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		<title>Mongabay India</title>
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		<link>https://india.mongabay.com/list/hunting/</link>
		<description>India&#039;s environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Fri, 09 Oct 2026 08:03:33 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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					<title>Himalayan pheasants face mounting human pressure</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/himalayan-pheasants-face-mounting-human-pressure/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/himalayan-pheasants-face-mounting-human-pressure/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>11 Aug 2026 16:15:25 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Hirra Azmat]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Kartik Chandramouli]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/08/11140304/Western-Tragopan-4-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=40051</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Jammu and Kashmir]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Birds, Community based conservation, Conservation, Ecology, Encroachment, Grazing, Habitat Loss, Himalayas, and Hunting]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The white-crested kalij pheasant, a relatively adaptable bird, is under increasing pressure from habitat degradation, hunting and other human activities in the forests of the northwestern Himalayas, according to a study that looked at community perceptions of threats to the bird. The bird is listed as least concern by the IUCN Red List, indicating it [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The white-crested kalij pheasant, a relatively adaptable bird, is under increasing pressure from habitat degradation, hunting and other human activities in the forests of the northwestern Himalayas, according to a study that looked at community perceptions of threats to the bird. The bird is listed as least concern by the IUCN Red List, indicating it is common and widespread. Researchers say the findings are an early warning to conserve the region&#8217;s forests and other rarer pheasant species. Pheasants are a group of ground-dwelling birds belonging to the family Phasianidae. The Indian subcontinent is home to 51 pheasant species, of which 20 are endemic to the Indian Himalayas. They occupy habitats ranging from tropical forests to alpine meadows and are among the region&#8217;s most distinctive birds, known for their colourful plumage. Despite their ecological importance as indicators of forest health, many remain poorly studied and face growing threats from habitat loss and hunting. Among these Himalayan pheasants is the white-crested kalij pheasant (Lophura leucomelanos hamiltoni). It is widely distributed across the western Himalayas, including Jammu and Kashmir and is listed in the least concern category in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. More adaptable than many other Himalayan pheasants, it occupies a range of forest habitats but relies on dense understorey vegetation for food, nesting and cover from predators. &#8220;The white-crested kalij pheasant is mainly found in mixed forests, coniferous forests, scrublands and near forest edges close to human habitations. Unlike most other high-altitude pheasant species, it occupies&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/08/himalayan-pheasants-face-mounting-human-pressure/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Communities rally to conserve marbled cat</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/communities-rally-to-conserve-marbled-cat/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/communities-rally-to-conserve-marbled-cat/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jun 2026 13:34:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Barasha Das]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[eastern himalayas]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marbled cat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marbled cat and leopard cat]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Northeast India]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Small cats]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small wild cats]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/06/05121551/1.-Marbled-cat-captured-on-camera-trap-in-Nagaland.-PC-Giridhar-Malla-e1780642216526-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38542</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Biodiversity, Cats, Community based conservation, Conservation, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Tribes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists and several communities in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland gathered on March 1 to mark the first-ever International Marbled Cat Day, drawing attention to one of Asia’s most elusive and least understood wild felids. Conceptualised by the Eastern Himalayas Marbled Cat Project (EHMCP), in collaboration with state forest departments, the Day focused on engaging local [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Conservationists and several communities in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland gathered on March 1 to mark the first-ever International Marbled Cat Day, drawing attention to one of Asia’s most elusive and least understood wild felids. Conceptualised by the Eastern Himalayas Marbled Cat Project (EHMCP), in collaboration with state forest departments, the Day focused on engaging local communities and creating spaces for shared learning. “This timing was chosen deliberately,” says Giridhar Malla, conservationist and founder of the EHMCP. “It marks a seasonal transition. When forests begin to shift with the onset of spring, there is renewed growth, and communities also start preparing for sowing. We saw this as a meaningful moment for people to reflect on ecological change and connect that sense of renewal with the importance of remembering and conserving the marbled cat across Northeast India.” Community-led conservation Following a camera-trap survey conducted between 2022 and 2025 by the EHMCP, which confirmed the scattered presence of the marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) in parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya, residents of the villages where the species was captured on camera decided to take up conservation measures. These villages include Lokpeng in Siang district and Nyorok in West Siang district in Arunachal Pradesh; Riangmaw in West Khasi Hills district in Meghalaya; and Khonoma in Kohima district and Choklangan in Noklak district in Nagaland. In October 2025, the Hii:ung Hii:eng community forest in Siang district, Arunachal Pradesh, was formally declared India’s first community-conserved area dedicated to the marbled cat by the Lokpeng Welfare&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/communities-rally-to-conserve-marbled-cat/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/06/communities-rally-to-conserve-marbled-cat/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>A community leads protection of the pangolin in a critical illegal trade corridor</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-community-leads-protection-of-the-pangolin-in-a-critical-illegal-trade-corridor/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-community-leads-protection-of-the-pangolin-in-a-critical-illegal-trade-corridor/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2026 15:19:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kasturi Das]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pangolin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife trafficking]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/05/07120441/Chinese-pangolin-rescue-and-released-by-WTI-in-Arunachal-Pradesh-_-Panjit-Basumatary-_-IMG_8627-1-copy-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=38060</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Nagaland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community based conservation, Conservation, Endangered species, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Mammals, Tribes, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Nagaland’s Kiphire district, along the porous Indo-Myanmar border, pangolins have been hunted for decades — once due to cultural beliefs, and increasingly for trade, in a region identified as a key wildlife trafficking route. “Our forefathers would say that if a pangolin enters a house, it was considered a bad omen or curse,” says [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Nagaland’s Kiphire district, along the porous Indo-Myanmar border, pangolins have been hunted for decades — once due to cultural beliefs, and increasingly for trade, in a region identified as a key wildlife trafficking route. “Our forefathers would say that if a pangolin enters a house, it was considered a bad omen or curse,” says L. Kipitong Sangtam, 61, a resident of Amahator village in Kiphire district. “In the past, if someone encountered a pangolin, they would try to catch and kill it, sometimes by digging it out of its burrow.” Now, conservationists in Nagaland are turning to village councils and customary courts, to protect the elusive mammal. Though pangolin hunting is banned under India’s Wildlife Protection Act, enforcement remains difficult. So, conservationists are working with local tribal bodies, that have a greater influence in the state, to push for a local ban and safeguard the species. Earlier this year, the United Sangtam Likhum Pumji (USLP), the apex tribal body of the Sangtam Naga community, passed a resolution for a community-led ban on pangolin hunting in 42 villages of Kiphire district. The Sangtam Naga community is a major ethnic group in Nagaland, primarily inhabiting the Kiphire and Tuensang districts. The move comes amid growing concerns over trafficking of the critically endangered Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) along the Indo-Myanmar border, as well as pangolins hunted for local consumption. &nbsp; The Sangtam Naga community is a major ethnic group in Nagaland, primarily inhabiting Tuensang and Kiphire districts next to the Indo-Myanmar border.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/05/a-community-leads-protection-of-the-pangolin-in-a-critical-illegal-trade-corridor/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Living with small mammals [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/living-with-small-mammals-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/living-with-small-mammals-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Feb 2026 11:22:59 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Krishnamurthy K.V.]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[climate resilience]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Community Forest Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[heritage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[natural resource management]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rodent]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Traditional Knowledge]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/02/17004956/malabar-spiny-dormouse--768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36915</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Indigenous Knowledge]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Food, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous Rights, Mammals, Tribes, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Small rodents including rats have shared spaces with human civilisation for a long time as they live in proximity to people using the food, water and habitat shaped by human societies. References to rodents abound in folklore, stories, and often in negative idioms or phrases in multiple languages. While rats and other small rodents are [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Small rodents including rats have shared spaces with human civilisation for a long time as they live in proximity to people using the food, water and habitat shaped by human societies. References to rodents abound in folklore, stories, and often in negative idioms or phrases in multiple languages. While rats and other small rodents are widely recognised for the damage they cause, in some societies, they also are integral to daily lives. See for instance the worship of Karni Maata in Rajasthan, where rats and other small rodents hold a special significance in temples. In many tribal and rural communities, rats and other small rodents are also viewed as a source of food, with their consumption being welcomed and encouraged, especially since they are not considered endangered yet and they are appreciated for their taste and are an integral part of local diets. Rats and other small rodents are very unique animals in the world of the Iruliga Adivasi people. The Irula or Iruliga are one of the Adivasi communities of Karnataka and are recognised as a Scheduled Tribe (ST) under the Indian Constitution’s affirmative action provisions in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In Karnataka, the Iruligas are included in the state ST list which identifies 50 ST communities. Among these at least 12 communities including the Iruliga self-identify as Adivasi (‘first people’ in many Indian languages). As per the 2011 census reports, 10,259 Iruliga live in Karnataka, majorly living in Ramanagara and urban districts of Bengaluru and constitute a small&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/02/living-with-small-mammals-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
														</item>
						<item>
					<title>Traditional fishers turn rescuers in a win for declining marine wildlife [Commentary]</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/traditional-fishers-turn-rescuers-in-a-win-for-declining-marine-wildlife-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/traditional-fishers-turn-rescuers-in-a-win-for-declining-marine-wildlife-commentary/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Jan 2026 14:38:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[I. SanthanamariM. Fathima HannaM. Soubadra DevyMaria Antony P.Teresa Scholastica ThomasVinod M. Kumar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Divya Kilikar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bycatch]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dolphins]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Marine Fisheries]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marine wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[turtles]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://india.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2026/01/1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=36616</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Tamil Nadu]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Coast, Conservation, Fish, Fishing, Human Wildlife Conflict, Hunting, Oceans, Overfishing, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Neither turtles nor dolphins harm us when we rescue them. Many people from our village have saved them before. They cooperate with us and do not cause any trouble,” says Sheenik Abdullah, a 23-year-old fisher-rescuer from Valinokkam in Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu. Fishers along the Gulf of Mannar coast in southern Tamil Nadu once caught [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Neither turtles nor dolphins harm us when we rescue them. Many people from our village have saved them before. They cooperate with us and do not cause any trouble,” says Sheenik Abdullah, a 23-year-old fisher-rescuer from Valinokkam in Ramanathapuram district, Tamil Nadu. Fishers along the Gulf of Mannar coast in southern Tamil Nadu once caught marine animals, including the Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin (Sousa chinensis), hawksbill turtle (Eretmochelys imbricata), loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta), green turtle (Chelonia mydas), olive ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), and dugong (Dugong dugon). Today, many of them are recognised for protecting the very species they once pursued. This shift reflects a gradual reworking of human-marine relations, shaped by experiential learning at sea, locally grounded ecological knowledge, and state-led conservation incentives. In villages such as Keelamundal, Valinokam, and Mel Mundal, conservation is enacted through everyday decisions made on the shore and during fishing trips. A changing tide The waves crash loudly against the shore of Keelamundal as seagulls, known locally as kadal kaka, hover low above the surf. Fishing nets lie spread across the sand, mended by men and women who do not pause their work even as rain falls. Boats returning from the morning’s fishing trip are pulled ashore using tractors, while ice-filled storage boxes are opened to sort the catch ahead of evening sales. Fishers sort through the day’s catch in Keelamundal. The catch is carefully removed from the nets and collected into baskets and crates. Image by Vinod Kumar. For generations, the hunting of marine animals&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2026/01/traditional-fishers-turn-rescuers-in-a-win-for-declining-marine-wildlife-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Conflicted over attacks on mithuns, experts gun for hunting ban</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/conflicted-over-attacks-on-mithuns-experts-gun-for-hunting-ban/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/conflicted-over-attacks-on-mithuns-experts-gun-for-hunting-ban/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>09 Sep 2025 13:50:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kasturi Das]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Arathimenon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cattle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dhole]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dogs]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livelihoods]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[livestock]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wild dog]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/09/09123136/DSC4038-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34514</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arunachal Pradesh]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environmental Economics, Environmental Politics, Human Wildlife Conflict, and Hunting]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Early this year, when 40-year-old Taum Tamut went looking for his mithuns (Bos frontalis) in the forest surrounding his village Jomlo Mobuk in Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, he came across a grim sight. One of his mithuns lay dead, its carcass bearing the unmistakable marks of a dhole (Cuon alpinus) attack. Taum, a member of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Early this year, when 40-year-old Taum Tamut went looking for his mithuns (Bos frontalis) in the forest surrounding his village Jomlo Mobuk in Siang district of Arunachal Pradesh, he came across a grim sight. One of his mithuns lay dead, its carcass bearing the unmistakable marks of a dhole (Cuon alpinus) attack. Taum, a member of the Adi tribe and a father of three young children, has around 50 mithuns and earns his livelihood by selling vegetables, broomsticks, and occasionally a mithun or two. “The dholes don’t spare the mithun calves. Our calves have been eaten by the dholes. There are so many of them here,” says a distraught Taum. Hundreds of kilometres away in Doimukh, 54-year-old Nabum Tania from the Nyishi tribe recounts a similar incident. “They (dholes) are notorious. They come in packs of 15 to 20 and take down a whole mithun,&#8221; he says. Tania lost seven of his 20 mithuns to dhole attacks since the beginning of this year. “For a poor farmer like me, it is a huge loss. Mithun is our lifeline. I sent my children to school by rearing and selling mithuns,” says Tania. Like Taum and Tania, many farmers across Arunachal Pradesh have lost their mithuns, a semi-domesticated bovine, to dhole attacks. Since early 2025, districts such as Papum Pare, Siang, Upper Subansiri, West Siang, East Kameng, Lower Dibang Valley, and Changlang have reported a rise in dhole attacks on mithuns and other livestock. Dholes in the state are turning to mithuns because&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/09/conflicted-over-attacks-on-mithuns-experts-gun-for-hunting-ban/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>Evolving hunting practices pose an increasing threat to wildlife</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/evolving-hunting-practices-pose-an-increasing-threat-to-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/evolving-hunting-practices-pose-an-increasing-threat-to-wildlife/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Aug 2025 16:32:54 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Barasha Das]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hunting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tribal communities]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/08/25161232/Blythes-tragopan_Khelia-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=34294</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Nagaland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Environmental Law, Human Wildlife Conflict, Hunting, Protected Areas, Wildlife, and Wildlife Protection Act]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In Nagaland, hunting has deep cultural roots among the indigenous Naga tribes, and is traditionally practiced for subsistence and as part of customary life. However, this age-old practice is rapidly changing, and posing an increasing threat to wildlife. A recent study conducted across two ecologically rich forest areas in Nagaland &#8212;  Khelia Community Forest and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In Nagaland, hunting has deep cultural roots among the indigenous Naga tribes, and is traditionally practiced for subsistence and as part of customary life. However, this age-old practice is rapidly changing, and posing an increasing threat to wildlife. A recent study conducted across two ecologically rich forest areas in Nagaland &#8212;  Khelia Community Forest and Intangki National Park, reveals the troubling extent of wildlife hunting and trade in the region. Camera traps in both forests, which are part of the ecologically critical Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot, captured 31 species of wild animals, all of which are being hunted or consumed. This raises urgent questions about conservation, community roles, and the future of biodiversity in this area. Satem Longchar, a conservation ecologist and lead author of the study, recalls one of her first encounters with illegal wildlife trade. “In 2012–13, while conducting fieldwork near Nagaland’s only national park &#8211; Intangki, I met a young hunter, around 20 years old. I was showing him photos of various wild cats when he excitedly claimed to own a tiger skin. What he brought out was the pelt of a clouded leopard. He cautiously tried to sell it to me…likely because it had already been rejected by buyers for being too small to pass as a tiger’s.” That was Longchar&#8217;s first direct encounter with both the presence of clouded leopards and the illegal wildlife trade in Nagaland. “It made clear that a market for wild cat parts exists, even if most people cannot distinguish between species.”&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/08/evolving-hunting-practices-pose-an-increasing-threat-to-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Efforts to end ritualistic hunting results in reduced kills</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/05/efforts-to-end-ritualistic-hunting-results-in-reduced-kills/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2025/05/efforts-to-end-ritualistic-hunting-results-in-reduced-kills/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2025 14:35:24 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Nabarun Guha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Priyanka Shankar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hunting festival]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2025/05/07101139/signal-2025-05-07-095641-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=32499</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Beyond Protected Areas]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and West Bengal]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Hunting and Tribes]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[In 2016, a day before World Environment Day on June 5, Kolkata-based conservationist Meghna Banerjee received a distressing phone call about a huge gathering of hunters at the Panskura railway station in East Medinipur district, a bustling stop along the Howrah-Kharagpur railway line in West Bengal. Banerjee, a birdwatcher, was involved in rescuing animals and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[In 2016, a day before World Environment Day on June 5, Kolkata-based conservationist Meghna Banerjee received a distressing phone call about a huge gathering of hunters at the Panskura railway station in East Medinipur district, a bustling stop along the Howrah-Kharagpur railway line in West Bengal. Banerjee, a birdwatcher, was involved in rescuing animals and also engaged in anti-poaching activities. “Initially, I did not take the call seriously, but my friend, Suvrajyoti Chatterjee, insisted that we go and investigate,” Banerjee said. “We were shocked to find at least 5,000 hunters at the railway station with multiple sacks, each containing over 50 carcasses of monitor lizards. We saw around 2,000 live animals and carcasses lying on the platform. Some people were skinning the animals and were preparing to cook them on the open platform, in full view of the railway staff and the Railway Protection Force (RPF).”  This particular hunt was part of the Phalaharini Kali Pujo festival, a Hindu festival primarily celebrated among Bengali communities. This event was the trigger for Banerjee and Chatterjee to start Human and Environment Alliance League (HEAL) in 2017, a non-profit that aims to curb rampant exploitation of wildlife and empower locals to protect their environments. The cluster of hunting festivals known as ‘Shikar Utsav’ start from January and continue till June. The hunting mainly coincides with the full moon. “While tribes such as Santhal, Lodha, Sabar, Oraons etc. would mainly engage in these hunts as per their rituals, many non-tribal people would also join&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2025/05/efforts-to-end-ritualistic-hunting-results-in-reduced-kills/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Common, yet threatened: The case of northeast India’s Malayan giant squirrels</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/05/common-yet-threatened-the-case-of-northeast-indias-malayan-giant-squirrels/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2021/05/common-yet-threatened-the-case-of-northeast-indias-malayan-giant-squirrels/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 May 2021 11:06:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aathira Perinchery]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2021/05/24235949/1_Shreejit-Borthakur-e1621881134543-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=14252</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Almost Famous Species]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Assam and India]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Hunting, Research, Trees, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It was a hot summer morning and Samrat Sengupta, a masters’ student of science at the Guwahati University, was watching birds through his binoculars in a reserve forest in north-eastern Assam. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw a predominantly black squirrel, the size of a small monkey, manoeuvre nimbly and with great speed [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It was a hot summer morning and Samrat Sengupta, a masters’ student of science at the Guwahati University, was watching birds through his binoculars in a reserve forest in north-eastern Assam. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw a predominantly black squirrel, the size of a small monkey, manoeuvre nimbly and with great speed through the topmost branches of the high canopy. “I had never seen such a large squirrel before,” he recollected. “It fascinated me.” Ten years later, in 2017, one of the study subjects that graced his doctoral thesis was this intriguing black mammal: the Malayan giant squirrel. While Sengupta’s work examined how four arboreal squirrel species including the Malayan giant squirrel partition food, space and time to coexist in Assam’s Hollongapar Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, he gleaned some worrying facts from his fieldwork. His observations mirror what published scientific studies on the species, though few, detail. That though the Malayan giant squirrel is common in many parts of north-east India, hunting and habitat loss pose a threat to it. A dearth in scientific research – including basic data such as population status – means that targeted conservation action for the Malayan giant squirrel is also lacking. The Malayan giant squirrel Weighing around three kilos, the black or Malayan giant squirrel Ratufa bicolor is the largest of India’s four giant squirrels. Predominantly arboreal, they live in the tropical and subtropical montane evergreen and dry deciduous forests of Sikkim, north Bengal and northeast India. Sengupta’s research in 2016 shows&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2021/05/common-yet-threatened-the-case-of-northeast-indias-malayan-giant-squirrels/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>Rajasthan uncovers chinkara poaching racket</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2020/04/rajasthan-uncovers-chinkara-poaching-racket/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2020/04/rajasthan-uncovers-chinkara-poaching-racket/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Apr 2020 12:14:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mayank Aggarwal]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mayank Aggarwal]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[poaching]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trade]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[wildlife trafficking]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2020/04/13231632/Banner-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=9425</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Environment And Health]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[India and Rajasthan]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Environmental Crime, Hunting, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Protection Act, and Wildlife Sanctuary]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[During the first week of April 2020, the Rajasthan forest department nabbed four people suspected to have killed hundreds of chinkara (the Indian gazelle) and other protected species over the past several years. The latest incident they are suspected to be involved in is the poaching of three chinkara, Rajasthan&#8217;s state animal. The four accused, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[During the first week of April 2020, the Rajasthan forest department nabbed four people suspected to have killed hundreds of chinkara (the Indian gazelle) and other protected species over the past several years. The latest incident they are suspected to be involved in is the poaching of three chinkara, Rajasthan&#8217;s state animal. The four accused, who belong to the local Bhil tribe, live near the Desert National Park (DNP) in the Jaisalmer region, one of India’s largest national parks, located close to the India-Pakistan border. This breakthrough in ongoing chinkara poaching could also lead to further revelations on poaching and trafficking of other wildlife, like the supply of spiny-tailed lizards to southern India from this region. Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Rajasthan government, Balram Sharma, who led the team that nabbed the accused, informed that the incident in the Pokharan region of Jaisalmer in Rajasthan came to light after they received a tip-off about the poaching of chinkaras on April 2 from the local Bishnoi community, which is known for protecting animals. “We got information about the poaching of chinkaras near Ramdewra village (Pokharan). A team was sent to the spot, which discovered remains like head, skin and other body parts of three chinkaras – two male and one female. Subsequently, one of the accused was arrested from his house in the nearby area along with some remains of the animals, including meat. They had shot the animal with a gun which we recovered from them. Following that, three more&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2020/04/rajasthan-uncovers-chinkara-poaching-racket/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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					<title>[Commentary] Hunting for answers: the scale and impacts of hunting, and the importance of listening to hunters</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/11/commentary-hunting-for-answers-the-scale-and-impacts-of-hunting-and-the-importance-of-listening-to-hunters/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/11/commentary-hunting-for-answers-the-scale-and-impacts-of-hunting-and-the-importance-of-listening-to-hunters/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Nov 2019 12:23:02 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Aparajita DattaRohit Naniwadekar]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sandhya Sekar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/11/13154154/1280px-Hunting_Skulls_Trophy_P1090720_02-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=7571</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Community based conservation, Conservation, Hunting, and Indigenous Peoples]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Hunting poses a significant risk to wildlife persistence in four-fifths of the remaining tropical forests on earth. Eighty percent of these tropical forests lie within a 20-km radius of a human settlement, which is often the average distance a hunter would traverse to hunt. Local hunting and illegal wildlife trade can result in local extirpations [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Hunting poses a significant risk to wildlife persistence in four-fifths of the remaining tropical forests on earth. Eighty percent of these tropical forests lie within a 20-km radius of a human settlement, which is often the average distance a hunter would traverse to hunt. Local hunting and illegal wildlife trade can result in local extirpations and drive species to extinction. Wildlife populations have declined in forests throughout the tropics due to hunting, and often, vulnerable species have been extirpated, resulting in what is called the ‘empty forest syndrome’. These are forests that are structurally intact but functionally defunct. Such forests are more silent, there are fewer calls, few animal signs and tracks, one may also find undispersed fruits and seeds below tree canopies. Many of the species targeted for hunting play important ecological roles in the ecosystem as carnivores, herbivores and seed dispersers. The extinctions are often size-biased as larger animals are more vulnerable to hunting. Loss of large vertebrates in the tropics, many of which are herbivores and seed dispersers, can have cascading impacts on plant communities. Hunting in Asia While evidence of human-driven animal extinctions date back to 125,000 years ago in Africa, the earliest records of human-driven extinctions in Asia date back to 40,000 years ago. It was probably around then that the slow-moving Giant Pangolin Manis paleojavanica was driven extinct by humans. Apart from the hunting of large vertebrates, like deer, pigs and bovids (the cow family, like the Indian gaur), from records dating back to&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/11/commentary-hunting-for-answers-the-scale-and-impacts-of-hunting-and-the-importance-of-listening-to-hunters/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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						<item>
					<title>[Commentary] Tiger-tiger burning bright: Historical efforts have yielded conservation results</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/08/commentary-tiger-tiger-burning-bright-historical-efforts-have-yielded-conservation-results/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/08/commentary-tiger-tiger-burning-bright-historical-efforts-have-yielded-conservation-results/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Aug 2019 11:56:52 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[S.P. Yadav]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Mayank Aggarwal]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/08/21005355/Banner-5-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=6449</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Human Wildlife Conflict, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, Poaching, Protected Areas, Tigers, Water, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The hall at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence was filled with a sense of jubilation as he announced the results of the 2018 countrywide tiger estimation on July 29, 2019, Global Tiger Day. The PM announced that India’s tiger numbers have risen to 2,967 and the country has achieved its target of doubling tiger numbers, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The hall at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence was filled with a sense of jubilation as he announced the results of the 2018 countrywide tiger estimation on July 29, 2019, Global Tiger Day. The PM announced that India’s tiger numbers have risen to 2,967 and the country has achieved its target of doubling tiger numbers, four years ahead of the scheduled deadline of 2022, as per the 2010 St Petersburg Declaration on tiger conservation.  Now, among all 13 tiger range countries in the world, only India, besides Nepal, has the distinction of doubling its tiger numbers from the baseline year of 2010, well ahead of the 2022 deadline. While the tiger population has shown an increasing trend in India, Nepal, Bhutan and Russia, in all other countries the population is declining. In countries like Cambodia and Vietnam, either they have lost all their tigers or do not have functional tiger populations in the wild.  India’s tiger estimation which shows an increase in tiger numbers over the last decade, is a testimony of the hard labour put in by thousands of forest and wildlife staff, who are the foot soldiers at the frontlines, fighting the battle tirelessly, round the clock to save the national animal and its habitat, despite the vagaries of weather, floods, forest fires, drought, frost.  Improvement in survey techniques It is not just the tiger numbers that have improved but the very method of estimating tigers has improved too over the decades. E.P. Gee (1966) estimated the existence&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/08/commentary-tiger-tiger-burning-bright-historical-efforts-have-yielded-conservation-results/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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						<item>
					<title>Tigers are vanishing outside protected areas in the northeast</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/08/tigers-are-vanishing-outside-protected-areas-in-the-northeast/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/08/tigers-are-vanishing-outside-protected-areas-in-the-northeast/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Aug 2019 13:04:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bikash Kumar BhattacharyaNabarun Guha]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sandhya Sekar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/08/17153139/A-tiger-in-Kaziranga-Sai-Adikarla-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=6404</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[India's Iconic Landscapes]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Hunting, Protected Areas, and Tigers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The annual marathon used to be a big event in Bokolia, a small town in eastern Assam’s picturesque hill district of Karbi Anglong. The participants would run from Bokolia to Manja, a neighbouring town, and return to Bokolia, covering a distance of about 80 kilometres. For several years the undisputed champion of the annual event [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The annual marathon used to be a big event in Bokolia, a small town in eastern Assam’s picturesque hill district of Karbi Anglong. The participants would run from Bokolia to Manja, a neighbouring town, and return to Bokolia, covering a distance of about 80 kilometres. For several years the undisputed champion of the annual event was Mangal Singh Terang, a brawny youngster from Sar-at Terang Gaon in Bokolia. He won the championship seven times consecutively. However, the 1991 marathon was the last one Terang participated in. One chilly winter morning that year, equipped with the traditional Karbi bow and arrow, Terang, along with 30 fellow villagers, participated in the community hunting in the nearby Kaki Reserve Forest, looking to bring home wild boars and deer. But that was not to be. Something unexpected was waiting for him. “We were looking for game inside the forest when a tiger, as if out of nowhere, sprang onto me from behind. It dragged me with its claws and was trying to bite me,” said Terang, vividly recounting his horrifying experience even though it had been three decades since it took place. Desperate to evade the feline’s jaws, Terang punched its face. And that worked! “Those days, I was very athletic and sturdy, and the punch worked. On top of that, my friends were shouting. Alarmed, the beast let go of my leg and disappeared into the bush,” Terang said. “It is said that if a tiger somehow misses its prey, it doesn’t come&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/08/tigers-are-vanishing-outside-protected-areas-in-the-northeast/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>How the legacy of a colonial hunter has inspired conservation efforts in the forests of south India</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/07/how-the-legacy-of-kenneth-anderson-has-inspired-conservation-efforts-in-the-forests-of-south-india/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/07/how-the-legacy-of-kenneth-anderson-has-inspired-conservation-efforts-in-the-forests-of-south-india/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2019 11:01:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[K.A. Shaji]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[S. Gopikrishna Warrier]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/07/17055433/IMG20190602093116-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=6030</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Karnataka and Tamil Nadu]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Big Cats, Conservation, Forests, Hunting, and Tigers]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Ironical as it may sound, the legacy of an India-born British hunter from India’s colonial past is now living on in the conservation efforts of a nature society, founded in his memory in Hosur in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, in 2008. Known as south India’s Jim Corbett, Kenneth Anderson studied and worked in Bengaluru [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Ironical as it may sound, the legacy of an India-born British hunter from India’s colonial past is now living on in the conservation efforts of a nature society, founded in his memory in Hosur in Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu, in 2008. Known as south India’s Jim Corbett, Kenneth Anderson studied and worked in Bengaluru (Bangalore at the time) in the 1920s. After 15 years in the posts and telegraph department, he took up his last job at the British Aircraft Factory in Bengaluru (Hindustan Aeronautics Limited) as a factory manager. He was also an avid sport hunter, interested especially in big game.  But it is as a writer that he is remembered most widely today. Anderson authored several books based on his hunting exploits in the jungles of south India and is considered by many as among the first wildlife conservationists in the region. A view of Jawlagiri made famous by Kenneth Anderson in his writings. Photo by Peppin Jerold. In fact, the Hosur-based Kenneth Anderson Nature Society (KANS) has been demanding that the Melagiri region in Tamil Nadu be declared a wildlife sanctuary named after Anderson.  According to S.R. Sanjeev Kumar, vice-president of KANS, this would invite global attention to conservation efforts in the region. The society works extensively to reduce man-animal conflict in Aiyur, Jawlagiri and Anchetty– all forest areas in Tamil Nadu that have repeatedly found mention in Anderson’s books.  With Karnataka’s Bannerghatta wildlife sanctuary to its north and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary of Tamil Nadu to the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/07/how-the-legacy-of-kenneth-anderson-has-inspired-conservation-efforts-in-the-forests-of-south-india/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Vhali Watcher: An app to set whale sharks free</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/05/vhali-watcher-an-app-to-set-whale-sharks-free/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/05/vhali-watcher-an-app-to-set-whale-sharks-free/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 May 2019 12:54:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Vasudevan Sridharan]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sandhya Sekar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/05/03162737/Whale-shark-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=5106</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Gujarat]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Conservation, Fishing, Hunting, Oceans, People, and Technology and Conservation]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For fisherfolk from Gujarat, finding a whale shark tangled in their nets is an unwelcome sight. They can’t legally harvest the protected species, yet the world’s biggest fish can wreak costly havoc on a net. To encourage fishers to spare whale sharks rather than haul them illegally to market, the state offers them compensation. Until [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For fisherfolk from Gujarat, finding a whale shark tangled in their nets is an unwelcome sight. They can’t legally harvest the protected species, yet the world’s biggest fish can wreak costly havoc on a net. To encourage fishers to spare whale sharks rather than haul them illegally to market, the state offers them compensation. Until now, though, getting paid has entailed navigating a cumbersome bureaucracy and often prickly personal relationships with local authorities. In March, the Gujarat Forest Department launched a mobile app intended to dramatically simplify the existing compensation process. The app, called Vhali Watcher after the fish’s local name, is suitable for the low-end smartphones used by fishers. It works offline too, so fishers can use it in open waters with limited internet. It enables the fishers to document their mercy for whale sharks (Rhincodon typus) by photographing their fortuitous catch and saving the data directly on government servers. The photographs are embedded with date and location data accurate up to 10 meters (32 feet). To minimise potential abuse, the app won’t upload images taken via other means, and photos snapped via the app are neither transferable nor storable. Fishers disentangle a whale shark accidentally caught in a fishing net. Image courtesy of Wildlife Trust of India. To compensate for damaged fishing gear, since 2007 the government has offered up to Rs 25,000 rupees to anyone who voluntarily lets go of a whale shark by cutting their nets. But the procedure for claiming the money was onerous: it&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/05/vhali-watcher-an-app-to-set-whale-sharks-free/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Poaching interrupts study of migratory birds in Kashmir</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/04/poaching-interrupts-study-of-migratory-birds-in-kashmir/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/04/poaching-interrupts-study-of-migratory-birds-in-kashmir/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2019 11:22:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Athar Parvaiz]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2019/04/15230742/As-per-estimates-of-Kashmirs-wildlife-department-around-half-a-million-birds-visit-Kashmir-annually-Photo-Credit-__Athar-Parvaiz-e1555349987471-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=4851</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Jammu and Kashmir]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Hunting, Migration, and Poaching]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Gunshots crack into the air as dusk falls. A young man from Zainakote village in Srinagar district, bumps into two other local youth who are strolling on the eastern shore of Kashmir’s Hokersar bird sanctuary. “The encounter is going on at Hokersar,” he tells them nonchalantly with a wry smile on his face. “Encounter” is [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Gunshots crack into the air as dusk falls. A young man from Zainakote village in Srinagar district, bumps into two other local youth who are strolling on the eastern shore of Kashmir’s Hokersar bird sanctuary. “The encounter is going on at Hokersar,” he tells them nonchalantly with a wry smile on his face. “Encounter” is a repeatedly used word in Kashmir as for years, the locals have been witnessing and waking up to the news of armed encounters in the conflict-ridden region. The youth though, is referring to the carnage of birds, indicated by the gunshots that ring out repeatedly from inside the Hokersar sanctuary, where hunters are pulling triggers on the sanctuary’s winged residents. The young man’s likening of bird-hunting to an [armed] encounter is not surprising in a place like Kashmir, where gun-fights or encounters between militants and government forces are a norm. But he misses the key difference between hunting and [armed] encounters – an encounter usually has two parties exchanging gun-fire. At Hokersar, the birds are at the mercy of the hunters. Hokersar Wetland, a Ramsar site overlooked by Pir Panjal hills, is located 12 kilometres west of Srinagar city and is surrounded by over half a dozen villages including Zainakote and Haji Bagh. Known as the “queen of Himalayan wetlands” and a paradise for myriad migratory and residential bird species, the wetland hosts a number of waterfowl species which include the greylag goose, mallard, pochard, Eurasian coot, gadwall and more, believed to have come here from Siberia,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/04/poaching-interrupts-study-of-migratory-birds-in-kashmir/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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					<title>[Commentary] Scale of the issue: The Indian pangolin is losing ground in the northern Eastern Ghats</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/02/commentary-scale-of-the-issue-the-indian-pangolin-is-losing-ground-in-the-northern-eastern-ghats/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2019/02/commentary-scale-of-the-issue-the-indian-pangolin-is-losing-ground-in-the-northern-eastern-ghats/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2019 12:09:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Krishna PavanRohit SubhedarVikram Aditya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/02/28101337/credit-to-WCCB1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=4050</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Andhra Pradesh and Eastern Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Hunting, Poaching, Wildlife, Wildlife Trade, and Wildlife Trafficking]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The day was cloudy, mist covered our faces for the most part. The early morning rain had caused the birds to go into temporary hiding, but they were quick to show up after the sun came out. The sun made it quite humid but the views of the gently rolling hills of the Eastern Ghats [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The day was cloudy, mist covered our faces for the most part. The early morning rain had caused the birds to go into temporary hiding, but they were quick to show up after the sun came out. The sun made it quite humid but the views of the gently rolling hills of the Eastern Ghats forests covered in mist, with sunlight beaming through the clouds made our work a little less stressful. The forests of the northern Eastern Ghats hill region of Andhra Pradesh are drained by a network of streams that meander across the landscape to finally meet the mighty Godavari river. We were trekking our way through the forest crossing one such stream several times as it refused to let go of the forest. It was not long until we stumbled upon something interesting, or rather, troubling. We found quills of the Indian porcupine lying on the forest floor.The number of quills were few, around 10 to 15 if we were getting it right but it was enough to create some suspicion. As we walked ahead we found more quills on the trail, with the number of quills increasing each time. We finally reached the spot where the animal was killed. The place had some blood stains and a pile of porcupine quills. This nocturnal rodent is quite commonly hunted in this region for its meat. It is not strange in these forests to find more people than wildlife. And more often than not, they are carrying a&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2019/02/commentary-scale-of-the-issue-the-indian-pangolin-is-losing-ground-in-the-northern-eastern-ghats/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>[Book review] &#8220;Were conservation a Facebook status, it would read: It’s (very) complicated&#8221;</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/10/book-review-were-conservation-a-facebook-status-it-would-read-its-very-complicated/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/10/book-review-were-conservation-a-facebook-status-it-would-read-its-very-complicated/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Oct 2018 10:35:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Prerna Singh Bindra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sandhya Sekar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/10/15204956/HearderBookReview-768x512.png" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=2709</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Conservation, Fishing, Forests, Hunting, Indigenous Peoples, and People]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[While on a trip to Palamu (Jharkhand) in October 2010, I visited a hamlet where a leopard had killed a cow the night before. When we reached the spot, there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary. The family had five cows and a few goats, which were corralled, but the fences weren’t [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[While on a trip to Palamu (Jharkhand) in October 2010, I visited a hamlet where a leopard had killed a cow the night before. When we reached the spot, there didn’t seem to be anything out of the ordinary. The family had five cows and a few goats, which were corralled, but the fences weren’t very secure. Around midnight, the predator had squeezed in and killed a calf. The loss for a family living off the land, and their livestock, was acute. Yet, in a manner, peculiar and especial to my country, they were calmly philosophical about the cataclysm. If you lived in a jungle, this was par for the course. The forest gave them food, water, medicine, wood, fodder &#8211; everything; so occasionally, you had to pay up. I was astounded, this turned on its head the theory that we took for gospel: That education, literacy, awareness, exposure would increase tolerance, further the cause of conservation. Palamu is one of the poorest and driest districts of not just of the region, but the country, and few adults here had formal education. I contrasted this with an incident in Sohna, a village relatively more affluent and literate and some three km from my home in Delhi NCR, where a leopard had been beaten and bludgeoned to death in November 2016 for daring to show up. Were conservation a Facebook status, it would read: It’s (very) complicated. Talking of conservation as if people mattered If there is anything I have learnt in my&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2018/10/book-review-were-conservation-a-facebook-status-it-would-read-its-very-complicated/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Scientists describe new species of shieldtail snakes found in Anaikatti hills</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/07/scientists-describe-new-species-of-shieldtail-snakes-found-in-anaikatti-hills/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2018/07/scientists-describe-new-species-of-shieldtail-snakes-found-in-anaikatti-hills/?noamp=mobile#comments</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Jul 2018 11:49:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Manupriya]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Aditi Tandon]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Human-wildlife conflict]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New species]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Snakes]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2018/07/05003900/Uropeltis-bhupathyi_1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=1677</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Western Ghats]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Endangered species, Habitat Loss, Human Wildlife Conflict, Hunting, New species, and Roads]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[About an hour’s drive away from Coimbatore, in the Anaikatti hills, scientists from the herpetology division of Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) have found a new species of a shieldtail snake that they have named Uropeltis bhupathyi. Although the species is newly named, there is nothing new about the occurrence of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[About an hour’s drive away from Coimbatore, in the Anaikatti hills, scientists from the herpetology division of Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) have found a new species of a shieldtail snake that they have named Uropeltis bhupathyi. Although the species is newly named, there is nothing new about the occurrence of this kind of snake in this area. When the rains start, every year, several shieldtails come scurrying out of their burrows. About a decade ago the same species was spotted by Subramaniam Bhupathy of SACON, who erroneously reported it as a member of Uropeltis ellioti. Bhupathy was one of India’s most respected names in herpetology. Unfortunately, he passed away in an accident during a field expedition in 2014. One of his students V.J. Jins has carried forward Bhupathy’s work on the Uropeltis family of snakes. His detailed research has now shown that the species Bhupathy had thought to be member of Uropeltis ellioti should actually be classified as a new species. Jins named the species Uropeltis bhupathyi in honour of his late professor. He has published his findings in the journal Zootaxa. Earlier thought to be a member of Uropeltis eliottii, scientists from the herpetology division of SACON have found that it is a new species of a shieldtail snake and named it Uropeltis bhupathyi. Photo by V.J. Jins. One of the most striking differences between Uropeltis ellioti and Uropeltis bhupathyi is the number of ventral scales &#8211; the scales found in the belly region of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2018/07/scientists-describe-new-species-of-shieldtail-snakes-found-in-anaikatti-hills/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<title>Hunting disturbs waterbird communities in Tamil Nadu wetlands</title>
					<link>https://india.mongabay.com/2017/12/hunting-disturbs-waterbird-communities-in-tamil-nadu-wetlands/</link>
					<comments>https://india.mongabay.com/2017/12/hunting-disturbs-waterbird-communities-in-tamil-nadu-wetlands/?noamp=mobile#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Dec 2017 11:55:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Neha Jain]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sandhya Sekar]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Birds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[conservation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hunting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[waterbirds]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wetlands]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/30/2017/12/18104525/Pic-1_smaller-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://india.mongabay.com/?p=179</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Tamil Nadu]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Hunting, Lakes, People, Protected Areas, Rivers, Wetlands, Wildlife, and Wildlife Trade]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As dusk falls upon the wetlands in Kanchipuram district in Tamil Nadu, a diverse array of waterbirds, from storks to ibises to pelicans, congregate by the edge of the water. Some of them do not live to see the dawn. Hunters gather their locally crafted single-barrel, muzzle-loading guns and dauntlessly venture out in groups to [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
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							<![CDATA[As dusk falls upon the wetlands in Kanchipuram district in Tamil Nadu, a diverse array of waterbirds, from storks to ibises to pelicans, congregate by the edge of the water. Some of them do not live to see the dawn. Hunters gather their locally crafted single-barrel, muzzle-loading guns and dauntlessly venture out in groups to capture waterbirds. There are a few hundred hunters who hunt during the weekends from December to April, during dawn and dusk when the waterbirds are highly active. Each hunter gets about 21 birds on each foray—the bigger the better. Most of them know hunting is illegal, but none of them has ever been caught. These hunting patterns were revealed in a recent study on illegal waterbird hunting in South Asia. Researchers found that hunting overrides habitat factors, reduces waterbird diversity, density, and pushes the community towards smaller-sized birds. The motive for hunting was not subsistence, but commercial as demand for waterbirds has risen dramatically over the past few years. The study “exposes illegal hunting to be a serious emerging threat to waterbird conservation and human health as well,” said Ramesh Ramachandran, lead author of the study who was a student with the MSc in Wildlife Biology &amp; Conservation programme, at the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru during the study. Hawkers carrying egrets in an open market. Photo by special arrangement. Hunting has already threatened bird and mammal populations across tropical forests. In Southeast Asia, overhunting is one of the main causes of drastic declines&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://india.mongabay.com/2017/12/hunting-disturbs-waterbird-communities-in-tamil-nadu-wetlands/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
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