DAMBULLA: Sri Lanka began a wildlife census on Saturday to count monkeys, peacocks and giant squirrels, aiming to manage their populations as farmers complain of agricultural losses.

Agriculture accounts for 8% of the country’s economy and employs 8.1 million people, government data showed.

Sri Lanka is the fourth-largest coconut products exporter globally and produces about 3 billion cashew and other nuts annually, according to the Exports Development Board (EDB).

But coconut production, along with vegetable and fruit cultivation, has been hit due to crop destruction by monkeys, peacocks and giant squirrels, a top government official said.

“The problem has become so bad people are giving up farming. We are losing about 20% of total agricultural production. It is estimated that 90 million coconuts are lost every year,” Namal Karunaratne, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Livestock, told Reuters.

“The census is the first step to understanding the density of these animals in farming areas so we can formulate proper policies to manage them.”

The census comes after an incident in February when a monkey caused a nationwide blackout and power cuts lasting for three days.

Edirisinghe Arachchilage Gnanasena, a 72-year-old farmer, counted 45 monkeys, six giant squirrels and nine peacocks, in the five minutes allocated for the census. His eight-acre plot of farmland in Dambulla, a city in central Sri Lanka, has been struggling with crop losses for years.

With an air gun across his shoulder and lead pellets in a plastic bag, Gnanasena spends hours patrolling the neat rows of coconut, mango and banana plants he has carefully grown.

But tribes of monkeys still strip trees of hundreds of coconuts and pick mangoes, while peacocks swallow long beans whole, Gnanasena said.

“Monkeys are used to the air gun, so I light firecrackers to scare them off. But they always come back.”

Farmers attribute the rising numbers of monkeys, peacocks, porcupines and wild boars in the area to habitat loss.

“I hope this census leads to long-term solutions. That is what we want,” he added.

“This is not the fault of the animals. It is the fault of the humans.”