Reptile Rendezvous: River Safari, Bentota, Sri Lanka

Forty miles south of Sri Lanka’s capital, Columbo, lies Bentota. Today a rather nice beach resort, the town developed from ancient beginnings as a settlement, becoming the site of a seventeenth-century Portuguese fort, before the Dutch, then the British got involved, building a rest house and sanatorium there over the next couple of centuries. Presumably they were taking advantage of the town’s location between the Bentota River and Indian Ocean, which renders it both a useful trading port and relatively cool and picturesque.  

A popular tourist activity in the area is a river safari, hopefully (because of course nature doesn’t tend to perform to order) enabling you to spot various river dwellers, mainly of a reptilian or avian persuasion, as you cruise among the mangroves.

 above: A little crab.

                                                             above: Shy river monitor.

above: Less shy river monitor.

As per the photographs, I was fortunate to see a shy river monitor, a crab (not a clue about species, I’m afraid), and a couple of crocodiles. At a certain point, our vessel stopped next to a chap conveniently seated at the riverside holding a baby crocodile. As you do. We were all given the chance to hold the little reptilian and even had it placed on our shoulders. Somehow, I don’t think this was all by chance. This was another admittedly rather wonderful encounter with an animal, but I’m dubious in hindsight about whether it’s the right thing to do. I wasn’t about to kick off or ask searching questions about it whilst sitting in the boat. What good would that do? Would it stop it happening in future? Are there economic reasons for the provision of a baby crocodile for tourists to handle and photograph, i.e. is this someone’s living, without which they might be the much worse off? Much to consider in the circumstances. I presume the crocodile would at some point be free to continue its existence in the river, at least I would like to hope so. We saw a big brother/sister to the baby croc later on (I have no idea if they were actually related; it’s a figure of speech). He/she would not have been sitting on my shoulder. Had a closer encounter occurred, I think I would swiftly have been sitting in his/her stomach. I probably wouldn’t even have instigated a mild case of indigestion.

above: A very toothy yawn. Or perhaps just catching flies.

After meeting Little and Large, we popped to a turtle hatchery. There are several hatcheries along the coast, aiming to protect sea turtle eggs and help them to hatch. Apparently, six out of seven turtle species are listed as endangered, and five of these species are to be found in Sri Lanka. It used to be the case that freshly laid turtle eggs would be sought out and sold by local villagers, but nowadays conservation efforts mean it is volunteers who check the beaches for eggs. Any found are then taken to a hatchery. Incubation lasts somewhere between 45 – 60 days, after which the hatchlings are fairly quickly returned to the ocean, usually in the evening to avoid predators. In between, they live in tanks in the hatchery, allowing them to grow a bit and develop strength so their chances of survival in the wild will be higher. Larger turtles which have suffered injury in the ocean are also kept at the centre for rehabilitation, before being released back into the wild (assuming this is possible). When we visited, we were allowed to hold some of the turtles (under supervision), and I believe tourists can take part in releasing the hatchlings back into the wild, although we didn’t do this.

Now, I must be honest and admit that I don’t know if the hatchery I visited was following all relevant conservation guidelines. It would appear that these centres are usually listed on TripAdvisor as meeting animal welfare standards, and I suppose it must be borne in mind that tourist money is needed, at least to some extent, to fund such projects. I’m not going to pass judgement, since I don’t have adequate information from experts to allow me to do so. From what I saw (which is all I can go on), the turtles were well looked after, and it seemed to be a worthy project. However, I appreciate that others may disagree and/or have evidence to suggest otherwise.

One always thinks of reptiles as aloof, impassive beings, but it’s difficult not to see baby animals as cute, species notwithstanding. My abiding impression of these little ones, croc and turtles, was of delicate strength, grace, and agility, all wrapped up in brand new miniature iterations of ancient forms. I am pleased to have spent just a few moments in their company.