(May 29, 2018) From close encounters with wildlife, the writer comes to realise some hard truths and mistaken notions about the animals.Written by Mrunmayee AmarnathMrunmayee at the start of a line transect walkMy door to ‘Narnia’ opened with the ‘Line transects’ I took part in. Besides the exciting encounters with wildlife, they carry me to an enchanting world where every blade of grass, plant, tree and animal speaks to each other. I watch in rapture, understanding a bit of it but unfa...

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(May 25, 2018) MEET OUR STAFF: IMRAN SIDDIQUIConducting identification of herbivore pellets.Imran Siddiqui's journey, from visiting zoos to becoming a wildlife expert, speaks volumes of his one-track dedication and passion.Perseverance could well be his middle name. Imran Siddiqui’s career chart beginning with selling poultry to raise money for wildlife, to becoming the man instrumental in getting Telangana its first tiger reserve, is one for the best-sellers.Today, this young man who followed his passio...

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(May 22, 2018) One of our volunteers from our line-transect surveys pens his account of an incredible sighting of the shy, nocturnal Indian Pangolin, which is also one of the most trafficked mammals on the planet.Camera-trap photo of a pangolin. © Ullas Karanth/WCSIt was relatively a pleasant morning and a usual drive back to our base camp after the Line Transect Survey conducted by WCS India.This survey is done to estimate the prey population which is crucial for the survival of predators. As usual,...

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(May 18, 2018) An Assam Forest Department – WCS India initiative 'Know Your Elephants' seeks to create a photographic database of individual elephants in Kaziranga National Park.Every elephant is distinct. Their facial features, personality, ability to reproduce, tendency to disperse, propensity to raid crops, are different. Just as we subconsciously use facial features to distinguish one person from another, we can, in a more systematic and explicit manner, use morphological features to individually ide...

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(May 09, 2018) Waking with a leopard sleeping by your bed may not be everyone’s dream come true. But what a banana trader in Mysuru experienced earlier this year could be the shape of things to come, as wildlife habitats continue to shrink. While panic is the first response, it is not the best. According to leopard experts, the animal too is in a state of heightened panic and the best option is to make way for it to leave.Traditionally many forest tribes and communities coexisted with leopards and tigers...

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(May 03, 2018) In 2008, 60 tribal families from the DB Kuppe range of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve voluntarily relocated outside the forest to the Sollepura relocation centre through a government funded relocation program. Inside the forest, the tribals were hunter gatherers, but when they moved out, they had to familiarize themselves with the art of agriculture. Despite initial difficulties, with time they slowly learned, practiced and are now proud first-generation farmers.Chia being grown as a second crop in So...

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