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…
Karmali (also called Carambolim) is among Goa's most picturesque railway stations, perched on the banks of the lake with the same name. The lake has long been known for the…
With the onset of monsoons, excitement sets in, in a community along India’s southeast coast. The Telukunchi village community in Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, with vast swathes of wetlands, prepares…
Tigers are known for living in dense forest areas, away from human settlements -- unlike the other big cats, leopards, that are quite comfortable living in human-dominated habitats and in…
Some butterflies go to any lengths to make ant-friends. Their caterpillars have evolved button-like spots on their backs to spout sugary rewards to attract ants; a special gland in their…
Elephants in north Bengal are more likely to raid crops in areas with a matrix of agriculture, forests, riverine patches, tea plantations and peripheries of protected areas, a study has…
A pencil sketch shows an elephant trying to dismantle a thatched roof. Another depicts a pachyderm helping itself to succulent sugarcane stalks from a farm as people brandish fire torches…
