Anya Ratnayaka- Bachelor of Applied Science
- PhD Candidate at The University of Queensland
Anya Ratnayaka
- Bachelor of Applied Science
- PhD Candidate at The University of Queensland
Studying the ecology and behaviour of fishing cats in the urban wetlands of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
About
6
Publications
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Introduction
I am a wildlife biologist with a keen interest in the ecology and conservation of urban mesocarnivores. My current research is conducted in Colombo, Sri Lanka and focuses on understanding the ecology and behaviour of the world’s only known population of fishing cats found in a hyper-urban landscape.
Current institution
Education
January 2009 - December 2011
Publications
Publications (6)
This report summarizes the discussion that emerged at the second international Small Wild Cat Conservation Summit held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 6 to 11 Decem- ber 2019. Thirty one conservationists from 16 countries gathered to share and discuss the conservation status of the world’s small wild cats. They shared their research and conservation ex...
Urbanisation and habitat loss are major threats to wildlife populations globally. Understanding how species respond to anthropogenic changes is therefore crucial to mitigating threats and developing conservation management strategies. We examined the habitat use of five fishing cats (Prionailurus viverrinus) in Sri Lanka’s capital city, Colombo, a...
Freshwater ecosystems have been most severely impacted in the Anthropocene with 27% of its species threatened with extinction. Fishing Cat is a globally threatened South and South-east Asian wetland felid that is also a highly rated Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species, i.e., it is a global priority for conservation and re...
We used citizen science and inexpensive methodology to assess the distribution of the jungle cat Felis chaus , a relatively common species in Sri Lanka but the least studied of the four wild cat species occurring in the country. We obtained three types of records of the jungle cat: geo-referenced photographs of the species from the public; sighting...
Recent studies have suggested that plastic contamination in some terrestrial and freshwater environments is estimated to be greater than that detected in marine environments. Urban wetlands are prone to plastic pollution but levels of contamination in their wildlife are poorly quantified. We collected 276 fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) scat...
The fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus is a small wild cat that is often associated with water-rich habitats such as wetlands and mangroves. In Colombo, Sri Lanka, the presence of fishing cats in the city’s urban wetlands was confirmed in 2004, but no data was available after that. In this follow-up study, my team and I confirmed the presence of f...
