Wildlife treasures of a Sri Lankan arboretum

Sri Lanka is one of 34 biodiversity hotspots, including protected species such as Asian elephants and wild leopards. A team of photographers from Falmouth University visited an arboretum in the heart of Sri Lanka to photograph its wildlife.

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Situated in the heart of Sri Lanka, the IFS-Sam Popham Arboretum was established in 1963 by F.H. (Sam) Popham and is the country's only dry zone arboretum. In addition to the variety of trees, the arboretum is also home to a wide range of wildlife species, including mammals such as the grey slender loris, birds (83 species), butterflies (77 species) and dragonflies (12 species).

In 2017, a team of Marine and Natural History Photography students and staff from Falmouth University, visited the IFS-Sam Popham Arboertum as part of Project Loris to research and photograph the many wild inhabitants of the arboretum and the island (by day) and track the grey slender loris (by night).

To view the images as a slideshow, click on the arrows in the top right hand corner of the photos below.

Rare daytime sighting of grey slender loris © Lewis Easdown
Rare daytime sighting of grey slender loris © Lewis Easdown
Setting a camera trap © Joseph Gray
Setting a camera trap © Joseph Gray
Toque macaque © Joseph Gray
Toque macaque © Joseph Gray
View of Sigirya from Kandalama © Josh Pawlowski
View of Sigirya from Kandalama © Josh Pawlowski
Rice sieving © Josh Raper
Rice sieving © Josh Raper
Female blue percher dragonfly © Lewis Easdown
Female blue percher dragonfly © Lewis Easdown
Ground monitor lizard © Lewis Easdown
Ground monitor lizard © Lewis Easdown
Common kingfisher © Lewis Easdown
Common kingfisher © Lewis Easdown
Leopard © Lewis Easdown
Leopard © Lewis Easdown
Ground monitor lizard climbing a tree © Lily Anna Sparrow
Ground monitor lizard climbing a tree © Lily Anna Sparrow
Oriental garden lizard © Lizzie Nicolson Lai
Oriental garden lizard © Lizzie Nicolson Lai
Night time, red light loris walk © Lizzie Nicolson Lai
Night time, red light loris walk © Lizzie Nicolson Lai
Fly-catcher © Lydia Thomas
Fly-catcher © Lydia Thomas
View of Arboretum from nearby quarry Lydia Thomas
View of Arboretum from nearby quarry Lydia Thomas
Arboretum worker © Meike Simms
Arboretum worker © Meike Simms
Asian Elephant © Neuza Filipa Antunes
Asian Elephant © Neuza Filipa Antunes
Jumping spider © Rose Hillson Summers
Jumping spider © Rose Hillson Summers
Flora of the Arboretum © William Tanner
Flora of the Arboretum © William Tanner
Asian elephants © Josh Raper
Asian elephants © Josh Raper
Blue tiger butterfly © Keith Jones
Blue tiger butterfly © Keith Jones
Toque macaque © Gemma Wearing
Toque macaque © Gemma Wearing
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