Managing marine life strandings, while national protocol is awaited
On the evening of June 24, 2015, members of the Konkan Cetacean Research Team received an ominous call. A blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), the largest animal in the world, was…
With tigers getting the spotlight, is poaching of leopards increasing in the blind spot?
With tigers, lions and elephants grabbing the limelight in India’s wildlife conservation sector, other mammals such as leopards usually remain in the shadows. But they face a similar, if not…
The Leopards of Aarey
The Waghoba temple in Mumbai's Aarey Milk Colony houses an idol of a big cat. Resembling a tiger, the idol is worshipped by tribal communities living in the area. A…
Satellite-tagged Amur falcon killed in Manipur
Days after it was satellite tagged and released, an Amur falcon ‘Manipur’, eponymously named after the northeast Indian state bordering Myanmar, was allegedly shot down by unknown miscreants at a…
Home gardens and polluted fields are helping conserve this perfume source
The primary source of agarwood and one of the world’s most expensive trees, the evergreen agar tree (Aquilaria malaccensis Lam.) is a step away from extinction in the wild. In…
It takes a village to fight off rhino poaching
This is the second article in a two-part series on poaching in Jaldapara National Park. In Part One, interviews with former poachers revealed the inner workings of wildlife trafficking in…
A small village in Jaldapara is reeling under illegal trading of rhino horns
This is the first article in a two-part series on poaching in Jaldapara National Park. Part Two (published on 28-May) looks at prevention and enforcement efforts. JALDAPARA NATIONAL PARK, India…
A Naga village’s journey from hunting ground to safe haven for the Amur falcon
For filmmaker Sesino Yhoshu, watching tens and thousands of Amur falcons (Falco amurensis) roost by the Doyang reservoir in a remote corner of Nagaland was an awe-inspiring moment. It stirred…
Karnataka cracks down on visitors disturbing wildlife, going on selfie sprees
In 2016, in the desert state of Rajasthan, a man had a narrow escape while he tried a selfie attempt with a python. In the same year, an Indian cricketer…
[Interview] Imagining an alternative future
Ashish Kothari, activist from Kalpavriksh in Pune, has co-edited with K.J. Joy a large and impressive tome called Alternative Futures: India Unshackled (Authors Upfront, 2017). They boldly attempt to predict…
