One among the many critical biodiversity-rich landscapes spread across the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region, the far eastern Himalayas, is home to several species of rare, endemic, and threatened flora…
Early morning on May 25, a Tata Sumo ‘maxi cab’ – an SUV commonly used for long distance travel across Mizoram – was stopped at the Khankawn police check gate…
Scottish economist Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” has been the dominant paradigm in development and policy circles, especially in neoliberal economics, for over 250 years. In 1776, in his seminal An…
The rose-ringed parakeet is a common pet across many countries. The bright green plumage and range of vocalisations make it one of the most sought-after birds in the pet trade.…
The illegal tiger-farming business is thriving in parts of Asia. Tigers and bears can be seen pacing inside prison-like cages made of cement and corrugated steel in a new, covert…
Wildlife trafficking, which is the illegal trade of wild animals and plants, either as dead or live specimens, or their parts, has a huge negative effect on the world’s environments,…
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…
In a secretly recorded video, a man is heard confidently saying, “I have 560 pieces of live tortoises of size 5-12 centimetres [2-5 inches] and the tortoises can be sent…
It was a calm October night over Sri Lanka’s northern seas, the silence broken only by the sound of a rapidly approaching motorboat from India. In Kalpitiya, a town further…
With a complete ban on wildlife trade of Indian species, there has been a surge in demand in India, for exotic species from different parts of the world, noted the…
Camels were once a prized possession for breeders in Rajasthan. Madhavram Raika, a breeder from Pali district, said that his father owned 150 camels. Of these, both young and adult…
Around three months ago, Adithyan D. Thambi, a sixth standard student from Kalathode in central Kerala's Thrissur town, chanced upon a turtle while fishing in a local canal. As soon…
On March 16 this year, around ten days before Assam went to polls, routine checks were on at the checkpoint in Ghiladhari in Golaghat district of the eastern state. When…
The global illegal trade in wildlife is worth upto US$ 19 billion annually, and is the fourth largest illicit market after drugs, counterfeit, and human trafficking. On June 21, 2020,…
Hardly three months have gone by since a special protection force assigned by the administration of Union Territory of Lakshadweep seized 1716 sea cucumbers from an uninhabited island named Suhali. Weighing 882…
'Jackal horn', locally referred to as siyar singhi, gidar singhi or nari kombu, is considered a lucky charm by some and is used in black magic and astrology. While there…
Leaving his stall at the Golbazar Maharajganj Fish Market in Agartala, the vendor headed out toward another shop, a hovel really, tucked between the market’s boundary wall and a stack…
The World Health Organization has categorised the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as a pandemic in light of its spread around the world. Ever since the first cases emerged in the…
On the evening of October 24, law enforcement officials kicked down doors of multiple factories and warehouses across six Indian states. The raids were the result of ‘Operation Clean Art’,…
The global focus on the smuggling of rhino horns and tiger parts from India to China has led to a drop in smuggling, but that has been replaced by a…
