Stuck in the midst of bureaucracy, politicians and the courts, the biodiversity and coal-rich Hasdeo Arand forest region in Chhattisgarh, stares at a grim future. There are 18 coal blocks…
In India, few animals carry the kind of cultural symbolism like elephants do. Human-elephant interaction boasts a rich history dating back centuries. It is but natural that such a long…
A tiny reserve forest in Assam along a fenced stretch of the India-Bangladesh border is facing a unique predicament. Bereft of a male elephant, the population of six remaining border-cruising…
Often a defining feature of any landscape, a “boundary” as perceived by humans, is almost never seen as a limit by other species. On the other hand, a road or…
Elephants are not grey anymore. They are red, blue, sometimes red and blue, spotted and striped and polka-dotted. They gleam in brass, in burnished wood and pop out of walls…
As more and more elephant habitats are falling under the ever-growing influence of humans, elephants are often coming into contact with people, whether they are passing through human-inhabited landscapes, or…
I will never forget the two chaotic nights I spent with the wildlife biologist Rauf Ali in the jungles of Mundanthurai, a hilly tract in southernmost Tamil Nadu. In spite…
Montora, a docile Indian elephant, enters the small, muddy brown lake. She rolls about, letting the water slide on her back. Her mahout shouts out to her in Bengali. His…
Environmental activists have expressed dismay at the partial demolition of a wall built by an oil refinery that they hoped would be completely pulled down. The wall, they contend, blocks…
K. Alagirisamy stands guarding the forest check post in Hasanur, Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve (STR). “I was the last one to spot the tiger- right here on the road,” he says,…
Amidst rising human-wildlife conflicts in the country, India plans to roll out a pilot experimental research project in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand to test the most appropriate method to…
Madukkarai, a location next to a reserved forest in the Coimbatore district, lies on the slope of Palakkad Hills, which is contiguous to the Nilgiris massif in the Western Ghats.…
