Sri Lankan Fact-checking website, Factcrescendo, says viral claims that Sri Lanka is building multiple “rope canopy bridges” for monkeys and squirrels across the country are misleading.
Factcrescendo says viral Facebook posts, shared primarily in English, claimed that Sri Lanka has installed rope canopy bridges made of durable ropes or netting over roads to provide safe passage for tree-living wildlife, including monkeys, squirrels, and the endangered purple-faced langur.
It is said that bridges are strategically placed in high-traffic areas near forests like Sinharaja to reduce roadkill and maintain ecological connectivity across fragmented habitats. The infrastructure allows species to cross roads without descending to ground level, protecting them from vehicle strikes while preserving wildlife movement patterns.
Reports also state that one such bridge has already been finalised on the Sigiriya-Inamaluwa road, and dozens are under construction in areas like Sinharaja and Aththidiya. Some other posts also claimed that the so-called “sky bridges” building was happening in large numbers in Sri Lanka, the website said.
Factcrescendo said despite viral claims of multiple new bridges or a country-wide project, the Sri Lankan authority, the Wildlife Department of Sri Lanka, have confirmed that no other rope canopy crossings have been built or are under construction.
The Sigiriya bridge remains the only one of its kind in Sri Lanka. WNPS had announced plans in 2022 for a second bridge near the Attidiya wetlands south of Colombo, but wildlife department sources say no such project has been carried out.
Inquiries with the Wildlife Department’s research division indicate that there is no current plan for multiple rope bridges or a national rollout.
The WNPS officers also stated that they abandoned this project in 2022 after initiating this Sigiriya bridge and did not continue towards other areas of the country due to some roadblocks and practical difficulties.
Factcrescendo revealed that local reports and officials emphasise that outside this one bridge, any social media claims of new crossings or dozens of bridges are misleading, and the representative images used in social media posts appear to be AI-generated.
In conclusion, the fact-checking website said that Sri Lanka’s single Sigiriya canopy bridge represents a promising but limited conservation initiative that has been misrepresented in viral social media claims.
While the country successfully implemented one functional rope bridge in 2022, contrary to recent claims, that has demonstrably reduced roadkill for endangered purple-faced langurs, there is no evidence of the widespread national program suggested in viral posts.
Full report : https://srilanka.factcrescendo.com/english/sri-lankas-canopy-bridges-fact-vs-fiction-and-the-bigger-picture (Newswire)
