“It was around seven in the evening. During a routine inspection in my field, I discovered a herd of seven-eight wild boars. They were big, some 2.5-3 feet in height.…
Its call is hard to miss. A series of high-pitched and staccato chirrups reverberate through the dense forests where it is found. Follow the sound and you might spot the…
Author Karen Bekker, in her new book about sounds in nature, recounts a story from Brazilian researcher Rafael José de Menezes Bastos. The story determines how differently some humans process…
In recent years, the construction of crossing structures has been one of the key measures adopted in India to mitigate wildlife mortality and increase connectivity. Several projects, including nine overpasses…
A new study by K.S. Gopi Sundar, Swati Kittur and Suhridam Roy, at the Nature Conservation Foundation, details the discovery of a novel social unit among sarus cranes. The study…
Media outlets in Nepal were recently abuzz with reports that the country’s iconic Bengal tigers (Panthera tigris tigris) were moving to India in search of better habitats. In Nepal, the…
Sri Lanka's small population of Indian pangolins in the wild have faced a single consistent threat for decades: the domestic meat market. While some believe pangolin parts have medicinal properties…
The months of March and April are busy for the people of Masiyari, a village in Madhya Pradesh, adjacent to a forest. It’s the season for mahua flower collection. Everyone…
“Powerbaaz”. “Main boss”. No, these descriptions don’t refer to any power-hungry politician or underworld don. It’s how the indigenous Warli people of Maharashtra see their animal god, the Waghoba. The…
The fishing cat in Odisha faces the threat of shrinking marshlands, its habitat, but experts hope that recent conservation efforts employed by the state will help it swim against the…
Native to the Indian subcontinent, Russell’s vipers are highly venomous snakes and the major cause of mortalities and permanent disabilities each year in South Asia. Now, a new study, which…
A team of researchers studying stingless bees have observed that the bees feed on the sweat and tears of humans – reportedly, a first-of-its-kind finding from India. The reports of…
Wildlife biologists have reported the longest dispersal and subsequent home establishment of an 18-month-old female tiger 99-kilometres away from her home site at Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh. The…
Locally known as Thung Thung Karmu, the black-necked crane (Grus nigricollis) is not simply a bird but an emotion for the inhabitants of Sangti and Zemithang valleys in Arunachal Pradesh…
With significant numbers of arrests to curb the illegal wildlife trade in pangolins in Odisha, the state government is now planning to deploy satellite transmitters to scale up its research…
As the light fades over the village in the winter evening, the residents of Charotar return home after a day’s work. They’re careful with their routes. It’s almost the end…
One morning in April 2020, early in the lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, I leaned over the terrace parapet of my home in Bengaluru, scanning the spreading branches of a…
What are dung beetles? Dung beetles use the dung of warm-blooded herbivores for… everything. They are attracted to fresh dung via volatiles (meaning, the smell). Adults feed on the soup…
Sloth bears are the world's only bears built to eat ants. They love their occasional meat tidbits of course but thrive mostly on ants, insects, fruits and wild berries. Their…
Of the insect world’s many architects, the termites are undoubtedly the reigning monarchs. The earthen mounds that these tiny insects construct out of soil, water and their own saliva, are…
