Newsroom

Blog

(March 12, 2019) Meet Sanjay Sondhi, a conservationist working to spread awareness among communities and children. Human-leopard conflicts in the past few years have been all over the news in recent times. “Leopard Runs Loose, Terrorizing Residents”, “Leopard injures four after rampage in village in India”, “Leopard deaths at a five-year high in the country” and so on. Conservationists who are trying to mitigate such encounters have a different tale to say. ...

READ THE STORY

(March 08, 2019) Happy Women’s Day!A tribal widowed woman with ten children, who owned nothing more than a shack in the Nagarahole forest, has gone on to be honoured as ‘super farmer’ after relocating outside. In her message of gratitude, the woman Daasi, notes how she was a ‘nothing’ inside the forest who now feels proud of her achievement and hopes more women around her will be inspired by her work.Today we see more and more women achievers, be it the defence minister or a tribal ...

READ THE STORY

(March 05, 2019) A forest officer speaks of his love story with the birds.Arijit BanerjeeRaptors are handsome, and garden birds like flycatchers and others are very pretty, but “nothing can beat our national bird. The Peacock is god’s own,” is how Arijit Banerjee puts it. Seeing the brilliantly coloured bird in a dry deciduous forest can be breathtaking, he adds. He is an IFS officer who is an avid bird watcher whose images feature in some of the major birder portals.Watching birds is both a re...

READ THE STORY

(February 26, 2019) There is very little known about the ‘water dog’ which is also high on the poaching list for its fur and meat. Here is a quick glimpse into the challenges facing the species.In the wild otters form small groups of two to six individuals © Wild OttersGoa is every Indian’s go-to destination for a beach vacation. People from all over the country and the world visit this small state all year long. It is also one of the smallest states in India through which the Western Ghats r...

READ THE STORY

(February 19, 2019) Volunteering for this activity comes with a dash of adventure and lots of learning about the jungle.Being alert, observant and working as a team in noting down the details are part of walking the line © WCS-India/HyTiCosDropped before dawn near the start location somewhere inside the forest, my companion, —a veteran transect walker—and I, wait for the pre-determined time before we start walking slowly and quietly along the marked transect line, scanning both sides for anima...

READ THE STORY

(February 16, 2019) On World Pangolin Day, a look at one aspect that seems unconnected but contributes to the trade in the world's most trafficked mammal.It is World Pangolin Day. And, as much as we would like to look at the pangolin trafficking dilemma as either glass ‘half-empty’ or ‘half-filled’ in terms of existing efforts to ensure their survival, we do have to address one of the main triggers behind why these scaly mammals (and so many more) are continuously collected, killed, smuggled...

READ THE STORY

(February 14, 2019)  Representational image © Srikanth RaoA fan club for a crop-raiding elephant may seem a paradox but if Chinna Thambi (meaning little brother), a wild elephant has been left free (for now) and not captured and tamed as per initial pans, it was thanks to the club.This tusker in Coimbatore has been raiding crops in the field and also damaging shops and homes in search of grains and fruits. Following protests from locals, he was translocated to a forest 100 kms away but soon enough, found ...

READ THE STORY

(February 09, 2019) Live wildlife trade in species like turtles, tortoises, birds and snakes often kept as pets could seriously affect some of these species.Indian star tortoise © N A NaseerGeneral awareness of the threat posed by illegal wildlife trade involving high value species such as tigers, leopards, elephants, rhinos and pangolins is relatively better than how ‘live wildlife trade’ as a whole is perceived. This trade too has a significant impact on wild populations of several species.As per...

READ THE STORY

(February 05, 2019) Handling mob fury is a challenging task, especially in protected areas that can be damaged by one act of arson.Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary near Sangama. © Srikanth RaoIn a recent unfortunate incident at Melghat Tiger Reserve, many government staff including police and forest department officials, were grievously wounded and prime tiger habitat set fire to by an angry mob. The grasslands in the core area were just recovering when this incident took place.It was the timely support from the pol...

READ THE STORY

(January 31, 2019) Bad practices and habitat loss are affecting birds that inhabit city landscapes.Before the stone benches were installed at Hebbal lake, during summer we were able to access the tiny islands. Water used to recede and we were able to walk on the shores, sit up in bamboo shades and watch waders at close quarters. However, in the past few years a lot of work has gone into this lake and many of the islands stay submerged in summer as well. About three years ago, when I had visited this lake in peak s...

READ THE STORY