DWC Director General H.D Ratnayake that a pilot project to assess the impact of the suspension of mobile communication on visitor behaviour and on the movement of selected vehicles in the national park using GPS tracking had been completed last month. The findings were currently being assessed by the TRC, Ratnayake said.

Although the mobile phone services have been restricted within the park signals continue to come from towers situated far away from the park.

Ratnayake said when a leopard or any other rare animal is sighted, vehicle drivers informe others of the sighting via mobile phones, promoting a large number of vehicles to rush to the spot at breakneck speed. He said speed barriers had been put up on the roads in Yala and vehicles canot move at high speed now.

Meanwhile Sustainable Development and Wildlife Deputy Minister Sumedha G. Jayasena said that the Ministry would launch several awareness programmes around the country to prevent the slaughter of wild animals.