Fishing cats in colombo, sri lanka

about the urban fishing cat conservation project

The project focuses on the conservation of fishing cats and urban wetland habitat in Colombo, Sri Lanka through awareness, education, and research. The project began in 2014 after Anya Ratnayaka witnessed first-hand rapid wetland clearing and modification in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Anya and her team made it their mission to understand how the fishing cats are adapting to rapid habitat degradation.

meet anya ratnayaka, The force behind the project

Anya is project coordinator and founder. She is a graduate student in Dr. Luke Leung’s lab in the Department of Wildlife and Conservation Management at the University of Queensland, Australia. She is co-supervised by Dr. Laurel Serieys and Dr. Jim Sanderson. As a Global Wildlife Conservation Associate Conservation Scientist and Wildlife Conservation Network Scholar, she has a strong interest in Sri Lankan wildlife and in particular, small wild cat conservation. In 2017 Anya co-founded Small Cat Advocacy and Research (SCAR) with fellow small cat conservationist, Ashan Thudugala.

She is also a local partner of the Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation, and a member of the Fishing Cat Working Group.