The opening of the Avium Wildlife Photography Exhibition and the launch of the Tusker foundation was held at the High Commission of Sri Lanka on 01 November 2023 under the patronage of the High Commission of Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom.
The Avium team which includes few photographers; Dushyantha Silva, Milinda Wattegedera, Raveendra Siriwardene, Melisa Fernando, Mevan Piyasena and Sadeepa Gunawardena have dedicated to leopard identification in Sri Lanka, through meticulous analysis of facial spot pattern, and successfully identified over 220 leopards in Yala and Kumana national parks.
This endeavour challenged common notions about leopards and leopard behaviour, leading to some fascinating ground-breaking discoveries such as that “A leopard can change its spots”. Additionally, the Avium team has observed that the behaviour of Sri Lankan leopards marked differently from that of other subspecies worldwide.
Speaking at the event, Deputy High Commissioner Manorie Mallikaratchy stated that the objective of the event is to promote purposeful tourism, and echo to the world what Sri Lanka has to offer is not just sun and sand, but an Island with rich biodiversity and home to many endemic species of both fauna and flora.
The CEO of VA Distilleries and the President of the Tusker Foundation, Kasthuri Hettiarachchi partnered with the High Commission for this event. The Tusker Foundation is committed to the conservation and welfare of wild tuskers of Sri Lanka, by contributing a proportion of their revenue from Tusker Brand beverages sales.
The Avium exhibition of a collection of photographs portraying the diversity of wildlife continued to 02 & 03November 2023. Over 100 guests attended the event from throughout the United Kingdom.
High Commission of Sri Lanka
London
06 November 2023
