Four Chinese nationals, including a woman, arrested in Sinharaja Forest Reserve

11-Nov-2026

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Wildlife Department officials have arrested four Chinese nationals, including a woman, for allegedly collecting insects and reptiles illegally in the Sinharaja Forest Reserve.

The arrests were made during a special raid conducted on the basis of confidential information received by the Panahaduwa Forest Protection Office of the Udawalawe National Park.

More than 250 reptiles and insects belonging to around 40 different species were seized from the suspects. Wildlife Department officials stated that preliminary investigations had revealed that the suspects had visited Sri Lanka on previous occasions as well.

Following the production of the suspects and the seized specimens before the Kalawana Magistrate's Court, the Magistrate ordered that the suspects be remanded until the 23rd.

The Magistrate also ordered that the live and dead specimens recovered from them be sent to the National Museum for proper identification and subsequently released back into their natural environment.

Meanwhile, a few days earlier, four individuals, including two Germans, had been arrested on allegations of engaging in a similar act of biopiracy in the Pabawa Utharakanda forest area.