Kongahage Anslem Lawrence de Silva ( si, ඇන්ස්ලම් ද සිල්වා; born 1 August 1940) is a Sri Lankan

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

and

herpetologist Herpetology (from Greek ἑρπετόν ''herpetón'', meaning "reptile" or "creeping animal") is the branch of zoology concerned with the study of amphibians (including frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians ( gymnophiona)) and rep ...

recognised as the father of modern herpetology in Sri Lanka. His career spanned for more than five decades; de Silva has contributed to the field of zoology with much research and numerous publications particularly on crocodiles, snakes and lizards. De Silva is known for conservation of crocodiles in Sri Lanka. He is the regional chairman of the Crocodile Specialists Group of the IUCN, South Asia and Iran.

Personal life

He was born on 1 August 1940 in Matara. He completed education from St. Servatius College, Matara. Before entering the field of biology, de Silva was a renowned magician. He won two national awards at All Island Magic Competition and conducted massive shows from Matara to Jaffna. He also published 22 papers on magic. His son Panduka de Silva is also a naturalist where he worked in Andaman Islands on crocodiles.

Career

While at the school, he rescued a

rat snake Rat snakes are members – along with kingsnakes, milk snakes, vine snakes and indigo snakes – of the subfamily Colubrinae of the family Colubridae. They are medium to large constrictors and are found throughout much of the Northern Hemi ...

, which led him to move further in field of science. Then he started to rear few non-poisonous snakes, a baby

saltwater crocodile The saltwater crocodile (''Crocodylus porosus'') is a crocodilian native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands from India's east coast across Southeast Asia and the Sundaic region to northern Australia and Micronesia. It has been list ...

, and a few

sea turtle Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhe ...

s in his home, and villagers started calling him Hoony Mahaththaya (Mr Gecko) due to his frequent outings around the village to catch geckos as a food for snakes. At the age of 17, he read the book ''Snakes of Ceylon'' written by Frank Wall which induced him to start researching snakes throughout the country. In 1964, he joined Faculty of Medicine, Peradeniya, as the museum technician of the Department of Public Health. He retired from Department of Community Medicine in 2000. He is the founder and president of Amphibia and Reptile Research Organisation of Sri Lanka (ARROS), which he started in 1990. ARROS is the first

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

in Sri Lanka aimed at reptile conservation. Due to his enormous contribution, de Silva was appointed as the chairman for Declining Amphibian Populations Task Force in the

World Conservation Union The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

(now the IUCN) for Sri Lanka. In 2015, he worked as the co-chairman of the Amphibian Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union. He published more than 450 research publications on herpetofauna in Sri Lanka for last 50 years. He is the first author to publish a reptile guide with colored photographs. To create public awareness of reptiles and amphibians, de Silva published the Sri Lanka's first series of posters illustrated with colored photographs in 1990 and 2001. De Silva organised many events at fourth World Herpetology Congress and World Crocodile Congress. In 1991,

University of Peradeniya The University of Peradeniya ( si, පේරාදෙණිය විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, பேராதனைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்) is a public university in Sri Lanka, funded by the University ...

conferred a

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

degree for his contributions to the field of zoology. He also worked as a visiting lecturer at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Science, University of Peradeniya and

Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Rajarata University of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා රජරට විශ්වවිද්‍යාලය, ta, இலங்கை ரஜரட்ட பல்கலைக்கழகம், abbreviated RUSL) is a public univ ...

Bibliography

* ''Colour Guide to the Snakes of Sri Lanka'' (1990) * ''The Amphibia of Sri Lanka: A Checklist and an Annotated Bibliography'' (1996) * ''The Herpetofauna of Sri Lanka: A Brief Review'' (1996) * ''The Snakes of Sri Lanka: A Checklist and an Annotated Bibliography'' (1998) * ''The Sauria (Lizards and Varanids) of Sri Lanka: A Checklist and an Annotated Bibliography'' (1998) * ''Biology and Conservation of the Amphibians, Reptiles, and their Habitats in South Asia'' (1998) * ''Conservation Assessment and Management Plan'' (2000) * ''The Herpetofauna of Sri Lanka: An Historical Overview, Current Status with Checklists'' (2001) * ''The Biology and Status of Star Tortoise (''Geochelone elegans'' Schoepff, 1795)'' (2003) * ''The Herpetology of Sri Lanka: Current Research'' (2004) * ''A Photographic Guide to Snakes and Other Reptiles of Sri Lanka'' (2005) * ''The Diversity of the Dumbara Mountains: The Knuckles Massif, Sri Lanka'' (2005) * ''The Diversity of Horton Plains National Park'' (2007) * ''Snakes of Sri Lanka: A Coloured Atlas'' (2009) * ''Amphibians of Sri Lanka: A Photographic Guide to Common Frogs, Toads, and Caecilians'' (2009) * ''A Naturalist's Guide to the Reptiles of Sri Lanka'' (2017) * ''The Crocodiles of Sri Lanka''

Animals named after de Silva

*'' Calotes desilvai'' – an endemic lizard *'' Cnemaspis anslemi'' www.reptile-database.org. – an endemic gecko *'' Falcaustra desilvai'' – a gecko parasite

References

External links