
-
SpaceX Crew Dragon docks with ISS to reach stranded astronauts
-
China's Baidu releases new AI model to compete with DeepSeek
-
SpaceX Crew Dragon opens hatch with ISS to reach stranded astronauts: live TV
-
US strikes in Yemen kill 31 as Trump vows to end Huthi attacks
-
Mexicans protest for victims of latest mass grave discovery
-
China's Baidu releases new, free AI model to compete with DeepSeek
-
Rare iconic movie posters to be auctioned in US
-
US Fed likely to keep rates steady as Trump uncertainty flares
-
At least 33 dead as tornadoes ravage central US
-
Trump's bitcoin reserve a 'digital Fort Knox'
-
At least 27 dead as tornadoes ravage central US
-
US strikes in Yemen kill 20 as Trump vows to end Huthi attacks
-
Major storm in central US leaves at least 18 dead
-
Latest power outage leaves Cubans struggling to get by
-
Oil spill in Ecuador river brings emergency declaration
-
Major storm in central US leaves at least 14 dead: officials
-
Brazilians sentenced in beating death of Congolese migrant
-
France launches manslaughter probe against TotalEnergies over Mozambique attack
-
Musk says Starship to depart for Mars at end of 2026
-
Armed groups covet cocoa in eastern DR Congo
-
Sri Lanka counts nuisance wildlife in bid to protect crops
-
Cuba suffers fourth nationwide blackout in five months
-
New nationwide blackout hits Cuba, officials say
-
Meta strives to stifle ex-employee memoir
-
US Congress clears key hurdle in bid to avert govt shutdown
-
Gold tops $3,000 for first time on Trump tariff war, stocks rebound
-
Crew launch to ISS paves way for 'stranded' astronauts' return
-
Sean 'Diddy' Combs pleads not guilty to new indictment
-
Putin, Maduro vow to boost ties in wake of Trump sanctions
-
Dozens evacuated in Italy's flood-hit Tuscany
-
Gold tops $3,000 for first time on Trump tariff threats; stocks rebound
-
US govt shutdown in balance after top Democrat avoids fight
-
Crew launch to ISS paves way for stranded astronauts' homecoming
-
Just looking at images of nature can relieve pain, study finds
-
UN chief promises to do "everything" to avoid food cuts to Rohingyas in Bangladesh
-
UniCredit gets ECB nod on Commerzbank stake, but delays merger decision
-
Sri Lanka adjusts train timings to tackle elephant deaths
-
BMW expects big hit from tariffs after 2024 profits plunge
-
Gold tops $3,000 for first time on Trump tariff threats
-
UK energy minister heads to China to talk climate
-
Syrian Druze cross armistice line for pilgrimage to Israel
-
UN chief in Rohingya refugee camp solidarity visit
-
Taiwan tech giant Foxconn's 2024 profit misses forecasts
-
UniCredit gets ECB nod for Commerzbank stake
-
BMW warns on tariffs, China as 2024 profits plunge
-
Driving ban puts brakes on young women in Turkmenistan
-
Stargazers marvel at 'Blood Moon', rare total lunar eclipse
-
Peaceful Czechs grapple with youth violence
-
From oil spills to new species: how tech reveals the ocean
-
Former sex worker records Tokyo's red-light history

Sri Lanka counts nuisance wildlife in bid to protect crops
Sri Lanka carried out a nationwide census Saturday of nuisance wildlife, including monkeys and peacocks, in a bid to prepare countermeasures to protect crops, officials said.
Some 40,000 local officials were deployed to count wild boar, lorises, peacocks, and monkeys near farms and homes during a five-minute period on Saturday morning.
In the north-central district of Anuradhapura, farmer families gathered in open fields to count the animals and record them in sheets provided by the agriculture ministry.
"We are having census during a very short time period to ensure there is no double counting," ministry official Ajith Pushpakumara told reporters in the capital Colombo.
"We are expecting that the results will be about 80 percent accurate. After we have an idea of the number of these animals, we can plan out the next steps to deal with them."
In Anuradhapura, 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Colombo, residents were out early in the fields preparing for the census.
"We had a very successful count from very enthusiastic participants. They are the farmers who continuously suffer crop damage. Our count was 227 toque monkeys and 65 purple faced langurs," Chaminda Dissanayake, an agriculture department bureaucrat who conducted the census at Anuradhapura's Mihintale area told AFP.
Opposition legislator Nalin Bandara criticised the census, calling it a "waste of money".
"This is a complete failure, a waste of money. What about the pests that attack farms at night. They are not being counted," said Bandara, adding that newer technologies could have been deployed for the counting exercise.
Officials say more than a third of crops are destroyed by wild animals, including elephants, which are protected by law as they are considered sacred.
While elephants are major raiders of rice farms and fruit plantations, they were not counted in Saturday's census.
In 2023, the-then agricultural minister proposed exporting some 100,000 toque macaques to Chinese zoos, but the monkey business was abandoned following protests from environmentalists.
Sri Lanka removed several species from its protected list in 2023, including all three of its monkey species as well as peacocks and wild boars, allowing farmers to kill them.
D.Goldberg--CPN