Deputy Environment Minister Anton Jayakodi said authorities had begun a review of the nationwide survey conducted on March 15, the first of its kind, because "some of the data was unbelievable".
Authorities suggested some enraged farmers might have exaggerated the numbers to suggest that the problem was even bigger.
Data in some places appeared "unusually high", officials said.
Residents across the island country were asked to count wild boar, peacocks, monkeys and lorises -- a small, largely nocturnal primate -- spotted near farms and homes during a five-minute period.
"We started the survey to understand the size of the problem," Jayakodi told reporters in Colombo. "But we now have to review the results... there have been issues with some unusual data."
Jayakodi said officials would return to assess data before releasing the final results of the survey, which was aimed at drawing up a national plan to deal with nuisance wildlife.
Opposition legislator Nalin Bandara said the survey was "a complete failure, a waste of money".
Officials say more than a third of crops are destroyed by wild animals, including elephants that are protected by law because they are considered sacred.
While elephants are major raiders of rice farms and fruit plantations, they were not included in the March count.
The then agricultural minister proposed in 2023 exporting some 100,000 toque macaques to Chinese zoos but the monkey business was abandoned following protests from environmentalists.
Sri Lanka removed several species from its protected list in 2023, including all three of its monkey species as well as peacocks and wild boars, allowing farmers to kill them.
Snakes on a plane highlight Thailand-India trafficking: NGO
Bangkok (AFP) June 9, 2025 -
Venomous vipers found in checked bags on a flight from Thailand to India illustrate a "very troubling" trend in wildlife trafficking driven by the exotic pet trade, an NGO warned Tuesday.
Indian customs officials last week arrested an Indian national after finding dozens of snakes and several turtles in their luggage.
Among them were several spider-tailed horned vipers, a venomous species only described by scientists in 2006 and classed as "near-threatened" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
The reptiles are among over 7,000 animals, dead and alive, that have been seized along the Thailand-India air route in the last 3.5 years, said Traffic, which battles the smuggling of wild animals and plants.
"The almost-weekly discoveries and diversity of wildlife en route to India is very troubling," said Traffic's Southeast Asia director Kanitha Krishnasamy.
Many of those captured were alive, which "shows that the clamour for exotic pets is driving the trade", she added.
The group said its analysis showed that while most cases involve animals smuggled out of Thailand, over 80 percent of interceptions happened in India.
More than a third of the wildlife seized is covered by rules banning or strictly regulating their trade across international borders, Traffic added.
The group said the "scale and frequency" of the cases suggested more work was needed to investigate "the criminal networks supplying this seemingly endless conveyor belt of wildlife-stuffed bags".
They also urged Thailand to work with regional neighbours that have seen similar trafficking routes to India.
Thailand is considered a major transit hub for wildlife smugglers, who often sell highly-prized endangered creatures on the lucrative black market in China, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Last month, Thai police arrested a man suspected of smuggling two baby orangutans into the kingdom for sale.
Indian smuggler stopped with possums, lizards, tarantulas
Mumbai (AFP) June 10, 2025 -
Indian customs officers made the latest "significant" seizure of endangered wildlife from a passenger arriving from Thailand, a government statement said, carrying nearly 100 creatures including lizards, sunbirds and tree-climbing possums.
Customs officers said the passenger, who was also carrying two tarantula spiders and tortoises, had "exhibited signs of nervousness" on arrival at India's financial capital Mumbai.
The seizure comes after a passenger was stopped smuggling dozens of venomous vipers, also arriving from Thailand, earlier in June.
Wildlife seized included iguanas, as well as a kinkajou or honey bear -- a small raccoon-like animal from Mexico's rainforests -- as well as six "sugar gliders", a gliding possum found in Australia.
Photographs released by the customs unit showed the six sugar gliders huddled together in a basket, as well as a box crammed with lizards.
"In a significant operation, customs officers... intercepted an Indian national... leading to the seizure of multiple live and deceased wildlife species, some of which are protected under wildlife protection laws", the Ministry of Finance said in a statement late Monday.
Wildlife trade monitor TRAFFIC, which battles the smuggling of wild animals and plants, on Tuesday warned of a "very troubling" trend in trafficking driven by the exotic pet trade.
More than 7,000 animals, dead and alive, have been seized along the Thailand-India air route in the last 3.5 years, it said.
Customs officers at Mumbai airport are more used to seizing smuggled gold, cash or cannabis -- but instances of wildlife seizure have seen a gradual rise recently.
Customs officers seized dozens of snakes and several turtles from an Indian national flying from Thailand earlier in June.
Among them were several spider-tailed horned vipers, a venomous species only described by scientists in 2006 and classed as "near-threatened" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
TRAFFIC said its analysis showed that while most cases involve animals smuggled out of Thailand, more than 80 percent of interceptions happened in India.
"The almost-weekly discoveries and diversity of wildlife en route to India is very troubling," said TRAFFIC's Southeast Asia director Kanitha Krishnasamy.
Many of those captured were alive, which "shows that the clamour for exotic pets is driving the trade", she added.
In February, customs officials at Mumbai airport also stopped a smuggler with five Siamang gibbons, a small ape native to the forests of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Those small creatures, listed as endangered by the IUCN, were "ingeniously concealed" in a plastic crate placed inside the passenger's trolley bag, customs officers said.
In November, authorities found a passenger carrying a wriggling live cargo of 12 turtles.
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