natural habitats, shelter, food and water. Improper disposal of garbage and scattering them in polythene bags should be fines because it causes the death of wild animals that swallow them. Care should also be taken when farmers use pesticides and weedicides because it is a threat to the food chains and webs of animals. Sometimes wild animals are hunted for sport, their tusks, skins, teeth and meat by unscrupulous people even in reserved areas. The Department of Wildlife Conservation must take action and protection by law should be stricter and the punishments must be a warning to others with a reward system granted for those who protect wildlife.
Before the government approves multi-purpose projects and industrial zones, it should consider the loss of natural habitats of wild animals and the extinction of endangered species. In fact the present clash between humans and wild elephants is a threat to the rich wildlife of Sri Lanka.
Neyali Abeyratna (14 years)
De Mazenod College, Kandana
