As stated in the book's introduction, he was influenced by the work of his friend Professor Sarath Kotagama, the leading ornithologist in Sri Lanka.

Kotagama invited him to make a fully-detailed book about Sri Lankan mammalian fauna and Yapa accepted.

The colored portraits were illustrated by Gamini Ratnavira, a popular Sri Lankan wildlife artist.

It is certain to be cherished for many years to come and is destined to become a cornerstone of the literature on Sri Lanka's vertebrate fauna.

I (Pethiyagoda) hope it reaches the widest possible readership and goes on to be translated also into island's local languages so as to inspire the next phase of public interest in our country's incredible biodiversity.