Meet the champion of ‘cool’ reptiles
They do not evoke the oohs and aahs that usually come about on spotting iconic mammals such as the elephant, bear or leopard or birds like the peacock displaying its rainbow coloured train in courtship display.
However, there are more of their species on earth than mammals and birds combined and these are the very species that have riveted the attention, fascinated and mesmerised behavioural ecologist and National Geographic Explorer Dr. Ruchira‘Ru’ Somaweera.
Ru with a Snake-necked Turtle and right, a Blue Pit Viper
“Cool,” is how he describes reptiles, looking back at his childhood. According to his parents, Ru had been interested in animals since he could pretty much walk.
Why reptiles and the answer comes without hesitation……..“I think I went for the underdogs because I saw quite a lot of people interested in the cute and cuddly and the fluffy things, whereas this group was neglected. It was a ‘cool’ thing to do among mates.”
He felt the exact opposite to what most of us do – being scared of many terrifying-looking reptiles. “I’ve always been attracted to do something different and reptiles were a good ‘scapegoat’ for that. The more I looked into it, the more I realized how misunderstood reptiles are.”
Now based in Australia, it had been while growing up in Sri Lanka that he became an avid reptile-chaser, giving a temporary foster home to snakes and lizards after rescuing them, until they could be suitably re-homed. At that time he had not been aware of some of the rules surrounding reptiles.
For Ru, the passion for the study of reptiles had deepened during his years at Trinity College, Kandy, where a group of like-minded friends embarked on field missions to explore and document reptile life. Later he had had many study subjects at home as well as in his laboratory, but he hastens to add that he won’t call them “pets” per se. His children, whom he lovingly dubs his three little adventurers – Rehan, Nehan and Finn, have a pet snake in Australia!
Life for Ru had taken a natural course – graduating with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Zoology from the University of Peradeniya in 2006 and completing his PhD (doctoral studies) in Prof. Rick Shine’s lab at the University of Sydney in 2012. A post-doctoral fellowship had followed in 2019 and an attachment as a Research Scientist at the Ecosystem Change Ecology (ECE) Lab at CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) in 2021.
Interestingly, while Ru’s focus for his first degree had been the relatively small Kandyan day-gecko in Sri Lanka, his PhD had been on a larger Australian freshwater crocodile.
Ru’s thesis which secured a First Class in Zoology at Peradeniya, had been on ‘Communal egg-laying of the endemic Kandyan day-gecko (Cnemaspis kandiana) in rock caves at Gannoruwa forest reserve, Sri Lanka’ and his PhD in Biological Sciences at Sydney had been on ‘Ecology and conservation of Australian freshwater crocodiles (Crocodylus johnstoni) at Lake Argyle, Western Australia.
His research interests encompass the human dimension in conservation; the impact of invasive species on reptiles; and conservation in changing landscapes.
Currently Ru is the Practice Lead for Ecology and a Principal Scientist at Stantec Australia, as well as an Adjunct Associate Professor at Murdoch University.
Explaining that Stantec is one of the largest environmental and engineering consultancy firms in the world, he says that globally they advise government departments, industry and other organisations on environmental-related issues and provide tangible, innovative solutions to minimise environmental impact.
“As the practice lead, one of my key rules is to make sure that what we do is scientifically sound. We provide the best solutions out there to minimise normal damage while sustainable development takes place. I am based in Perth but my project spans a large geographic region across continents,” he says.
Next we look at ‘exotic’ as well as dangerous locations Ru has dived into as a NatGeo Explorer and part of other research programmes. They include some of the most remote parts of the northern Australian Outback, off-the beaten-track Indonesian islands, isolated atolls like Ashmore in the Timor Sea and also the wilderness in British Columbia in Canada; New Zealand; Bangladeshi Sundarbans and Florida Everglades in the United States of America.
Yes, he concedes, that he has had his “fair” share of encounters with dangerous animals including nasty bites from venomous snakes and crocodiles. “However, as professional scientists, my team and I make every attempt to have the highest safety standards and not do any cowboy stuff during our programmes. Getting treated after a crocodile bite in remote Bangladesh is an experience I will never forget.”
When we revert to the intriguing title of his proposed talk, ‘Sexy reptiles and what we do with them’, Ru is quick to point out that he wants to flag how cool reptiles are and some of the human-like behaviours they show.
“The talk will illustrate how pure sciences have been translated into applied sciences when it comes to understanding and conserving reptiles. I am focusing on how knowledge is being transformed into actions so that we can actually do something to help reptiles confront challenges in a changing world,” says Ru whose favourite reptiles are sea snakes.
Sea snakes are among the least known and least studied reptiles because they live in a challenging habitat to access, he says, elaborating that some recent studies including those from his team have shed light on how fascinating this group is.
When asked whether he has seen tuataras, Ru says that he did work with them in a conservation centre in New Zealand and guides anyone interested in this ancient group of reptiles to his YouTube channel ‘Ru Goes Wild’.
Dedicated to wildlife education, Ru is making a concerted effort to bring wildlife research and expeditions from around the world to Sri Lankans through this Sinhala YouTube channel as well as his Facebook platform.
Passionate about scuba diving, wildlife photography and mixing the occasional cocktail in his leisure time, what gives immense joy to Ru is showing nature’s wonders to his beloved Rehan, Nehan and Finn.
| Sexy reptiles, Ru’s focus for this month’s WNPS lecture | |
| Dr. Ruchira Somaweera will deliver the NTB WNPS Monthly Lecture on ‘Sexy reptiles and what we do with them’ on January 15 (next Thursday) at 6 p.m. at the Jasmine Hall, BMICH, Colombo 7. Reptiles are cold-blooded vertebrates (animals which have backbones) and are covered with scales or bony plates. They generally lay soft-shelled eggs, while some give birth to live young. According to Dr. Somaweera, the characterization of the four groups (Orders) of reptiles are:
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