Meet the Neighbours: Bush Life Through Our Trail Cameras

Long after the last safari jeep has left Yala for the day, the land around us gets busy. Civets leave the trees, mouse deer step out from the undergrowth, and somewhere beyond the camp boundary a leopard is starting its rounds. Most of this happens out of sight, at hours when we are asleep. For the last while, our trail cameras have been helping us see it.

If you’ve arrived here from one of our trail camera videos, welcome. Here is the bigger story behind the footage.

Knowing our neighbours

Makini sits on the edge of the Yala buffer zone, on land that belonged to its wildlife long before it belonged to us. The animals here are the original residents, and we see ourselves as the newcomers. Respecting them starts with knowing who they are and how they live.

Just over a year ago, our team carried out a detailed habitat mapping survey of the Makini property. It recorded the plants and vegetation, the heights of trees and the extent of the land, along with 100 species of birds. That gave us a clear picture of the land within our boundary. The trail cameras take the story further: into the wider buffer zone, and into the lives of the animals that move through it, especially after dark.

A pond a few steps from the tents

One of our cameras overlooks a small pond inside the camp, built where there was once only a dry, bare patch. In our latest video, you can see one of our tents just behind it, which shows how close the wildlife is willing to come.

By day, Grey Langurs and Yellow-billed Babblers stop by to drink. After dark, the visitors change: the ellusive Mouse Deer, Black-naped Hares and civets make their way to the water’s edge.

In Sri Lanka’s dry zone, months can pass with little or no rain. Elephants can walk long distances to find water, but a mouse deer or a hare cannot. For smaller animals, a reliable water source close to home can make the difference in a hard dry season. The civets give something back, too. They feed on fruit and spread the seeds as they move, helping the forest recover around us.

Beyond the boundary

Our other three cameras are out in the Yala buffer zone. Some have been placed at natural pools on rock, others at a small temporary waterhole we created or along well-used wildlife paths. We move them from time to time, because different species use different parts of the landscape, and their movements shift with the time of day and the seasons.

The list of visitors has been remarkable. It includes leopards, elephants, sloth bears, wild buffalo, several species of deer and mongooses. We have also recorded a Fishing Cat and the Rusty-spotted Cat, one of the smallest wild cats in the world, which is rarely seen even by people who spend their lives in the forest.

The team behind the lens

The cameras are overseen by Ranger Arun, our Senior Ranger and Head of Ecology & Conservation. He is supported by our Trainee Rangers, Dilina and Sasinima. Dilina receives an alert whenever something moves in front of a camera, so he is usually the first to know who has come to visit or passing by. Together, the team reviews each capture and notes the species, the time and the location. Over months, these records build a clearer picture of how wildlife uses this landscape through the changing seasons.

“A camera doesn’t get tired and it doesn’t make a sound. It shows us animals as they really are, when nobody is around to disturb them. Every capture teaches us something about how they use this land, and that helps us decide how best to support them.”
– Ranger Arun, Senior Ranger and Head of Ecology & Conservation

For our trainee rangers, this is also field training: learning to read tracks, choose camera sites and recognise species by their shape and movement in the dark.

How you can be part of it

Conservation here depends on many hands. If you’d like to help, there are a few ways to do it:

• Stay with us. Every stay at Makini helps keep this work going. When the camp thrives, so do the projects that protect the wildlife around it.
• Support wildlife monitoring directly. Contributions help us buy new trail cameras and cover the running costs of our conservation work. 
• Sponsor a plant. Our upcoming analog forestry project will restore native forest on the land. You can support it financially or by sponsoring a plant.
• Give an hour to the classroom. If you’re with us on a school day, you can spend an hour with the children at Detagamuwa Junior School, helping them grow more confident in speaking English.
• Bring the next generation along. Guests’ children aged 12 to 18 can join our Junior Ranger Programme. Our Ranger Residency, coming soon, will train future rangers.
• Share the story. Passing on our videos and this article helps more people see the wildlife of this region, and why it’s worth protecting.

You can find more ideas in How You Can Support Sustainability at Makini, or get in touch with us directly.

More trail camera videos are on their way. We can’t wait to show you who else lives next door.