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As dusk settles over Sri Lanka’s ancient rainforests, the forest comes alive in ways few people ever witness. Cicadas begin their nightly chorus, frogs call from hidden streams, and somewhere beneath the towering canopy, a tiny owl announces its presence with a haunting call that, for years, puzzled even the country’s most experienced ornithologists.
That mysterious voice belonged to the Serendib Scops Owl (Otus thilohoffmanni)—one of the world’s rarest owls and among Sri Lanka’s greatest natural treasures.
As the world marks International Owl Awareness Day on August 4, the remarkable story of this elusive endemic bird reminds us that even in the 21st century, nature still has the power to surprise, and that some of its greatest mysteries remain hidden within Sri Lanka’s rainforests.
For more than a century, scientists believed Sri Lanka’s endemic bird list was complete. That belief changed dramatically in 1995 when renowned ornithologist Deepal Warakagoda and colleagues, conducting fieldwork in the Makandawa Forest near Kitulgala , heard an unfamiliar owl call unlike anything previously recorded in the country.
For six years the mysterious caller remained invisible. Researchers heard its distinctive voice repeatedly but failed to catch even a glimpse of the bird. Some even speculated the strange sound belonged to an amphibian rather than an owl.
The mystery was finally solved in 2001 when Warakagoda and his team located the bird in the Sinharaja Rainforest. Scientific examination confirmed they had discovered an entirely new species.
It was formally described in 2004, becoming Sri Lanka’s first new bird species to be identified since the Sri Lanka Whistling Thrush was described in 1868.
Named after the ancient name “Serendib” for Sri Lanka, the owl’s scientific name honours the late Thilo W. Hoffmann, whose pioneering conservation work helped protect Sinharaja and other priceless rainforests.
Today, the Serendib Scops Owl is more than a scientific curiosity. Its image appears on Sri Lanka’s Rs. 20 currency note, making it one of the country’s best-known birds, even though very few people know the extraordinary story behind its discovery.
Barely 16 to 17 centimetres long, the owl is perfectly adapted to disappear into its surroundings. Its reddish-brown plumage blends seamlessly with dead leaves and tree bark, while the absence of prominent ear tufts makes it almost impossible to detect during daylight hours. It spends its days quietly roosting close to the forest floor before emerging after sunset to hunt insects among the leaf litter.
Despite being discovered more than two decades ago, scientists still know remarkably little about its breeding biology, nesting behaviour, population size, movements and habitat requirements.
Those unanswered questions are now driving a new generation of researchers.
Among them is Waruni Tissera, Research Officer at the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka, who is leading a conservation research project under the EDGE of Existence Fellowship Programme of the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
Working with Prof. Sevvandi Jayakody, Deepal Warakagoda, Dulan
Vidanapathirana, Gehan Rajeev, Uditha Hettige and international collaborators from ZSL and Deakin University, Australia, the project seeks to better understand the owl’s distribution, habitat requirements and ecology while promoting responsible nature tourism and community participation in conservation.
Since May 2025, the research team has carried out extensive nocturnal surveys in the Kelani Valley Forest Reserve and the Sinharaja Rainforest.
The work is demanding. Researchers navigate steep, slippery trails in complete darkness, often through leech-infested forests, carefully listening for the owl’s distinctive call while recording habitat characteristics and environmental conditions at every survey site.
According to Waruni, every survey highlights how much remains to be discovered about the species. Although the owl has now been known to science for more than twenty years, many aspects of its life history remain a mystery, making every observation valuable to conservation.
Recognising that field observations alone cannot reveal the species’ complete distribution, the project also incorporates citizen science records and historical observations contributed by birdwatchers, photographers, forest guides and nature enthusiasts.
Waruni believes conservation must extend beyond scientific research. Accordingly, the project works closely with local communities to improve awareness of the ecological importance of owls and to dispel myths that have surrounded these nocturnal birds for generations.
A major focus has been environmental education. More than 200 schoolchildren living around the Makandawa and Sinharaja rainforest landscapes have already participated in awareness programmes introducing them to the Serendib Scops Owl and the importance of conserving Sri Lanka’s remaining rainforests.
On International Owl Awareness Day, the outreach programme will engage a further group of students and young environmental pioneers.
The Serendib Scops Owl remains one of Sri Lanka’s most range-restricted endemic birds, found only in the wet zone’s lowland and submontane rainforests, including Sinharaja, Kitulgala , Runakanda, Kanneliya and Eratna-Gilimale.
Its future depends entirely on the survival of these forests.
Habitat degradation, fragmentation, unregulated tourism and increasing human activity continue to threaten these fragile ecosystems. Protecting the owl therefore means protecting entire rainforest landscapes that harbour countless endemic plants and animals found nowhere else on Earth.
Every call recorded during a night survey, every citizen science observation and every new scientific finding helps fill another gap in our understanding of this remarkable species.
The Serendib Scops Owl is far more than a bird featured on a currency note. It is a living symbol of Sri Lanka’s unique natural heritage, a reminder that scientific discovery is still unfolding within our forests, and compelling evidence that conserving our rainforests remains one of the nation’s most important environmental responsibilities.
Waruni gratefully acknowledges the support extended by the EDGE of Existence Programme of the Zoological Society of London, The Peregrine Fund, the Wildlife and Nature Protection Society of Sri Lanka, the Young Zoologists’ Association of Sri Lanka, her supervisors, dedicated field team and all collaborators whose commitment continues to unlock the secrets of one of Sri Lanka’s most extraordinary birds.
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The Communist Party of Sri Lanka has warned that ‘Israel and other foreign powers are planning to establish “spaceports” on Sri Lanka’s East Coast’ and claimed ‘the NPP government is getting involved in US space domain activities’ ( The Island , October 29, 2026).
Whether these warnings warrant serious consideration or not, certain immutable facts relating to Sri Lanka’s policy of a neutral state cannot be ignored. One such fact that has guided this government is its foreign policy of neutrality requires ‘that neutral space comprises the national territory of the neutral state, its territorial waters and its national air space’, and as such its territory including its territorial waters and air space is NOT NEGOTIABLE. This policy has been adhered to during the ongoing Middle East conflict, where the US sought permission to land two aircraft and the government declined permission on grounds of neutrality.
In such a context, for any officers, military or civil, to participate in discussions that compromise principles of neutrality amounts to a violation of government’s policy of neutrality reiterated by President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath. Therefore, any discussions relating to prospective ‘spaceports’ is taboo.
PRINCIPLES and DUTIES of a NEUTRAL STATE
Based on an ICRC Publication on Neutrality, June 2022.
The introduction of this publication states: ‘The sources of the international law of neutrality are customary international law and, for certain questions, international treaties, in particular the Paris Declaration of 1856, the 1907 Hague Convention No. V respecting the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in Case of War on Land, the 1907 Hague Convention No. XIII concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War, the four 1949 Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I of 1977.’
‘The territory of a neutral state is inviolable. It is prohibited to commit any act of hostility whatsoever on such territory. Neutrality describes the formal position taken by a state which is not participating in an armed conflict or which does not want to become involved. This status entails specific rights and duties. On the one hand, the neutral State has the right to stand apart from and not be adversely affected by the conflict. On the other hand, it has a duty of non-participation and impartiality.
Neutral space comprises the national territory of the neutral state, its territorial waters and its national air space. Neutral persons are nationals of neutral states. They lose their neutral status if they commit hostile acts against a belligerent. Individuals may join the armed forces of a belligerent party, but then they also lose their neutral status. They still have all the guarantees of protection that a member of those forces would enjoy, and therefore are entitled to POW status if they are subsequently captured. If, however, they can be defined as mercenaries, whom we covered in an earlier lesson, they do not have the right to be considered as combatants or POWs.
As long as their home state maintains normal diplomatic relations with the belligerent state they are living in or visiting, neutral persons are to be treated in the same way as they would be in peacetime. They remain under diplomatic protection. If there are no such diplomatic relations, neutral persons are entitled to be treated as protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention. It makes no difference to their status if they are civilians or members of the armed forces of the neutral State to which they belong.’
3. THE DUTIES OF NEUTRAL STATES (Ibid)
‘Policy and instructions – the neutral State must also take measures to ensure and enforce the protection of its neutrality in the neutral space for which it is responsible in relation to the belligerent parties and, in particular, their armed forces. To obtain neutral status, the State does not have to make a formal declaration, nor do other States or parties formally have to recognise such status. A formal declaration will only have the effect of making neutral status better known.
The armed forces of the neutral state also require clear instructions on how they are to operate in relation to the defence of their territory and in dealing with incursions. For isolated and accidental violations of neutral space, the instructions might include the need to issue warnings or give a demonstration of force. For increasingly numerous and serious violations, a general warning might be called for and the use of force stepped up.
Particular obligations – the neutral State must ensure respect for its neutrality, if necessary, using force to repel any violation of its territory. Violations include failure to respect the prohibitions placed on belligerent parties with regard to certain activities in neutral territory, described above. The fact that a neutral State uses force to repel attempts to violate its neutrality cannot be regarded as a hostile act. If the neutral state defends its neutrality, it must however respect the limits which international law imposes on the use of force. The neutral state must treat the opposing belligerent states impartially.
This obligation does not mean that a state is bound to treat the belligerents in exactly the same way. It entails a prohibition on discrimination.
It forbids only differential treatment of the belligerents which in view of the specific problem of armed conflict is not justified. Therefore, a neutral state is not obliged to eliminate differences in commercial relations between itself and each of the parties to the conflict at the time of the outbreak of the armed conflict. It is entitled to continue existing commercial relations. A change in these commercial relationships could, however, constitute taking sides inconsistent with the status of neutrality.
A neutral state must never assist a party to the armed conflict, in particular it must not supply warships, ammunition or other war materials directly or indirectly to a belligerent power, but otherwise its trade with the belligerent States remains unaffected.’
The material presented above embodies internationally recognised practices that should be adopted by a neutral state.
Stated above are the PRINCIPLES and DUTIES of a NEUTRAL STATE as recognised under International Law. Therefore, it is the duty of all states to recognise and respect the rights of States, such as Sri Lanka that have declared neutrality as its policy in its relations with other States.
If members of the current Sri Lankan government are engaged in discussions with foreign governments relating to issues that compromise its policy of neutrality, they should cease forthwith for reasons stated above. Furthermore, the government needs to formally make its members, particularly those in the military who engage with foreign government representatives to develop relationships and further their agendas, aware of the stakes involved.
Continue Reading Features America votes for change: What 2026 midterms mean for Trump and the world Published
by Colonel Nalin Herath (Retd), RSP
The 2026 United States midterm elections have delivered a significant political message. By taking control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate, the Democrats have changed the political balance in Washington and introduced a new dimension to President Donald Trump’s second term. This is more than an electoral setback for the Republican Party. It is a reminder that even a president with considerable political influence is ultimately answerable to the electorate. The results reflect growing public dissatisfaction with the direction of the country. Economic pressures, the cost of living, concerns over government accountability and the consequences of the conflict with Iran featured prominently in the political debate. Voters who supported Trump’s return to the White House in 2024 have now demonstrated that electoral support is neither permanent nor unconditional.
Midterm elections are traditionally viewed as a referendum on the sitting president. This election has reinforced that political reality. Pres Trump made himself central to the Republican campaign, effectively inviting voters to assess his leadership. The outcome suggests that a substantial section of the electorate wanted a different direction. The Democratic victory, however, should not be interpreted as an unconditional endorsement of every Democratic policy. It is equally a reflection of dissatisfaction with the incumbent administration. American voters have expressed their preference through the constitutional process, and the political establishment must respond accordingly.
A new balance of power in Washington
The Democratic takeover of both chambers of Congress will fundamentally change the legislative environment. The House can exercise greater oversight through investigations, hearings and control of legislative proceedings. The Senate can influence legislation, scrutinise presidential appointments and determine the progress of important national initiatives. Trump remains President, with his constitutional executive powers intact. However, the next two years are likely to require considerably more negotiation and political compromise. The possibility of legislative deadlock is also real. A divided government can strengthen institutional checks and balances, but it can also delay decisions on taxation, immigration, public spending and national security. The challenge will be to ensure that political competition does not become an obstacle to effective governance.
The consequences extend well beyond American domestic politics. The United States remains a central actor in international security, global trade, technology, finance and diplomatic affairs. Political changes in Washington therefore have consequences for countries far beyond its borders.
First, America’s relationships with traditional allies will remain under scrutiny. European countries and NATO members will be watching whether Washington maintains consistency in its security commitments and international partnerships. Second, strategic competition with China will continue to shape American foreign policy. Although there is considerable bipartisan support for maintaining America’s strategic position in the Indo-Pacific, differences may emerge over trade, military spending, technology restrictions and diplomatic engagement. Third, the Middle East will remain a major foreign policy challenge. The political consequences of the conflict with Iran, including its economic and security implications, will place additional pressure on the administration to explain its strategic objectives and the costs of its international engagements. For countries in the Indian Ocean, these developments deserve particular attention. America’s engagement with regional maritime security, freedom of navigation, strategic partnerships and regional connectivity will remain important considerations.
What does this mean for American democracy?
Perhaps the most important dimension of this election is institutional. American democracy is built around the separation of powers, electoral accountability and the ability of different political institutions to constrain one another. The midterm results demonstrate that congressional control can change even when the presidency remains in the hands of the opposing party. However, electoral accountability alone cannot resolve the deeper divisions within American society. Political polarisation, economic inequality, immigration debates, public confidence in institutions and the influence of technology on political discourse remain significant challenges. The question is whether political leaders can move beyond electoral confrontation and rebuild a degree of public trust.
The midterm outcome will inevitably accelerate political preparations for the 2028 presidential election. Both parties will begin reassessing their leadership, political strategies and electoral coalitions. For Trump, the remaining two years of his presidency will involve governing with a Congress controlled by the opposition. For Democrats, the responsibility will be to demonstrate that electoral success can translate into effective governance. Neither party can afford to treat the outcome as a permanent political settlement. American politics remains dynamic, and the next presidential election will be shaped by developments that have yet to unfold.
The 2026 midterms offer a wider lesson for democracies everywhere. Political authority is not simply secured through electoral victories; it must be sustained through public confidence, institutional credibility and the ability to respond to people’s concerns. For the international community, the central question is not whether America will remain powerful. Its economic, military, technological and diplomatic resources will continue to make it a major global power. The more important question is how consistently it will exercise that power.
A country that remains politically divided at home may find it increasingly difficult to provide predictable leadership abroad. Equally, a functioning system of checks and balances can strengthen institutional accountability and reinforce democratic legitimacy. The American electorate has delivered its message. The responsibility now rests with both political parties to demonstrate that democracy is not merely about winning elections, but about governing in the interests of the nation. Ultimately, America’s future will be determined not only by who occupies the White House, but also by how effectively its institutions work together.
(The writer is the Secretary General of the Ceylon Chamber of Shipping, former Director General of the Institute of National Security Studies (INSS), and former Spokesman of the Ministry of Defence. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow at the London Dialogue. His areas of expertise include international relations, geopolitics, maritime affairs, national security, economic policy, and strategic governance. He is a consultant at JITT Group and a member of World Pace Board).
Continue Reading Features The Prisoner of Zenda , where suspense grips reader Published
I have thus far in this series dealt with mystery stories. These inevitably involve suspense, though the converse does not hold true, and there are lots of stories full of suspense in which there is no mystery. Having for half a year now looked at mysteries, I thought of moving to the other sort, where there may be no mystery but where the suspense grips one.
by Anthony Hope in 1894 heralded a cult of what has been termed Ruritanian novels, set in what would in those days have seemed in England tempestuous remote regions of Europe. It was predominantly the Balkans that fitted this characterisation, an area in which, after the Turks retreated, Austria and Russia fought for influence, the former backed by a newly united Germany under Prussia, the latter moving into alliance with France and through that England.
The plot of The Prisoner of Zenda is compelling, and led to it being filmed several times over. The first time was in 1937, with then heart throb Ronald Colman as the hero Rudolf Rassendyl and Douglas Fairbanks also a heart throb as the dynamic villain Rupert of Hentzau.
Fifteen years later, Stewart Granger became the hero and James Mason Rupert. Deborah Kerr was the heroine, the role taken by Madeleine Carroll previously. And both films had wonderful actors in support, Raymond Massey and David Niven in 1937 and in 1957 Louis Calhern, who had played Julius Caesar in the celebrated film that starred James Mason and John Gielgud and Marlon Brando.
Hope was barely known by my contemporaries at Oxford, for he had passed out of fashion in the brave new world that emerged, not after the Second World War, but a decade later when a British Prime Minister could claim, in all seriousness, that his people had never had it so good. But I was lucky to find that the father of one of my friends, who was a philosophy don at Christ Church, was an aficionado of Hope, and we much enjoyed talking about him, and about much else, which I suspect the rest of his family thought very old fashioned.
But even from him I could not get a copy of the book, and now I cannot remember where, twenty years later, I finally found it. But where I first read it came back to me vividly as I read it for a second time, hugely enjoying it again. This was in the little room in the guesthouse at Sabaragamuwa University which had been left at my disposal. My driver Kithsiri had the staff room at the back, while I could house visitors in the other two rooms down below. This did not happen too often, after the first early years of showing off the place to friends.
The window of my bedroom looked out on the staff canteen, and year after year whoever ran it would bring me a cup of coffee at 6 o’clock, which I drank whilst lying in bed. Indeed, I spent most of my time in the house in that large double bed for, though I sometimes marked papers at the dining table upstairs, it was just as easy to do this in bed. And when I did not have such work, I would read there till long after the canteen lights went out.
It was there that, in a night or two, I finished The Prisoner of Zenda . For its plot was compelling, involving the dramatic adventures of the young Englishman Rudolf Rassendyl, who tells the story, having gone to Ruritania because of a family legend about a close connection between his family and the Ruritanian royal family. This was that a former king had, while in England before taking up his throne, had an affair with a Rassendyl lady.
The kingdom of Ruritania, the setting of The Prisoner of Zenda , is clearly in the Balkans, which had become a centre of intrigue in the struggles of European nations for dominance by 1894, when the novel appeared. Later Ruritanian novels, as tales of intrigue set in that region which followed were called, sometimes involved struggles for international influence there but Hope himself dwelt only on internal intrigues, the machinations of royalty and their hangers on for power and also for romance.
Royalty in Ruritania however also involved the English, for as a result of the affair of earlier years the heir to the Rassendyll Earldom was in fact an Elphberg, the family name of the royal family of Ruritania. But the characteristic red hair of the Elphbergs appeared only sporadically. Rudolph had it, which is what motivated him to explore travel to Ruritania, but once there he found that he was the spitting image of its new king, who was shortly to be crowned.
But the future King Rudolph’s half-brother Black Michael has other ideas, and drugs the king so that he cannot get to the coronation. And when his loyal companions discover this, they persuade Rassendyl, who has been drinking with the king the previous night, to take his place. That impersonation works well, and Rudolf receives the adulation of the citizens, but then what had been intended as a masquerade for a night has to be protracted, for the king is kidnapped by his brother and kept a prisoner in the Castle of Zenda.
The good guys then have to try to rescue the king while keeping the impersonation secret, most vitally from the king’s cousin Princess Flavia, who was meant to marry the king but has been averse to him though now she falls in love with Rassendyl and he with her.
The situation is compounded by a French lady. Antoinette de Mauban, who is in love with Black Michael, but warns Rassendyl about his stratagems, in part because she is comparatively decent, in part because Michael plans, if he eliminates both Rudolphs, to marry Flavia himself. And then to complicate matters further, one of Black Michael’s henchmen, Rudolph of Hentzau, is not so loyal as not to try to seduce Antoinette himself. He tries to involve Rassendyl in a plot to eliminate Michael, so they can share the spoils as he sees them, but of course Rassendyl turns him down. But then Rupert gets carried away, not perhaps by lust so much as by his love of devilry, and in the ensuing melee, Rassendyl having been able to bribe his way into the castle, the king is rescued.
Unlike the other henchmen, Rupert survives to take centre stage along with Rassendyl in the sequel. But otherwise all ends well, with everyone having a piece of the action, including the ill-treated king. Or rather, the king having recovered, there is also sadness for Rassendyl and Flavia, for they have to part so she can do her duty for the king and country.
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