Surendranie Judith Cabral de Mel

University of Southern Queensland  · Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences

1. Chytridiomycosis, caused by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), constitutes a major threat to many amphibian species worldwide. Predicting the species and regions of highest geographical risk is critical for the early detection and mitigation of chytrid emergence. 2. In this study, using a niche modelling approach, the most conducive habitat fo...

Aversive Geofencing Devices (AGDs) are designed to emit audible warning signals followed by electric shocks when animals reach virtual fences (VFs) with the intent that animals will learn to turn away at audio warnings and thereby avoid receiving shocks. AGDs are a potentially useful tool for mitigating human-elephant conflict, but a greater unders...

Asian elephants are a principal cause of human-wildlife conflict. This results in the death/injury of elephants and humans and large-scale crop and property damage. Most current human-elephant conflict (HEC) mitigation tools lack the flexibility to accommodate the ecological needs of elephants and are ineffective at reducing HEC in the long-term. H...

Human-monkey conflicts became a serious problem in Sri Lanka due to extensive deforestation during and after the country's 26-year ethnic war that ended in 2009. By 2015, these conflicts had affected most of the country's administrative districts, and the Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) was under severe public and political pressure to re...

In 2006, the western purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus nestor) was listed as among the world's 25 most endangered primates. A field survey conducted the following year indicated that its population was threatened by human activities , especially deforestation. To address this threat, meetings were held with the community leaders of Waga, a...

The majority of Sri Lanka’s endemic and Critically Endangered western purple-faced langurs, Semnopithecus vetulus nestor, inhabit fragmented and densely populated areas. Habitat loss and fragmentation resulting from agriculture and development may have an impact on the purple-faced langur’s social organization and create challenges to their surviva...

Human-monkey conflicts reached crisis proportions in Sri Lanka over the last 10 years due to extensive deforestation to promote rapid economic growth and agricultural expansion. This resulted in complaints from the public with demands for Sri Lanka’s Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC) to solve the problem without delay. Caught between politi...

The dugong (Dugong dugon, Muller 1776) is a mammal considered Vulnerable globally and Endangered locally. In Sri Lankan dugongs are found in calm shallow waters of the Northwest, North and east coast viz., from Kalpitiya to Jaffna with sporadic reports from Trincomalee and Batticaloa. It is a one of the least known mammals occurring in the Sri Lank...

The western purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus nestor) is endemic to Sri Lanka and is considered as critically endangered. It has been considered as one of the 25 most endangered primates in the world due to rapid human induced habitat alterations. The aim of this study was to determine the ranging behavior with relation to food and substra...

Dive times of a single Blue Whale observed in Trincomalee Bay, Sri Lanka, in relation to the abiotic parameters of the bay’s waters and its ability to support large densities of krill from May 2011 to July 2011. Thirty five total dives were observed and its mean dive time was 9.6 ± 0.31 min. The observed whale’s feeding dives lasted longer than wha...