MUCH concern has been expressed by our readers from time to time over media reports that sparrows are fast disappearing from Colombo city and other urban areas. This has been blamed on environmental pollution among other things though the veracity of this claim has been challenged by some ornithologists.

Environmentalists have also attributed the spread of dengue to … problems caused by the haphazard use of … agrochemicals that kill insects like the dragonfly and small fish which prey on mosquito larvae and help control [mosquitoes] biologically.

A sharp decrease in the owl population owing to environmental pollution and unbridled deforestation … is said to have led to a drastic increase in the rat population in marshes and paddy fields and the resultant high incidence of leptospirosis or rat fever among farmers.

The latest addition to the list of animals disappearing due to environmental problems in this country is depath naya or the Ceylonese Cylinder snake, a Sinhala newspaper has recently reported.

This seldom-seen but much-talked-about snake is said to be harmless in spite of its ferocious look which usually sends a chill down anyone’s spine. Looks are deceptive. … It is also believed to be a victim of agrochemicals like many other animals as well as the voiceless bipeds afflicted by the Rajarata kidney disease.

The real Cylinder Snakes may be endangered and in need of protection as reported, but there is a well-protected type of depath nai (Sinhala slang for the duplicitous) in this country, especially on the Lake Isle of Sri Jayawardenepura, where Sri Lanka’s biggest … pit of snakes is located. … — (Jan 21)