Sumith to talk on “Signals, gestures and behaviour of elephants"

Dr Sumith Pilapitiya will talk on “Signals, gestures and behaviour of elephants” at the 124th Session of the monthly lecture series of the National Trust - Sri Lanka. His lecture will be held at the HNB Auditorium, 22nd Floor, HNB Towers, 479 T.B. Jayah Mawatha, Colombo 10 at 6.30p. m. on Thursday, February 27.

Elephants are well known for their intelligence, close family ties and social complexity. They are very communicative, and use a wide range of sensory channels to communicate with one another. In his presentation, Dr. Pilapitiya will take the audience on a journey that will give them an insight into the visual and tactile communications of elephants and social lives of free ranging elephants in the wild.

Sumith Pilapitiya led Biodiversity and Wildlife Conservation Projects in South Asian countries for the World Bank including a Regional Wildlife Project focusing on conservation of flagship species such as the tiger, elephant, snow leopard and one horned rhino in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.

More recently, he was the Director General of Wildlife Conservation in Sri Lanka, a position from which he resigned in June 2016 on matters of principle. He has personal research interests in elephant conservation and addressing the human elephant conflict and is currently conducting research on elephant social behavior in Minneriya, Kaudulla and Yala National Parks.

Further information can be obtained from the Trust Office Tel 2682730 / 0778081214 at the Post Graduate Institute of Archaeology ,407 Bauddhaloka Mawatha, Colombo 7.