The Environment Ministry has launched an investigation into allegations that commercial bikini photoshoots are being staged inside Sri Lanka’s national parks, after a former wildlife official called for one. The allegations themselves have not been independently verified.
Deputy Environment Minister Anton Jayakody confirmed the investigation to the Daily Mirror. He said he had received no information about the alleged activities from the security counter at Yala National Park, and noted that no legal provision prohibits visitors from entering a national park wearing bikinis or similar clothing.
That distinction frames the whole matter. The question officials are examining is not what visitors wear but whether unpermitted commercial photography has been taking place inside protected areas.
The allegations
Sharmila Rajapaksa, a former Director General of the Department of National Zoological Gardens, called for an immediate investigation into alleged commercial bikini photoshoots at Lunugamvehera, Yala and Kumana National Parks. She set out the claims in a Facebook post headed “Our National Parks Are Sacred Safe Spaces for Wildlife and Visiting Families: Stop This Illegal Bikini Shoot Operation Now!”
She said a private commercial operator was advertising photography packages featuring foreign models in revealing swimwear, with models posing inside the parks and open safari jeeps used as part of the arrangements. She questioned how that could happen without the knowledge of the wildlife officials and safari trackers who accompany visitors.
Rajapaksa asked the Department of Wildlife Conservation, the Sri Lanka Tourism Development Authority, the Tourist Police and other authorities to establish whether the operators held the necessary permits, and whether the foreign nationals involved were legally entitled to undertake commercial modelling and photography while visiting Sri Lanka. Hiru News reported her call on 10 November, two days before the ministry’s response. The two outlets spell her name differently — the Daily Mirror has Sharmila Rajapaksa, Hiru News has Shermila Rajapaksha.
What the rules require
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, filming within wildlife-protected areas requires prior approval from the Department of Wildlife Conservation, with applications submitted at least two weeks before the proposed filming date.
Two separate matters
A guesthouse in Thanamalwila, near Yala, drew attention separately after promoting bikini and fashion photoshoots in a wilderness setting through a social media post, and photographs of foreign women in bikinis have circulated widely online.
The Daily Mirror states plainly that no evidence has established any connection between that property’s promotions and the separate allegations of unauthorised commercial shoots inside the national parks, and that the two remain distinct matters. This report does not name the property, because nothing links it to the conduct under investigation. Promoting a photoshoot on private land near a park is not the activity the ministry is examining.
Unverified
The allegations concerning commercial photoshoots inside the parks have not been independently verified. Neither the Department of Wildlife Conservation nor the SLTDA had responded by the time the Daily Mirror published.
Not reported
Neither filing names the commercial operator alleged to be selling the packages, cites the advertisements directly, or says when the shoots are alleged to have taken place. Neither states whether any permit applications were in fact made, which agency is conducting the ministry’s investigation, or what penalty unpermitted commercial filming in a protected area carries. Nothing indicates whether any park entry records have been checked.