Many humans coexist with non-human primates (NHP), and as human populations have increased so have the pressures on natural habitats. For example, deforestation results in habitat loss and food scarcity for NHPs. In response, NHPs sometimes enter human habitats in search of food, which can result in negative interactions between humans and NHPs. This study focused on human-NHP interactions in three Grama Niladhari divisions in Kegalle District, Sri Lanka. We used interviewer-administered structured questionnaires to collect data from 500 randomly selected informants. The majority stated that they could not obtain sufficient harvests from home gardens for their own consumption owing to crop damage and losses caused largely by NHPs and other wild animals. This has led many people to abandon home gardening. Toque Macaques caused the most damage to crops, followed by Wild Boars, porcupines, and Purple-faced Leaf Langurs. Damage was caused to coconuts, vegetables, bananas, and yams. NHPs also caused property damage, with Toque Macaques causing more damage than langurs. People commonly used firecrackers, catapults and air rifles, and wore wooden or plastic face masks, in attempts to control crop damage by NHPs, with little success. People are of the opinion that the NHPs should be relocated to other forested areas or sterilized to control their numbers. In conclusion, to address the issues pertaining to human-primate interactions in terms of conflict due to crop utilization of primates, an integrated management plan should be developed in cooperation with the relevant stakeholders.

As the human population has grown and expanded, increasing pressure is being put on natural habitats in Sri Lanka. This situation has led to a noticeable increase in human–primate conflicts. To understand the situation, we studied the interactions between humans and macaques in three administrative divisions of the Kurunegala District. Data was gathered from 875 informants through interviewer-administered questionnaires between 2020 and 2022. The monthly economic loss by commercial farmers due to macaque damage to fruits and vegetables doubled by 2022, amounting to approximately 5000 LKR. In non-fruiting seasons, losses from coconut damage increased, ranging from 3000 to 14,000 LKR/month, decreasing by over 50% during fruiting seasons. Property damage per household averaged between 850~4000 LKR/month. A cost of approximately 1200~3000 LKR was borne per household/month to deter monkeys from the fields. Macaques were the primary culprits for crop damage in this area, and were also responsible for property damage, surpassing that of other animals. The consensus among the community is that either relocating macaques to other forested areas or sterilizing them to control their population could mitigate the issue to some extent. An integrated management plan involving relevant stakeholders including the Forest Department, the Wildlife Conservation Department, the local agricultural agency, and local citizens is necessary to address the conflict arising from human–macaque crop utilization.

As the human population has grown and expanded, increasing pressure is being put on natural habitats in Sri Lanka. This situation has led to a noticeable increase in human-primate conflicts. To understand the situation, we studied the interactions between humans and macaques in three administrative divisions of Kurunegala District. Data was gathered from 875 informants through interviewer-administered questionnaires between 2020 and 2022. The monthly economic loss by commercial farmers due to macaque damage to fruits and vegetables doubled by 2022, amounting to approximately 5000 LKR. In non-fruiting seasons, losses from coconut damage increased, ranging from 3000 to 14,000 LKR/month, decreasing by over 50% during fruiting seasons. Property damage per household averaged between 850 ~4,000 LKR/month. A cost of approximately 1200~3000 LKR was borne per household/month to deter monkeys from the fields. Macaques were the primary culprits for crop damage in this area, and were also responsible for property damage, surpassing that of other animals. The consensus among the community is that either relocating macaques to other forested areas or sterilizing them to control their population could mitigate the issue to some extent. An integrated management plan involving relevant stakeholders is necessary to address the conflict arising from human-macaque crop utilization.

Zooarchaeological specimens are rich in both biological and cultural data and the study of faunal assemblages from archaeological sites provide important information about the socio-cultural lifestyle of early humans. However, the food and nutrition of early humans, their dietary patterns, the nutrients they received, and the sufficiency of nutrients were not much discussed in relation to faunal remain analyses. Therefore, this research attempted to find out the food consumption and its nutritional constituents of Homo sapiens sapiens that lived in dry zone areas through faunal remain analysis. The faunal remains excavated in 2018 and 2019 from Rajagala Mahalena excavation site, located in Ampara District in Sri Lanka were used for this study. The carefully washed, dried, sorted and labelled faunal specimens were used for the analysis. Remains from all contexts were collected from the excavation store and off-site methodology was used for the identification of remains by comparing the reference collection with excavated bone collection. A comparative methodology was utilized based on the nutritional values and the other values of food, specially based on animal meat to get the nutritional value which may be provided by the bone samples. Among the faunal assemblages collected, nearly 34 species belonged to six major taxonomic classes representing Mammalia, Reptilia, Aves, Pisces Gastropoda and Bivalvia. Large animals with more meat such as wild cats, leopards, buffaloes, deer, wild pigs etc. can be considered as the traditional sources of Proteins. Reptile species such as land monitors, hard-shelled and soft-shelled tortoises are also rich in proteins and fat which give more strength to human body, in addition to fish, birds were also included in the diet. The results show that hunting-gathering subsistence pattern and the environment they occupied were challenging and required lot of energy to maintain their lives. It is evident that proteins and fats provided higher calories and contain minerals and vitamins which are essential for brain development, to build tissues, bones and better functioning of skeletal joints. The quantitative analysis of the remains has given information on animal food preference of early humans and the role of animals in food and foraging economics of early human population.

There are several theories as to how the name 'Colombo' came to be. During the Middle Ages, it was known as 'Kolontota' in Sinhala and 'Calenbo' by the Arabs. The Chinese explorer Chan-ta-yuan referred to Colombo as 'Kolanapu,' a hot swampy city, in the 14th century, and the Arab explorer Ibn Battuta, who visited Ceylon in the same century, described Colombo as a beautiful, large city. Researchers of the present study adopted the mixed approach to accomplish the previously explained research objective which was setting a proper reconstruction of the historical landscape of Colombo with archaeological references. The research was conducted with the support extended by the National Museum and the survey department in Sri Lanka. Researchers went through all the maps and archaeological landscape evidence mentioned in previous archaeological research like Archaeological Geophysics. The results were listed down as periodical landscape changes and how the changes happened vertically from the Colombo prehistoric era until the Kotte period, Colombo during the Portuguese period, Colombo's landscape at the conclusion of the Portuguese period, and Colombo's Dutch period.