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Study confirms Konkan a habitat for tigers in Western Ghats; 12 big cats recorded
Hindustan Times, December 2024
A study conducted jointly by the forest department, Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR) and Wildlife Conservation Trust using camera traps has confirmed that the Konkan region is not only a corridor but also a habitat for tigers in the western ghats. The study – submitted to the state forest department in May 2024, the details of which Hindustan Times accessed on Friday – also recorded the presence of 12 tigers, including two cubs, in the corridor mainly covering Sindhudurg and Satara.
6th Wildlife Protection Government Law College National Moot Court Competition, 2024-25
SCC Online Times, November 2024
Government Law College, Mumbai, in association with the Wildlife Conservation Trust, presents The 6th Wildlife Protection Government Law College National Moot Court Competition, 2024-25. The Wildlife Protection Government Law College National Moot Court Competition is India’s first wildlife conservation-focused Moot Court Competition.
Second big cat spotted in Sahyadri Tiger Reserve after almost a year, named STR-T2
The Times of India, November 2023
A new tiger, named ‘STR-T2’, was spotted through trap camera images in the forest areas of in Chandoli National Park of Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR) on the night of Oct 28.
This is the second tiger that has been recorded in the Chandoli Wildlife Division under the STR. On Dec 17, 2023, a tiger was recorded on trap cameras in the STR for the first time since 2018. It was named ‘STR-T1′. Since then, the forest department and field staff have monitored the tiger’s movement, which has been living in the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve for the past year.
Water heater that helps cut man-animal conflict in Chandrapur wins UN award
The Times of India, November 2023
Launched in 2019, WCT’s flagship ‘Heater of Hope’ project has so far installed ‘bumbb’ in 9,500 households in the Bramhapuri forest division. Data shows the heater has already led to firewood savings of at least 9,500 tonnes and a carbon dioxide emission reduction of 15,200 tonnes annually.
Learning curve from pangolin conservation project in Madhya Pradesh
The New Indian Express, October 2024
A first-of-its-kind research project by the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) and MP Forest Department to develop ecology-based conservation strategies for the Indian pangolin, has led to the successful rehabilitation of at least 15 of them in the Pench and Satpura Tiger Reserves. They were confiscated by the state forest department from smugglers.
Study on pollution effect on fishing cats in Sundarbans to start next week
The Times of India, October 2024
A study to unravel the detrimental effects of pollution on fishing cats – the state animal of Bengal – in the Indian Sundarbans is set to start next week. The study aims to decipher the impact of microplastics and heavy metals on fishing cats inhabiting the delta through analysis of scat samples.
Not-for-profit organisation working to reduce human-wildlife conflict wins UN award
Mid-Day, October, 2023
A not-for-profit’s ingenious water-heating contraption introduced in the homes in Brahmapuri near Tadoba has won a UN award for efforts to mitigate human-tiger conflict. For 12 years now, the Mumbai-headquartered not-for-profit Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) has been working in the landscape to the east of …
Forest dept reports eight tigers in Sawantwadi-Dodamarg transit corridor
The Times of India, October 2024
Sindhudurg’s forest department, Sahyadri Tiger Reserve and Wildlife Conservation Trust have together reported the sighting of eight tigers using the Sawantwadi-Dodamarg transit corridor.
The wildlife corridor is a densely forested area in the Western Ghats that connects sanctuaries and national parks across Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka.
The felines have been using the corridor to walk from Goa, Karnataka and the southern part of Maharashtra up to Radhanagari region. A census conducted from January to May this year documented the observations and the findings. Attacks on animals increased in Sawantwadi and Dodamarg regions in the last few months.
Wildlife Expert Anish Andheria Ranks States On Tiger Conservation Records
NDTV, April 2023
On 50 years of Project Tiger, Anish Andheria, the chief executive of Wildlife Conservation Trust, decodes the numbers and ranks Indian states on their tiger conservation records.
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Tiger conservation: A multi-point agenda to bring all states up to par
Hindustan Times, April 2023
WCT President Dr. Anish Andheria in the Hindustan Times
To preserve India’s biodiversity, prevent non-forest activity, disallow infra in protected areas, control forest fires, improve conviction rates for offences.
India may have fared better than 12 other tiger-bearing countries, but the coming decade is likely to throw up many challenges with the potential of destabilising the population of one of the most charismatic large cats ever to have walked on the planet.
These challenges will stem from the ever-increasing human population and the resulting footprint on already stressed natural ecosystems.
Here are some critical steps that every tiger state will have to take:
Prevent non-forest activity inside Protected Areas (PAs) and eco-sensitive zones, as India’s PAs constitute merely 5% of its total land area and depleting them will serve a death knell to innumerable species.
Disallow linear infrastructure such as roads, railways, canals or powerlines to impinge upon tiger reserves, PAs and existing wildlife corridors.
Build scientifically whetted mitigation structures so that wildlife can move freely in those instances where linear infrastructure cannot avoid cutting a corridor.
Control man-made forest fires with a vengeance by training local communities to extract minor forest produce such as tendu leaves, mahua flowers, etc without resorting to burning the undergrowth (fire is by far the most potent agent for forest degradation and biodiversity loss in India).
Revamp the tourism model such that the income generated can feed millions of marginalised people living in and around India’s PAs.
Build capacity of local communities living in multiple-use areas to reduce the impact of human-wildlife conflict (higher incomes from tourism will definitely reduce the antagonism between people and the forest department and rapid assessment of damage and swift compensation for crop and livestock depredation by wild animals will certainly help).
Improve the conviction rate in case of wildlife offences — at the moment, it is as low as 5%.
And finally, make the wildlife budget, both at the Centre and state-level, commensurate with the ecosystem services provided by India’s biodiversity-rich habitat.
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Tiger-human conflict: Why are man-animal conflicts on the rise in India?
Mid-Day, April 2023
Anish Andheria, Chief Executive Officer of the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), says that in the Bramhapuri forest division of Chandrapur, around 40 to 50 humans have been killed every year on an average for the last five years. The area witnessed 50 deaths in 2021 and around 45 in 2022. WCT has been conducting research in the Chandrapur district in collaboration with the Maharashtra government, and tries to provide solutions to boost wildlife conservation as well as to minimise human-wildlife conflict (HWC).
“More than the population of tigers, it is the degradation of forests that has a direct connection to HWC. There are certain corridors [forested areas intermixed with grasslands and wetlands, providing connectivity between protected areas] in the same landscape as Brahmapuri where the density of tigers is more, and yet the incidence of HWC is lower. Because the forest cover is adequate. In Chandrapur, attacks usually occur when locals enter the forest to collect mohua flowers and tendu leaves,” Andheria says. “In order to make them easier to spot, the villagers burn the undergrowth twice a year to keep the forest floor dark. More often than not, this fire spreads to the tiger reserves or corridors. Sometimes, locals also send their cattle to graze here. The depletion of forests leads to a negative interaction between man and beast.”
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Climate change pitting humans and wildlife against each other, say conservationists
The Print, April 2023
In its latest all-India tiger estimation report, released recently by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) highlighted the “silent and surmounting” threats of climate change-related impacts on habitats and the loss of the quality of forests over time.
Anish Andheria, the president of the Wildlife Conservation Trust and a member of the NTCA, said climate change is having a devastating impact on both wildlife and communities.
“Climate change has led to erratic weather patterns, causing crop yields to diminish and making farmers increasingly dependent on forests for their livelihoods. As a result, poor people are becoming even more reliant on forests for food and fuelwood, which in turn is leading to a rise in human-wildlife conflicts,” he said.
Moreover, the increasing frequency and intensity of forest fires, which is a direct result of drier weather conditions, is not only burning the undergrowth but trees as well. This leads to the degradation of entire forests and causes animals to venture out of their territories and come into conflict with humans, the conservationist added.
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…If India hopes to be home to 1,500-5,000 more tigers
The Times of India, April 2023
In 1973, when the ‘Project Tiger’ was launched, the country’s tiger count was 1,827. Fifty years down the line, there are nearly 3,000 tigers — an average annual rise of 1. 34%. Even as the increase does not seem phenomenal, experts say India can ideally hold between 1,500-5,000 more tigers.
Aditya Joshi, a wildlife biologist with WCT, points out that there are several states where long-term interventions to bring back wild prey densities in existing PAs, along with securing potential forest blocks, can provide viable habitats. Joshi observes that if action is taken in all tiger-range states, India can support thrice its current tiger population.
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Tiger numbers reach 3,167, local extinction a concern
Hindustan Times, April 2023
India’s tiger population has increased by 6.74% to 3,167 in 2022, up from 2,967 in 2018, according to the National Tiger Conservation Authority. However, the report highlights that most tiger reserves in India are small and vulnerable to unsustainable land use, leading to localised extinctions.
“Tiger numbers cannot keep growing linearly or exponentially in populations where they are already healthy. The increase in tiger numbers this time also may have come from the same states that have done well in the past,” said said Anish Andheria, president of the Wildlife Conservation Trust, a non-profit. “As a country, India is doing exceedingly well. With 1.4 billion people to increase the population of tigers is no mean feat. No other country has managed this, including African countries.”
One of the major challenges in tiger conservation is aligning the aspirations of large-scale economic development while safeguarding forests and their wildlife and mitigating human-tiger conflict, the report concluded. Other threats are climate change-related impacts on habitats and the loss of the quality of forests over time.
“If we want tiger numbers to go up, we have to make policies to provide livelihoods to the poorest of the poor in these nine tiger states (which are doing poorly in tiger conservation) in industries that are non-injurious to wildlife,” Andheria said.
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Central India has world’s highest tiger count; Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh play big role
The Times of India, April 2023
Nagpur: Of the 200 tigers added to the 2,967 estimated in 2018, taking the count to 3,167 as per the latest ‘Status of Tiger Report’, 128 are from the Central India Landscape (CIL).
Anish Andheria, President, Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), said, “State-wise tiger numbers are not yet out. However, looking at the region-wise break-up in the preliminary report, there are 128 more unique tiger photo-captures in Central Indian Highlands and Eastern Ghats in 2022 as compared to 2018.”
“From the understanding of this region, I can safely say that MP and Maharashtra must have contributed in a big way to this increase. Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, included in this region, haven’t done much in the last decade, and are unlikely to have contributed much to the AITE-2022,” Andheria said.
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Dr. Nachiket Kelkar Honoured As India’s True Legend For Environment
NDTV, January 2023
Dr. Nachiket Kelkar, an ecologist who heads the Riverine Ecosystems and Livelihoods programme (REAL) at the Wildlife Conservation Trust was declared winner under the Environment category of NDTV and 100 Pipers Glassware True Legend – Future Of Young India. His long-term interdisciplinary research addresses problems related to conserving endangered riverine biodiversity with a focus on Ganges river dolphins and securing the livelihoods of fishing communities in the Gangetic plains.
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Six mines pose threat to tiger corridors in and around Tadoba
The Times of India, December 2022
Nagpur: Even as the raging man-animal conflict claimed over 96 lives in Maharashtra in the last 11 months, mostly in Chandrapur and Gadchiroli districts, a maze of mines around tiger-bearing areas are set to aggravate the problem.
“Lohardongari mine in the Bramhapuri forest division falls in the critical wildlife habitat linking Ghodazari and the newly-declared Ekara Conservation Reserve. This forest block supports a resident breeding population of tigers,” says wildlife biologist Aditya Joshi.
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Roofed turtles, iguanas, ball pythons as pets is bringing Indians false sense of glamour
The Print, October 2022
In India, the types of exotic wild pets range from reptiles like ball pythons, corn snakes, iguanas, and turtles to colourful exotic birds like macaws and budgerigars. Several of them are legal to trade in India, but critically endangered in their native habitats. Other commonly traded pets are primates and other small mammals like sugar gliders, hedgehogs, lemurs, and pygmy marmosets (finger monkeys). Exotic wild animals are increasingly becoming the trending choice of pet among the youth who find it glamorous to make a statement by owning them.
The missing legal protection to exotic species or lack of trade regulation is a matter of grave concern and “a gaping legal hole in India’s wildlife protection system”, according to Purva Variyar of the Wildlife Conservation Trust, who is co-leading the #TrappedInTrade campaign.
“While amending the law is necessary to combat the illegal wildlife trade, it is equally necessary to create awareness among the masses and sensitise people to the stark truths of the brutal live animal trade. It is time to bring this matter to the forefront of people’s consciousness as ignorance is the crux of the problem,” Variyar says.
Through the #TrappedInTrade campaign, the Wildlife Conservation Trust strives to bring the rapidly growing demand for exotic wild animals witnessed in India into mainstream conversation. The campaign further seeks to highlight the ills of the illegal pet trade, its impact on biodiversity, ecosystems, and people, as well as the urgent need for stronger laws to regulate exotic animal trade in the country.
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Creating a sustainable home for the cheetahs
Hindustan Times, September 2022
What will it take India to build a sustainable home for the cheetahs? Dr. Anish Andheria deconstructs the cheetah translocation programme and gives an articulate bird’s eye view of the conservation action plan needed to succeed, and it is not going to be easy.
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15-member panel to monitor wildlife plan implementation
The Times of India, May 2022
Nagpur: To monitor the implementation of state wildlife action plan (SWAP)-2021-2030, Maharashtra government on Wednesday constituted a 15-member high–level committee under chief secretary with principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) for wildlife as its member-secretary.
The government has also nominated wildlife experts Kishor Rithe, president of Satpuda Foundation, and Anish Andheria, president of Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) as NGO members on the committee.
Maharashtra is the first state in the country that has an independent wildlife action plan.
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Smuggled kangaroos leave Indian forestry officials mystified
Al Jazeera, May 2022
Forestry department officers in the upper reaches of the state of West Bengal were alerted one night in April to a pair of the marsupials bouncing along a highway near the Gajoldoba forest, on the main route to the provincial hub town of Siliguri. Bemused drivers pulled up and took phone videos, in clips that have since gone viral, chattering away excitedly in Bengali and trying to feed the kangaroos, as they waited for rangers to rescue, and name, the hungry, confused animals.
The illegal wildlife industry is worth an estimated $20bn – $23bn worldwide, but nation-by-nation estimates are difficult to come by, due to the intrinsically clandestine nature of such an enterprise. But two reports since 2020, by IndiaSpend and the Wildlife Conservation Society show exotic pet ownership is very common in India, and also that the illegal wildlife trade, in general, is thriving.
“Kangaroos are a first,” said Samyukta Chemudupati, head of forensics at the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), in Mumbai. “But we have seen kookaburras, foxes, snakes of all varieties, spiders, large cats and many other non-indigenous animals being smuggled to meet a hefty demand across India, and one of the principal reasons is to keep wild animals as pets.
“Every town and city in India has a pet store or fixer who either sells exotic creatures or can procure them somehow. If you want to order a cockatoo, an African grey parrot, a foreign snake, whatever – they can be yours for the right price. It’s become like an over-the-counter drug.”
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Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary notified as tiger reserve: Why Rajasthan needed a fourth sanctuary
Firstpost, May 2022
The Ramgarh Vishdhari Sanctuary, covering an area of about 252 square kilometres, will serve as a major corridor connecting tigers of Ranthambore and Mukundra reserves in Rajasthan.
The Wildlife Conservation Trust has stated that India’s expanding networks of roads, railway lines, power lines and canals have emerged as the dominant threat to wildlife corridors.
A study by the Wildlife Conservation Trust in 2021 showed that even though central India harboured nearly 35 per cent of the country’s tiger population, not a single tiger sub-population in the region was genetically viable on its own. Hence, for long-term survival, these populations need to be able to interact with others and that will only be possible through corridors.
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Does The Ganga Waterway Need An Environmental Clearance?
IndiaSpend, April 2022
The Jal Marg Vikas Project (JMVP), or the project for Capacity Augmentation of National Waterway-1 on the Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river systems, spans the states of Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The stretch of the river systems, from Allahabad to Haldia, was declared as National Waterway -1 in 1986. The JMVP intends to augment the freight-carrying capacity and facilitate movement of vessels with 1,500+ tonne capacity along a 1,620 km stretch from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh to Haldia in West Bengal.
The project aims to develop the fairway, which is the navigation channel, to provide 1.5 – 3 metres of depth and 30-45 metres of bottom width clearance. This, however, is one of the siltiest riverine systems in the world, which means that the fairway has to be periodically dredged of mud to ensure the required depth and clearance. The dredging and related works have the potential to adversely affect the riverine environment and the lives and livelihoods of people who live on and off the rivers.
“There is,” said Nachiket Kelkar, an ecologist with the Wildlife Conservation Trust and a member of the IUCN Cetacean Specialist Group, “the risk of water pollution from release of heavy metals such as arsenic and other bio-contaminants due to dredging; the risks due to vessel accidents in high traffic areas leading to spillage of hazardous materials from vessels; the impact of underwater noise and wave action on fish and on endangered species like the Gangetic dolphins; and the impacts of dredging on fish habitat, mollusc and crustacean breeding areas, and fishing areas.”
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Baby sloth bear rescued from barbed wire fence in MP
Daijiworld, March 2022
New Delhi/Bhopal, Mar 5 (IANS): A one-and-a-half-year-old sloth bear, that was found entwined in a barbed wire fence, has been rescued by a multi-agency team from the outskirts of village in Madhya Pradesh’s Raisen district.
“After a quick assessment of the situation, Wildlife SOS veterinary officer Rajat Kulkarni immobilised the bear cub — it was found to be a female — so the team could carefully separate the entangled fur from the barbed wire. This was followed by an on-site medical examination by Gurudutt Sharma from the Satpura Tiger Reserve, and Prashant Deshmukh from the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT),” the release said.
Fortunately, the baby bear did not sustain any injuries and was fit to return to the wild. The mother bear was sighted in the vicinity so the team released the cub back in the same area, so she could reunite with her mother.
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Meet 12 Incredible Conservation Heroes Saving Our Wildlife From Extinction
World Atlas, February 2022
These 12 wildlife conservationists are doing fantastic work to protect some highly threatened species in a world where many species are racing towards extinction. These heroes are working hard to undo the wrongs already done to the planet by the thoughtless actions of our own species.
Anish Andheria Is Protecting Tigers In India
“The tiger alone plays a huge role in popularizing conservation in India. Without the tiger as a role model, conservation talk wouldn’t have been a household matter in the country. The government, scientists and conservationists have merely piggybacked on the charisma of the tiger to secure large forested landscapes and the unlimited ecosystem services that emanate from those forests,” said Dr. Anish Andheria.
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Report finds presence of at least 352 tigers, 635 leopards in Vidarbha in 2021
The Times of India, January 2022
NAGPUR: The latest (2021) report by the state forest department, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) reveals there are minimum 352 tigers and 635 leopards in Vidarbha.
WII was involved in extensive monitoring in all the PAs, while NGO Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) did camera trapping outside PAs.
“We have been monitoring tiger populations outside PAs in Maharashtra since 2014. Most of these areas support a steady tiger population and even provided a founding population for the neighbouring state of Telangana. However, it is imperative to now focus on habitat degradation, anthropogenic pressure and wild prey populations in these areas as these are key factors dictating conflict outside PAs,” said WCT’s wildlife biologist Aditya Joshi.
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Animal crossings: the ecoducts helping wildlife navigate busy roads across the world
The Guardian, December 2021
As the human footprint on the planet continues to expand, a growing number of roads and railways include provisions for wildlife to pass through fragmented landscapes.
India’s first dedicated wildlife underpasses were a hard-fought victory for environmental campaigners. The nine crossings in the Pench tiger reserve were a court-ordered mitigation measure on the country’s longest road, the 4,112km National Highway 44, which runs down the middle of the country.
“According to our calculation, some 55,000km of roads pass through India’s forests and protected areas, many of them through wildlife corridors,” Milind Pariwakam, a road ecologist with Wildlife Conservation Trust Mumbai, told the Hindu.
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They’re Asked To Look After India’s Forests and Wildlife. Who Looks After Them?
Science The Wire, November 2021
A three-year-survey by the Mumbai-based Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) in 14 tiger reserves in five states found that the median distance forest guards have to travel to seek definitive care for major health emergencies, including attacks by poacher attacks, was 30 km. A third of the 1,200 forest guards they interviewed reported that they had no access to local medical facilities whatsoever within 5 km.
Sometimes, even storage facilities are lacking, and rats and other pests can get to their food supplies, said Anish Andheria, president of the WCT, which helps train frontline forest workers and funds their equipment across 15 states. And apart from the physical demands that these jobs extract, psychological health is a worry too, he said.
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In Sahyadri-Konkan corridor, tigers largely found in forested regions closer to Karnataka, Goa: Survey
The Indian Express, October 2021
A year-long occupancy study in the Sahyadri-Konkan corridor, a 4,500 km human-dominated forest landscape, by the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) has found that tiger distribution is largely concentrated in the southern end of the region, closer to the Goa and Karnataka border.
The linear and montane forest landscape along the northern Western Ghats connects the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR) in the state to the Kali Tiger Reserve (KTR) in Karnataka. In between these two reserves, however, there are some parts that are human-dominated and narrower than one km, fragmented by cash crop plantations, mines, and other infrastructure that negatively impact the movement of the tigers.
The WCT study has found evidence of the presence of tigers in the forested regions closer to its source population, that is, Mhadei Sanctuary in Goa and Bhimgad Sanctuary-Kali Tiger Reserve in Karnataka.
“The Sahyadri-Konkan corridor is crucial as it is the only way tigers can naturally colonise the STR and Radhanagari Wildlife sanctuary. Tigers are breeding in the KTR and Bhimgad in Karnataka and Mhadei Sanctuary in Goa and the only way they can naturally re-populate this landscape is if this corridor remains protected. It is a good sign that the state government and the forest department have declared a series of Conservation Reserves to protect this vital corridor,” said Girish Punjabi, a wildlife biologist at WCT who led the survey.
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Thane-Ghodbunder Road expansion: Wildlife board sets up panel to find ways to reduce impact on SGNP
The Indian Express, October 2021
The State Board for Wildlife (SBWL) in Maharashtra on Tuesday set up a three-member committee to suggest mitigation measures for the 4.5-km elevated carriageway along the Thane-Ghodbunder Road, which requires 8.8 hectares of forest land from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP).
The committee – comprising Bilal Habib from the Wildlife Institute of India, Anish Andheria from the Wildlife Conservation Trust and Virendra Tiwari, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (APCCF) Mangrove Cell – has been set up to study the project, carry out site inspections and suggest mitigation measures for the approval of the road projects.
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International Dog Day: Here’s How Dogs are Being Trained to Help in Wildlife Conservation
The Weather Channel, August 2021
Dogs have been part of the human community for thousands of years, sharing an exceptional inter-species bond! Dogs have acquired a permanent residence in our hearts with their loyalty, caring nature, and friendly traits. In addition, dogs have been carrying out various meticulous tasks of utmost importance—from sniffing explosives to assistance to the differently-abled. With some training, these adorable four-legged creatures can execute any given task.
Now, organisations like the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) are taking a novel initiative to train canines towards wildlife conservation. At present, myriad issues like poaching, human-animal conflict, and habitat fragmentation have been threatening the precious lives of wildlife around the globe. From global experience, we know that dogs can help address some of these challenges and aid conservation efforts.
The initiative in India has been taken to amplify conservation efforts by training the dogs to sniff the wild animals, snares, and traps. They are popularly known as conservation dogs and work with the WCT’s Conservation Dogs Units (CDU).
Speaking on dogs’ role, Mr Kiran Rahalkar, Wildlife Biologist and in charge of CDU, adds: “Dogs work like a force multiplier. Human beings might witness some challenges in terms of locating the animals. We can only see things and can’t sniff them out! Especially in big landscape-level scenarios, dogs can easily sniff out 100 feet or so. They can effectively scan a larger area in less time. Therefore, by adding dogs to our team, we are increasing the dimension of the investigation.”
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‘Fight for NH-7 wildlife mitigation structures will be visible nationally’
The Times of India, August 2021
Nagpur-based wildlife conservationist Milind Pariwakam, whose role has been instrumental in an over a decade-long campaign by multiple civil society organizations to get mitigation measures for tigers and other wildlife on the NH-44 (earlier NH-7), which passes through the vital Kanha-Pench corridor. The wildlife could be achieved after a long court battle. With more wildlife seen on NH-44, issues related to animal underpasses are emerging. The stretch on the MP side also has the world’s longest 1400-metre underpass. TOI talks to the wildlife biologist who works for the NGO Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) and is also a member of the Srushti Paryavaran Mandal and the IUCN’s Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group and Transport Working Group.
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Asia’s Dhole Populations At Risk Of Extinction
World Atlas, June 2021
The elusive dhole (Cuon alpinus) is perhaps one of the most misunderstood species of all time and currently among the most threatened carnivores on the planet. The global wild population of this endangered canid is estimated to be <2500 mature adults. Almost forgotten by the world of conservation for decades, unknown to the public at large, and often mistreated by the humans with whom they share their habitat, the dholes of the world have had it rough.
Luckily, however, there is now a small but growing group of scientists and conservationists who are determined to put up a fight for the dholes. The species currently survives in fragments of the Indian subcontinent, Central, and Southeast Asia. This article explores the current conservation status of dholes across their range, the reasons behind the dhole’s threatened status, and the ways to bring the species back from the brink with the help of inputs from experts.
“When we look at the conversion rate of hunting attempts to kills, the dhole is by far the most successful hunter in the Indian jungle. It has a much higher conversion rate compared to a tiger. However, its highly evolved hunting abilities are not enough to save its populations from a steady decline. Anthropogenic reasons leading to forest degradation, fragmentation and persecution have decimated dhole populations in several historical dhole habitats of India. Transfer of disease from feral and domestic dogs is also a huge threat” said Dr. Anish Andheria, one of India’s leading wildlife conservationists. He is also the President of Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), India, an NGO that works across several states to help preserve and protect India’s wildlife.
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Mumbai: Ethnographic study of Warli tribe documents 150 Waghoba shrines
The Times of India, June 2021
Mumbai: Sanjay Gandhi National Park, which has the highest population density of leopards along with Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, shows the presence of Waghoba shrines. Waghoba refers to big cats (tigers and leopards) whose worship is highly prevalent among the indigenous Warli community. The worship of the big cats points to building of a mechanism for co-existence in shared spaces.
While leopards today populate the landscape, anecdotal evidence and government records show the presence of tigers.
In a rare ethnographic study of Warli tribe cultural practices, 150 Waghoba shrines were documented in Thane, Mumbai suburbs and Palghar, showing the worship of Waghoba is highly prevalent among the indigenous community. The study by Ramya Nair, Dhee, Omkar Patil, Nikit Surve, Anish Andheria, John Linnell and Vidya Athreya in 2018-19, documents oral narratives related to Waghoba and negotiation of shared spaces in relation to big cats in multi-use landscape. GPS location of each shrine was recorded to map its geographical distribution.
The article ‘Sharing Spaces and Entanglements with Big Cats: The Warli and Their Waghoba in Maharashtra, India’, published in ‘Frontiers in Conservation Science’ in April reveals the cultural and societal context within which co-existence is embedded and shaping of human-leopard relationship in the landscape.
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Abandoned tiger cub in Periyar reserve learns to hunt, raises rewilding hopes
Hindustan Times, June 2021
Thiruvananthapuram: Last November, when two forest guards out on a patrol in the Periyar Tiger Reserve spotted Mangala, her hind legs were paralysed, she had sustained some injuries, and she couldn’t see properly. And, of course, the two-month old tiger cub didn’t have a name then. Some forest officials thought the weak cub would not survive, but that didn’t stop them and a team of veterinarians from caring for the small big cat. Three doctors, three forest officials, and a physiotherapist were dedicated to her. They named her Mangala after the Mangala Devi Kannagi Temple, near which she was found.
Mangala survived. She is now eight months old, weighs around 30 kg, almost par for the course for a young tigress of that age. And forest officials are preparing to teach her lessons to survive in the wild.
“It (rewilding) is an uphill task,” said Anish Andheria, president, Wildlife Conservation Trust. “Either the tiger re-introduced in the wild can get hammered by another tiger or can starve. Success of re-wilding depends on many factors.”
The first is that there should not be any human imprinting when the young tiger is in an enclosure as even a remotely habituated animal can end up in villages, and into trouble, he said. The second is the ability to bring down different types of prey species in undulating terrain without getting injured. The third and the biggest hurdle is the ability to fight with other tigers in the wild, he said.
“It is difficult to teach a tiger how to fight with another tiger in the wild in an enclosure,” Andheria said. “Female tigers have a much higher probability of surviving a rewilding experiment than males. On the positive side, in Madhya Pradesh, six hand-raised tigresses have been re-wilded in the last three years. It is important to note that they had all been released in areas that had very few wild tigers. Release of hand-raised tigers in high-density tiger habitats will be fraught with dangers”, he added.
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Maharashtra: 4 sloth bears, leopard drown in Chandrapur district
Hindustan Times, April 2021
Four sloth bears were found dead at the bottom of a well in Chandrapur district, in the buffer zone of the Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, on Thursday morning. The victims include one male and one female adult, and two cubs. Forest department officials suspected that the animals had drowned after falling into the well — which was not cased with vertical walls — by accident.
Meanwhile, a six-year-old female leopard was also found dead at the bottom of a well in Pune district’s Junnar taluka on Wednesday morning. The animal was also found wrapped in a large plastic bag, eliciting scepticism as to whether its death had been staged. Autopsy results showed the animal had drowned, with water entering its lungs through the nose and mouth. Department officials said that there were no signs of poaching.
Anish Andheria, chief executive officer of the Wildlife Conservation Trust, said, “Signs of drowning do not necessarily rule out other causes of death, for example poisoning. It is highly unlikely that the leopard got entangled in a plastic bag before or after drowning, but prima facie the incident merits further investigation on the part of the forest department. Theoretically, an unconscious animal (poisoned but alive) can be put in a bag and dumped in a well. A histopathology report of the organs and relevant body tissue can easily rule out poisoning. Another possibility is a road accident. A seriously injured animal can be dumped in the well to pass it off as a drowning case”.
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“Heater Of Hope” Brings Respite To Women And Wildlife By Reducing Fuelwood Consumption In Bramhapuri, India
World Atlas, April 2021
People have collected firewood/fuelwood from forests for ages. Today, most of the developed world has transitioned into using coal and natural gas-based fuel for heating, and that has its own stories of horror. However, firewood continues to be a necessity for millions in developing nations. With human populations growing in leaps and bounds in such countries, the practice of woodcutting for firewood collection becomes one of the biggest atrocities perpetrated against the already degraded forests and their wild inhabitants.
Under such circumstances, long-term solutions like India’s “Heater of Hope” (a water heater that is locally known as the bumbb) become the need of the hour. Based on a project designed and implemented by one of India’s leading wildlife conservation NGOs, the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), the bumbb offers hope of respite from the ills of fuelwood consumption.
“Over 300 million people are dependent on India’s protected areas for some percentage of their fuelwood intake. They primarily belong to doubly marginalized communities with little or no access to alternative energy sources like LPG cylinders. Firewood is a freely accessible resource at their doorstep and they make the best use of it. On average, a family of five uses about 10 kgs of wood a day. One can imagine the kind of pressure this subsistence activity puts on finite forest land,” informed Dr. Anish Andheria, President of WCT and one of India’s leading wildlife conservationists.
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Work on first 750m wildlife underpass starts near Tadoba
The Times of India, March 2021
Nagpur: Over a year after the National Green Tribunal (NGT), principal bench, Delhi, ordered wildlife mitigation steps on widened roads around Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) landscape, work on the first 750-metre underpass has started
near rejected Bander coal block.
“The NTCA and NGT have actually provided a win-win solution for an area where re-aligning the road is not possible. Reluctance to provide mitigation will actually cost the taxpayer more money as project delays mean massive cost escalations,” says Milind Pariwakam of Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), the NGO which conducted a 3-year-long camera trapping study to provide sitespecific solutions for mitigation.
“Mitigation measures on the Chandrapur-Mul and Bamni- Navegaon roads are critical as the former stretch is in the ecosensitive zone of Tadoba and the latter encompasses Kanhargaon wildlife sanctuary. These roads pass through the most important tiger corridors and show a high frequency of tiger movement,”
said Aditya Joshi, wildlife biologist.
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Greens root for Aaditya as Maharashtra forest minister
The Times of India, March 2021
Nagpur: It is nearly a month that state forest ministry is without a minister after Sanjay Rathod quit. Though chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is holding additional charge, leading lights in the want environment and tourism minister Aaditya Thackeray be handed over the reins of forest ministry. Aaditya had recently spent some time in Tadoba.
Anish Andheria, president, (WCT), said, “Natural ecosystems form the foundation on which rests the present and future of all life on earth, including that of human beings. Therefore role of the forest minister cannot be overstated.”
“On the sound decision-making ability of the minister depends sanctity of our wildernesses. Aaditya Thackeray and his family’s passion for nature and wildlife is well-known. His appointment as forest minister of Maharashtra will go a long way in giving importance to the natural ecosystems,” said Anderia.
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Zoos on forest land to be considered ‘forestry activity’; experts flag concerns
Hindustan Times, March 2021
The Union environment ministry’s forest advisory committee has decided that zoos on forest land will be deemed as “forestry” activity, according to minutes of the panel’s February 17 meeting published on the Parivesh website on Thursday.
“This directive will make declaration of big cat safaris (large enclosures) inside Protected Areas much simpler. This seems to have been done to mitigate human-large carnivore conflict, as large cats involved in conflict could be captured and released in such safaris (enclosures). These safaris can also subsequently help raise funds for the forest department by introducing regulated tourism,” said Anish Andheria, President of Wildlife Conservation Trust.
He cautioned on the tourism aspect of the decision and also on the ministry’s policy to facilitate ecotourism in forest areas. “Unless ‘Ecotourism’ is first defined unambiguously, relaxing these two clauses (clauses that said ecotourism is a non-forestry activity) will result in huge damage to natural ecosystems. The current Ecotourism models are far from eco-friendly. Even obvious non-negotiables such as usage of renewable energy; installation of waste management facilities, and sharing of majority of profits with local communities are not being enforced. To dilute the guidelines further may be a death knell for forested landscapes,” said Andheria.
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Progress from a year of AI for Social Good at Google Research India
Google India, February 2021
India is home to some of the most biodiverse regions, where human settlements and wildlife co-exist in forests. However, interactions between local communities and wildlife can result in conflicts, leading to loss of crops, cattle, and even human life. Wildlife Conservation Trust needed help to proactively predict human-wildlife conflict to enable them to take timely steps to protect local communities, wildlife, and the forest. With technical and scientific contributions from Google Research and Singapore Management University, Wildlife Conservation Trust designed AI models that help predict human-wildlife conflict in Bramhapuri Forest Division in Tadoba, Maharashtra. These novel AI techniques provide over 80 percent accuracy in predicting human-wildlife conflict in the Bramhapuri Forest Division in the test results. This work is currently being field-tested in Chandrapur district, Maharashtra, to ensure safe deployment.
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World Pangolin Day Reminds Us That The Clock Is Ticking For The World’s Most Trafficked Mammal
World Atlas, February 2021
Pangolin trafficking continues to occur with reports of seizures surfacing on a frequent basis since the beginning of 2021. In January, Nigeria Customs Service intercepted pangolin scales weighing 8,800kg heading for Haiphong, Vietnam. Recently, forest officials recovered a pangolin and its pup from traffickers in the Mumbai-Goa highway in western India while 4 kg of pangolin scales were confiscated from smugglers in West Bengal in the eastern part of the country. These events bear proof of the fact that pangolin trafficking continues unabated even after the world suffered such a lethal pandemic.
Not all news is bad, however. Pangolin conservation success stories are also widespread. India is taking stern actions to protect the pangolins in the country. On February 14, 2020, in a joint effort, the forest department of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh state and the Wildlife Conservation Trust, an NGO working in the field of wildlife conservation in the country, radio-tagged two Indian pangolins for the first time. It would help them study the ecology of the species and devise future conservation plans to save it.
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11-member panel to study leopard-human conflict
The Times of India, January 2021
As discussed in the 16th meeting of the State Board for Wildlife (SBWL), the government on Thursday announced an 11-member technical group of officials and experts to study leopard-human conflict. The group will submit its report in three months.
The committee will be headed by Mumbai-based APCCF (wildlife), West, Sunil Limaye, while Ahmednagar deputy conservator of forests (DyCF) M Adarsh Reddy will be member-secretary.
The other members include wildlife biologist Vidya Athreya, Wildlife Conservation Trust president Anish Andheria, WII scientist Bilal Habib, state wildlife board members Bandu Dhotre, Anuj Khare and Bhau Katdhare, retired DFO Shivaji Fatangre, veterinarians Dr Neha Panchmiya and Dr Swapnil Sonone.
The group will study spurt in leopard deaths and increasing attack on humans. It will make recommendations to curb the conflict.
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Tiger numbers low due to decline in forest cover
Hindustan Times, January 2021
Anish Andheria, president of the Wildlife Conservation Trust, speaking at a session about finding balance between wildlife protection and development, said India still has habitat for tigers that goes beyond the areas supporting tigers today. (Hindustan Times Environment Conclave)
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Watch: Female leopard radio-collared at Sanjay Gandhi National Park
Mumbai Mirror, January 2021
A female leopard was radio-collared at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivali, for the first time in Mumbai.
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The eyes of the jungle: A new study sheds light on the harsh and unsafe conditions forest guards in India have to work under
Mumbai Mirror, January 2021
A detailed and thorough assessment of the health needs of forest guards working in Protected Areas in Central India, conducted by WCT, has thrown new light on how the state lacks in providing for medical emergencies of rangers, including access to medical equipment and first-aid training, as well as the availability of healthcare facilities. The study is the largest of its kind, and its findings are the fruit of exhaustive field surveys conducted over three years, from 2016 to 2019, speaking to more than 1,200 forest guards from 15 tiger reserves, two wildlife sanctuaries and a national park, spread across six states.
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60% rise in leopard numbers in 4 years; Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra top states
Hindustan Times, December 2020
The union environment ministry has said there has been over 60% increase in population of leopards in India since 2014. There were at least 12,852 leopards in the country in 2018 compared to 7,910 leopards estimated in 2014 according to the ministry’s ‘Status of Leopards in India 2018’ report released on Monday.
“Based on an ever-increasing number of reported leopard deaths over the past decade due to a combination of factors such as roadkills, poisoning, electrocution and persecution by humans, the leopard population should at best remain stable if not decrease since 2014. Such a drastic increase in the population of a large carnivore (apex predator) within such a narrow time period, and that too in a constantly deteriorating habitat, is ecologically impossible. Since the report does not mention anything about the difference in sampled area between 2014 and 2018, one can safely attribute the increase to a gross underestimation in 2014 coupled with an increase in the total area sampled in 2018,” said Anish Andheria, president, Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT).
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Maharashtra expands protected wildlife area beyond 10000 sq km
Hindustan Times, December 2020
With the addition of the state’s 50th wildlife sanctuary and 10 new conservation reserves (CR), Maharashtra has expanded its protected area network from 62 to 73 zones with over 10,000 sq km of the state now secured.
Anish Andheria, SBWL member and president, Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), said, “It has taken almost nine years for the Kanhargaon declaration since the proposal was first considered. It was one of the most important non protected areas with good tiger numbers. We must congratulate the CM for all decisions as it is a breath of fresh air to be in a SBWL meeting where the welfare of forests and wildlife took precedence over clearances. It was a meeting for strengthening the protected area network.” WCT in 2015 had identified 10 tigers and 23 leopards at Kanhargaon based on camera trap study.
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Pregnant leopard killed road accident on Mumbai’s Western Express Highway
Hindustan Times, December 2020
A female leopard identified as L98 was found grievously injured in a road accident near Delhi Darbar Inn on the Western Express Highway near Kashimira area at Mira Road.around 12.30am on Sunday and subsequently succumbed to her injuries.
SGNP and peripheral areas are home to at least 47 big cats that include the transient population moving between SGNP into surrounding landscapes, according to a 2019 estimation by Surve and SGNP. Data from SGNP, NGO Wildlife Protection Society of India (WPSI) and Mumbaikars for SGNP revealed that 19 leopards had been killed around SGNP, most of them on the Western Express Highway and Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS), from 2008 to 2018. “Unless we provide adequate mitigation structures [under or overpasses] on roads, railways and canals, we will lose most of our large mammals to linear infrastructure very rapidly,” said Anish Andheria, president, Wildlife Conservation Trust.
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Kanhargaon is state’s 50th wildlife sanctuary
The Times of India, December 2020
On the 4th of December 2020, in an unprecedented meeting of the State Board of Wildlife chaired by the Honourable CM of Maharashtra, it was decided to notify nine new conservation reserves and plan to add two more in the near future. It was also decided to explore the possibility of adding over 200 sq.km. to the existing buffer zone of Pench Tiger Reserve, thereby strengthening the all important corridor between Pench and Nagzira-Navegaon Tiger Reserves.
Further, the declaration of 269 sq. km. area in Kanhalgaon in Chandrapur, as a wildlife sanctuary was approved by the CM at the meeting.This will consolidate the tiger habitat between Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra and Kawal Tiger Reserve of Telangana.
The declaration of eight conservation reserves in Western Mahrashtra will grant greater and much needed protection to over 1,000 sq. km. area, which will ensure habitat contiguity from the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve near Satara all the way to the Kali Tiger Reserve in Karnataka via Radhanagri Wildlife Sanctuary and Tillari Conservation Reserve in Maharashtra and Mhadei and Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuaries in Goa and Karnataka respectively.
WCT has been monitoring tigers in the Greater Tadoba Landscape for the past eight years and our studies have played a pivotal role in providing the scientific basis for the declaration of Kanhalgaon as a sanctuary.
WCT’s President, who is part of the State Board of Wildlife of Maharashtra congratulates the Maharashtra Government for taking stellar steps in securing large forested landscapes and with it the rivers that either originate or are fed by these newly declared reserves. According to him, “several other states should take a leaf out of Maharashtra’s book to safeguard the last remaining natural ecosystems in their states. Such decisions can have a long-term impact on the ongoing battle of fighting climate change”.
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How India Is Conserving Endangered Tigers In A World Where Wildlife Is Fast-Disappearing
World Atlas, November 2020
The tiger is a species that has the entire world under its spell. It is perhaps the most popular wild animal in the world. Although it occurs in only 13 tiger range countries today, it enjoys universal fame. People from all corners of the globe travel to catch a glimpse of this majestic striped predator in its wild habitats. In the countries of its occurrence like India, which is by far the world leader in tiger conservation, the tiger is both feared and revered. However, the shocking fact is that all this attention hasn’t been able to save tigers from becoming an endangered species. Today, the world has just over 4,000 wild tigers. Over 70% of these tigers live in India and the tiger population in the country is steadily rising (from 1,411 in 2006 to 2,967 in 2018). The remaining 12 tiger range countries together have less than 30% of these magnificent carnivores. What is the secret to this success in a country with the world’s second-highest human population? What does the future look for the tiger in India? What can the world learn from India’s conservation stories?
All this and more will be explored in this article including the achievements and challenges of tiger conservation in India with the help of one of the country’s leading wildlife conservationists, Dr. Anish Andheria. He is the President of the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), an NGO doing outstanding work in catalyzing conservation of large carnivores and their habitats. Currently, WCT works in and around 160 Protected Areas across 23 states covering 82% of India’s 50 tiger reserves.
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Wildlife Board constituted for J&K
GK News Network, November 2020
The state wildlife board of Jammu and Kashmir was constituted last week by the General Administration Department (GAD) comprising 25 members who will advise the government on wildlife conservation policies and demarcation of Protected Areas in the state. The newly formed board is made up of the J&K Lt. Governor who will act as the chairman, along with nine leading conservationists, ecologists, environmentalists including former forest officials, academics, and members of various wildlife organisations and bodies.
The board also consists of representatives of three eminent wildlife and conservation NGOs one among whom is Dr. Anish Andheria, President, Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT). Other NGO members include Dr. Kartick Satyanarayan, Co-founder and CEO, Wildlife SOS, and Dr. Pankaj Chandan, Team Leader, J&K WWF-India.
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Environment ministry declares 250 sq km area around Radhanagri wildlife sanctuary as eco-sensitive zone
The Indian Express, October 2020
THE MINISTRY of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has notified 250.66 sq km around Maharashtra’s Radhanagri Wildlife Sanctuary (RWS), which is home to elephants and tigers, as an eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) The zone is meant to act as a buffer and a “shock absorber” for protected areas.
Girish Punjabi, a wildlife biologist at Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), said, “Without notification of ESZ, mining activities and other construction activities go unchecked. With the demarcation, the uncertainty is gone for forest officials as well as industrialists. One of the best protections that come with the demarcation of ESZ is that no large infrastructure project can come up in the area or, at least, they have to go through a series of environment clearances.”
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Maharashtra govt forms group to study man-tiger conflict in Chandrapur district
The Indian Express, October 2020
The Maharashtra government has formed a study group to take an in-depth look at the man-tiger conflict in Chandrapur district.
The group will be headed by Chandrapur Chief Conservator of Forest N R Praveen and will comprise as members Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) Field Director Jitendra Ramgaonkar, Gondia Deputy Conservator of Forest (DCF) Kulraj Singh, Wildlife Institute of India scientist Bilal Habib, retired Divisional Forest Officers Sanjay Thavre and Girish Vasisth, noted man-leopard conflict expert Vidya Athreya, Wildlife Conservation Trust president Anish Andheria, wildlife expert Sanjay Karkare, State Wildlife Board member Bandu Dhotre and tribal activist Paromita Giswami.
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First-ever survey of white-bellied herons spells doom for these birds
Research Matters, September 2020
Did you know that the White-bellied Heron (Ardea insignis) is the world’s second-largest heron? This magnificent bird is found in parts of north-east India, Bhutan, north-west Myanmar and China. The riverine bird features on the IUCN’s Red List as Critically Endangered, likely due to human activities such as overfishing, mining, dam construction and habitat destruction.
Conservation programmes targeting these birds need to know how many of them are left in the wild. In a first-ever attempt, Rohan Menzies, Megha Rao, and Rohit Naniwadekar from the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), Bengaluru, surveyed White-bellied Herons across the Indian Eastern Himalayas. It was funded by the Wildlife Conservation Trust, Ravi Sankaran Foundation, and the Rufford Small Grants for Nature Conservation, and was published in the journal Bird Conservation International.
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Mitigation on roads near Tadoba must, rules NGT
The Times of India, July 2020
“The NTCA and NGT have actually provided a win-win solution for an area where re-aligning the road is not possible. Reluctance to provide mitigation by the MoRTH will actually cost the taxpayer more money as project delays mean massive cost escalations,” said Milind Pariwakam of Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), which conducted a 3-year-long camera trapping study to provide site-specific solutions for mitigation.
“Mitigation measures on the Chandrapur-Mul and the Bamni-Navegaon roads are critical as these roads pass through the most important tiger corridors connecting Tadoba and NNTR. Based on long-term monitoring exercises, these forest patches show high frequency of tiger movement,” said Aditya Joshi, wildlife biologist of WCT.
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Many from Vid on state wildlife board
The Times of India, July 2020
“The State Board of Wildlife (SBWL), chaired by the Chief Minister of the state, is an apex body constituted by the state government to ensure the welfare of natural habitats such as forests, grasslands, deserts, oceans, freshwater bodies, mountains, and the wildlife they support. Apart from advising the state on matters related to the sustenance of flora and fauna, the board plays a pivotal role in suggesting ways of reducing negative impacts of developmental projects on natural ecosystems. From time to time, board members carry out surveys to assess project sites and suggest alternatives or mitigation measures. As a re-elected SBWL member, the Wildlife Conservation Trust will continue to work closely with other members and the government to give its best to further the purpose of conservation of species and habitats of Maharashtra.” – Dr. Anish Andheria, President, Wildlife Conservation Trust.
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Maharashtra: Tillari area in Sindhudurg declared conservation reserve
The Indian Express, June 2020
The 38-km-long Dodamarg wildlife corridor that connects Radhanagari Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra to Bhimgad Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka frequently witnesses elephant and tiger movement. “Being declared as a conservation reserve is a step in the right direction and gives it some level of protection from development projects. Tillari area abuts the Mhadei (Goa) and Bhimgad (Karnataka) wildlife sanctuaries. The area is not only a corridor for tiger movement between these sanctuaries but also a habitat,” said Girish Punjabi, a wildlife biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT).
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Road-construction spree in Asia could mean the end of the road for tigers
World Atlas, May 2020
By 2050, nearly 24,000 km of new roads are to be built in Asia’s Tiger Conservation Landscapes. What does it mean for the continent’s tigers? Here is what experts have to say
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Poaching and trade of jackals rampant: Study
The Times of India, April 2020
A new study reveals that golden jackals in India are threatened by poaching and trade, driven by religious beliefs in sorcery and superstition. The analysis has brought to light a widespread demand for a talisman that appears to be derived from the jackal skull, known as ‘jackal horn’ in English, ‘siyar singhi’ in Hindi, and ‘nari kombu’ in Tamil/Kannada/Telugu. The ‘jackal horn’ trade is fuelled by extensive online endorsement and unsubstantiated claims made by religious practitioners.
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Spotlight On The Royal Bengal Tiger: An Ageless Chronicle Of The Soul Of India
World Atlas, April 2020
A riveting and eye-opening story on the rise and fall of the royal Bengal tiger in India – through the Mughal, pre-colonial and colonial era – and into the 21st century that brought with it its own unique challenges. Dr. Anish Andheria and author Dane Huckelbridge speak to WorldAtlas.
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Wild Canids and Hyenas: Flagships for Increasing India’s Conservation Potential?
Conservation India, March 2020
A majority of conservation efforts in India are focused on large, charismatic, forest-dwelling mammals. However, a wide diversity of carnivores occupy other unique ecosystems like grasslands, scrublands, open flatlands and deserts. A new study by researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society–India, University of Florida (USA), Ashoka Trust for Ecology and the Environment, Wildlife Conservation Trust, National Centre for Biological Sciences and James Cook University (Australia) proposes that protecting wild dogs (dholes), jackals, wolves, foxes and hyenas as flagship species could help conserve these fragile, undervalued habitats which are often wrongly categorised as “wastelands”.
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‘Easy to blame China; but India’s wildlife trade is thriving too’
The Hindu, March 2020
Head of forensics at Wildlife Conservation Trust, Samyukta Chemudupati talks about the link between wildlife trade and zoonotic disease, and the fall guys and kingpins of this activity — the fourth largest illegal trade worldwide.
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World Pangolin Day: Madhya Pradesh radio-tags first-ever Indian Pangolin
DownToEarth, February 2020
The Madhya Pradesh forest department has radio-tagged an Indian Pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) for the first time in order to know its ecology and develop an effective conservation plan for it. The effort is part of a joint project by the department and the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), which also involves the species’ monitoring apart from other activities. “Given that several pangolins are rescued in the central Indian landscape, this new initiative will hopefully ensure better survival rates of these released individuals in the wild and thus have a positive impact on the population of this endangered species,” said Aditya Joshi, WCT’s wildlife biologist overseeing the project.
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WCT and Google Research India have come together in an exciting collaboration
Google India, February 2020
At a time when India is grappling with daunting humanitarian and environmental challenges, Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology has come knocking at our door, with a promise of a chance at better understanding the complexities of the issues and predicting broad outcomes that can help design long-term solutions. WCT and Google Research India have come together in an exciting collaboration. WCT conservationists and biologists, along with AI researchers, Google engineers and experts are teaming up to work on predicting conditions that lead to human-wildlife conflict in Maharashtra to be able to influence policy through solid data-driven research.
Human-wildlife conflict is a little understood, highly complex and poorly addressed problem, which is intensifying with every passing day. In the human-dominated Greater Tadoba Landscape in Maharashtra, communities living in and around forests are in a continuous state of interaction with wild herbivores and carnivores. Often, the interactions turn to conflict in the form of livestock loss, crop depredation and worse, attacks on humans and retaliatory killings. So far the reactions to human-animal conflicts have been knee-jerk and ad-hoc, and post-containment focused. It is hard to predict potential conflicts and build strategies to mitigate them, despite there being large quantities of data available which is potentially a goldmine, provided it is corroborated, analysed and mined efficiently. This is where AI promises to be invaluable.
Wildlife Conservation Trust has been working in the space of Human-wildlife Interface Management by providing assistance and working closely with the various stakeholders including the Forest Department and villagers in the Central Indian Landscape for the past six years. We have been surveying the households in the fringe villages to understand the perceptions and attitudes that are a sum of demographics, economics, dependence on forest produce, association with forests and the forest department, urban aspirations, among others. WCT has conducted surveys across thousands of households in the villages in the Brahmapuri Forest Division and has also monitored large carnivore movement and presence in regions outside Protected Areas. Enlisting AI for conservation isn’t new to WCT as gathering large amounts of data as part of conservation research and analyzing it for predictions and patterns using AI and machine learning is an ongoing process. This collaboration with Google Research India will help further expand on our knowledge, data and expertise to address human-wildlife conflict that aligns well with WCT’s approach of influencing policy with the help of hard, irrefutable science.
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Wildlife Conservation in India: Bahar Dutt In Conversation With Anish Andheria
Earth Talks, January 2020
WCT President Anish Andheria in conversation with eminent environmental journalist Bahar Dutt on ‘Earth Talks’, a weekly conversation on issues related to climate, sustainability and biodiversity, hosted by the Observer Research Foundation.
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An Interview with India’s Leading Wildlife Conservationist Dr. Anish Andheria
World Atlas, January 2020
WCT President Anish Andheria talks about his earliest wildlife moments and his lifelong commitment towards conservation, and leaves a message for young people who wish make a career in conservation.
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A Frog In A Bamboo Reed
Sanctuary Asia, October 2019
The Western Ghats is known to be a long contiguous mountain range along the west coast of India. However, a closer look reveals 13 distinct mountain ranges. The altitudinal isolation provided by these mountain ranges along with multiple glaciation events has played a critical role in speciation of flora and fauna of the region.
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A Thousand Voices from the Field
Sanctuary Asia, October 2019
A first-of-its-kind health needs assessment of forest guards working in tiger reserves in Central India, conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) with technical support from the Tulsi Foundation (UK), has thrown light on their exposure to medical emergencies, access to medical equipment and first aid training, and the availability of healthcare facilities.
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In Mumbai, Leopards are Citizens Too
World Atlas, October 2019
It is important to remember that unlike New York’s Central Park or London’s Hyde Park, Mumbai’s SGNP is not merely a green space for recreation in an ever-busy metropolis. It is a notably biodiverse habitat with enormous conservation value. And what sets it apart from all other urban parks is that it is home to over 40 wild leopards who have somehow learned to live with the humans dominating the area!
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Northeast zoos protect Asian brown tortoise
Deccan Herald, October 2019
At least 78 brown tortoises – 10 in 2018 and 68 in 2019 – have been successfully bred in Nagaland Zoological Park, Dimapur as part of a captive breeding project of Turtle Survival Alliance India (TSA) with the support of Wildlife Conservation Trust and Wildlife Conservation Society, India.
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Wildlife Week India 2019: India’s tiger census points to an urgent need for peaceful ecosystems where humans, tigers coexist
Firstpost, September 2019
The most current nation-wide estimation of the tiger population in India was released by PM Narendra Modi on International Tiger Day (29 July) this year. The Status of Tigers in India Report, 2018 reveals that there are an estimated 2,967 tigers in the wild in India — 33 percent higher than the number of tigers counted in 2014, and double that of the 2006 population. While that’s undoubtedly good news, there are many important things the numbers belie, and nuances that tell a story that’s complex and far less rosy.
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Why Won’t We Acknowledge the Mammoth in the Room
The Tilak Chronicle, September 2019
Man-made climate change and overpopulation are directly connected, but the two are never talked about in the same breath, as they should be. Talking about population control is, tragically, still taboo. People, especially those in positions of authority, hesitate to address it for fear of a backlash.
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Why Pitting Ecology vs Economy is Dangerously Naive
The Tilak Chronicle, September 2019
In economics and ecology, there is no concept of balance; there are equilibria which are achieved through complex interactions. We lose out on the benefits of the interactions between the environment and development when they are considered as distinct entities.
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Focus on quality of life, mental health of Forest Guards: Study
DNA, September 2019
WCT has been carrying out an in depth first-of-its-kind study to assess the motivational and psychological health of forest guards in India. Forest guards in India protect some of the world’s most valuable ecosystems and the last refuges of various threatened species. Their job profile entails physically challenging and psychologically demanding working conditions.
“The role of the forest guards is no less than the foot soldiers of our defence forces. A forest guard protects our forests and river systems — despite living in isolated, hostile and often inhabitable conditions. Unfortunately, they don’t get salaries even remotely comparable to the role they play. Their families too enjoy no special benefits,” WCT President Dr. Anish Andheria told DNA.
He added that the whole point of this study, which is being carried out in other states as well, was to focus on the quality of life and mental health of the forest guards and make a strong case, through scientifically collected data, about the need for the State and Central Governments to conduct programmes to motivate these unsung heroes.
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The Guardians of our Forests
The Tilak Chronicle, August 2019
In India, forest guards play a critical role in protecting the country’s natural resources and thereby, in ensuring our water and food security. They work tirelessly under challenging conditions and sometimes without access to basic facilities such as drinking water.
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Roadkills and the Coming of Age of Citizen Science
The Tilak Chronicle, August 2019
If pictures can break our hearts, they can surely stir us into action. These days, a kind of pictures increasingly orbiting Indian cyberspace is of dead animals lying on the sides of roads or on railway tracks after being hit by vehicles. One species, whose pictures pop up almost every fortnight, is also arguably one of the worst hit by linear projects that are slicing up India’s forests at a rapid rate – the leopard.
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Recycling needs Rethinking
The Tilak Chronicle, August 2019
“Recycling emphasizes on the cyclic nature of the product’s lifecycle. This enables individuals to shift focus from the guilt of having consumed a potentially waste-generating object to the satisfaction of having made an environmentally conscious decision. Recycling ultimately promotes buying. It requires individuals to consume in the first place and then the waste generated to be modified for further consumption. At the current level of consumption, this process can become unsustainable.
In a world that pushes us to consume by telling us what we need, choosing not to do so is an act of rebellion.” writes economist Pooja Dewoolkar of WCT in her article ‘Recycling Needs Rethinking’ originally published in The Tilak Chronicle.
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Illegal Wildlife Trade: The Need to Look Within
The Tilak Chronicle, August 2019
Like with many a societal ill, we assume that wildlife crime, particularly illegal wildlife trade (IWT), is not happening around us. We are given to believe and want to believe that it is a “foreign” problem. However, the fact remains that while a large portion of India’s wildlife is hunted to meet the international demand for wild animal and plant-based products, a significant amount of hunting occurs due to localised, domestic reasons…So, while we waste no time in pointing a finger (even if a well-deserved one) at the use of wildlife for traditional Chinese medicine, we haven’t spent the time to introspect the decimation of our wildlife by our own hands and tastes,” writes C. Samyukta, Head, Forensics at WCT.
Read her eye-opening article on the menace of wildlife crime in India
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Fox lights to keep wild animals at bay in Brahmapuri forest division
The Times of India, August 2019
As part of WCT’s human-wildlife interface management endeavour in the Brahmapuri Forest Division in Maharashtra, in partnership with the Maharashtra Village Social Transformation Foundation (MVSTF), fox lights are being installed in agriculture fields across villages to minimise crop depredation from wild animals.
“I had sowed chana in two acres. The wild pigs raided one night and destroyed half an acre of it. We contacted the WCT team through the Chief Minister’s Rural Development Fellow (RDF) to install fox lights around the farm. It has helped reap a full crop after the lights were installed,” Nileshwar Wanjari, a farmer from a village in Brahmapuri told TOI.
Crop damage is a major bone of contention between the villages that fringe or lie within forests and the wildlife. This technology is implemented on the premise that wild animals associate fox lights with the presence of humans. Each fox light is fitted with LED bulbs and is solar powered, and emits lights of varying frequencies and sequences, in unpredictable fashion, thus deterring the animals and making it difficult for them to interpret and get used to the lights.
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How India’s First Dedicated Underpass for Wildlife Was Built on India’s NH-7/44
The Better India, August 2019
India’s first dedicated corridor for wild animals, this cave-like underpass connects two famous wildlife parks — Kanha and Pench — and could be vital for the long-term viability of tiger populations in the central Indian landscape. Find out how!
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Focus on accurate means of wildlife tracking is the need of the hour’: Anish Andheria
The Times of India, August 2019
WCT President, Dr. Anish Andheria was in Bengaluru as part of the Nature InFocus festival for a talk on the effects of environmental changes on our country’s wildlife. Read the excerpts on what he believes is the need of the hour.
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India’s tiger counts suggest an urgent need for peaceful ecosystems where humans, tigers coexist
Firstpost, August 2019
Dr. Anish Andheria speaks about the way ahead for tiger conservation post the recent All India Tiger Estimation (2018).
The most current nation-wide estimation of the tiger population in India was released by PM Narendra Modi on International Tiger Day (29 July) this year. The Status of Tigers in India Report, 2018 reveals that there are an estimated 2,967 tigers in the wild in India — 33 percent higher than the number of tigers counted in 2014, and double that of the 2006 population.
But do the numbers matter? Learn more
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How can India’s linear infrastructure develop without harming wildlife?
July 2019
Milind Pariwakam, Connectivity Conservationist at WCT, in conversation with eminent environmental journalist Bahar Dutt on ‘Earth Talks’, a weekly conversation on issues related to climate, sustainability and biodiversity, hosted by the Observer Research Foundation.
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Anish Andheria, President, WCT talks about Pilbhit Tigress lynching
Mirror Now, July 2019
With boundaries between human habitation and wildernesses thinning, man-animal conflicts have become the norm in India. A news channel reached out to WCT President, Dr. Anish Andheria, to get his views on the recent lynching episode where an adult tigress was beaten to death in Uttar Pradesh by irate villagers.
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Handling human-wildlife conflict through social interventions
The Hitavada, July 2019
It is always nice to have our work highlighted by the media. Read the coverage in The Hitavada on our community-based project work in collaboration with Maharashtra Village social Transformation Foundation (MVSTF) in the Chandrapur district. Community development is at the heart of our conservation efforts and along with MVSTF we have been able to concertedly work in 49 villages under 21 Gram Panchayats in the Brahmapuri sub-division of Chandrapur district through an inter-disciplinary approach focusing on conservation research, conservation behaviour, livelihoods and education. We are working to address the sensitive issues of human-wildlife conflict and crop depredation through scientific and social interventions.
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Monitoring Tigers Beyond Tiger Reserves
Sanctuary Asia, Volume 39 Issue 6, June 2019.
In India, tiger conservation efforts have largely been focused on Protected Areas (PAs); but significant tiger populations exist outside these supposedly inviolate reserves too, and their survival here is threatened by habitat and prey depletion at the hands of humanity. Science-based conservation is vital; we first need to know what is happening to the tiger population outside PAs. Without taking stock, we will never know what we really stand to lose when large chunks of forests get denotified for development projects.
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Whose Right of Way?
Sanctuary Asia, Volume 39 Issue 6, June 2019.
A wildlife biologist with the Wildlife Conservation Trust and a member of the IUCN WCPA Connectivity Conservation Specialist Group Milind Pariwakam, and President of the Wildlife Conservation Trust and member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority Dr. Anish Andheria, believe that a well-planned policy framework could offer a win-win solution for India’s wildlife corridors and the surface transportation sector.
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As India develops, leopards die in record numbers
India Spend, June 2019
India lost at least 218 leopards over the first four months of 2019, more than 40% of the previous year’s death toll of 500.
“We have high human-leopard conflicts because the forests are degrading, and they (leopards) have to come out for food. In areas where forests are healthy, they prey on monkey and deer, also regulating their population.” said Anish Andheria, President of the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT).
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WHO urged to condemn Traditional Chinese Medicine utilising wild animal parts
In a controversial decision questioned by wildlife scientists around the globe, the World Health Organization (WHO) is set to formally recognise Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) for the first time at the 72nd World Health Assembly being held in Geneva this week.
Wildlife Conservation Trust, Panthera, and Environmental Investigation Agency urge the WHO to condemn the use of TCM utilising wild or captive bred animal parts.
Read our press release to learn more about the impact of this decision.
•The Times of India •Hindustan Times •The Asian Age •The Independent •Mongabay
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Dharti Rakshaks of Melghat
Sanctuary Asia, Volume XXXIX Issue 4, April 2019.
Protecting wildlife and its habitats through GPS-based patrolling, tracking poachers with the help of sniffer dogs, conserving water in the forests till the summer months, catalysing the rebirth of grasslands – forest guards truly play the role of earth protectors.
In the latest issue of Sanctuary Asia, find out about the life and work of four extraordinary forest guards from the Melghat Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra.
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Wildlife board says ‘yes’ to Kanhargaon sanctuary
The Times of India, December 2018.
The Maharashtra State Board for Wildlife (MSBW) on Wednesday in-principle approved to declare Kanhargaon in Gondpipri tehsil of Chandrapur district a wildlife sanctuary.
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NDTV HOP Live in conversation with Dr. Anish Andheria, President, WCT
Dr. Anish Andheria shares his journey of how he got into wildlife and his passion for conservation.
Watch video (For mobile and tablet only)
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Reinforce rules in tiger corridors, buffer zones: NTCA
The Times of India, November 2018.
Realising that linear projects like roads and railways and powers lines are proving detrimental for tigers, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has directed all the chief wildlife wardens (CWLWs) in tiger ranging states to strongly comply with existing statutory provisions.
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‘Tiger Matters’ a documentary detailing conservation launched
‘Tiger Matters’ – a conservation documentary launched together by WCT and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) here highlights the critical linkage between tigers, forests, river systems and humans needed to advance our ecological and economic security.
“The film details the intricate and interwoven actions to secure the future of tiger habitats and local communities,” WCT said in a statement.
An estimated 3,500 wild tigers remain worldwide and India is home to approximately 65 per cent of them.
The film launch is part of a joint program by WCT and USAID, executed in close cooperation with the forest departments of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.
Blogs by Arvind Passey
Blog 1: LetsTalkTigers
One of the prime purposes of this post is to let the readers know that there are people and organisations working to protect our environment by protecting the tigers. http://bit.ly/2DYF9bU
Blog 2: Social media influencers and conservation
Conservation and fundoo tourists do not really go together. This is because the forests and the wildlife there, including the tiger, can do without their habitat getting overwhelmed by ecstatic shouts, irreverent whistles, and camera flashes that are anyway not doing much except creating layers of disgust in the heart of nature. http://bit.ly/2RWW9nc
•Business Standard •Tribune India •Outlook India •The Week •Agency FAQs •Sify •Social News •New York Indian
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Tiger Matters: WCT-USAID Release Documentary on an Effective 360-Degree Approach to Conservation
November 2018
Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) launched the conservation documentary film, ‘Tiger Matters’ at the India Habitat Centre. This film highlights the critical linkage between tigers, forests, river systems and humans, advancing our ecological and economic security.
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New railway lines set to cut through 13 tiger corridors
The Times of India, November 2018.
Wildlife experts state Indian Railways have taken up trebling of railway line network sans mitigation measures which will cut multiple corridors in Central Indian Tiger Landscape (CITL). A third line to be added to major trunk routes threatens the viability of tigers in CITL.
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Is Maharashtra creating man-eaters?
National Herald, November 2018.
Maharashtra is one of seven states that fall under the CIL, one of the most viable regions from the perspective of global tiger conservation. Despite this, existing knowledge on tiger ecology and factors that threaten their existence…
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3 tiger cubs mowed by train in Vidarbha forest
DownToEarth, November 2018
Roads, railways, canals and power lines are linear infrastructures that potentially fragment the habitat of wild animals and act as epicentres of fatal accidents for innumerable wild species, small and big.
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Quadripartite Association
Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVIII No. 10, October 2018
On a night walk in the Doyang Valley, Dr. Anish Andheria stumbles upon a rarely recorded phenomenon – a four-party association between three insects belonging to three different orders (Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Hemiptera)… and a plant!
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Otters In Tiger Country
Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVIII No. 10, October 2018
The Wildlife Conservation Trust’s discovery of Eurasian otters in central India underlines the importance of conserving large landscapes in the name of umbrella species.
The new photographic evidence of Eurasian otters from central India comes from hill-streams in the ‘core area’ of the Satpura Tiger Reserve, and the least-disturbed areas of Balaghat Forest Division.
The discovery of Eurasian otters in the Satpura Tiger Reserve is yet another heartening validation of the umbrella species model of conservation, and their presence in Balaghat emphasises the importance of wildlife corridors.
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[Interview: Anish Andheria] ‘Citizen science can help reduce wildlife mortality’
Mongabay India, October 2018
WCT President Dr. Anish Andheria spoke to Mongabay India on the burning conservation issues of our time: roadkills and their mitigation, forest fragmentation and the spread of diseases from domestic to wild animals, the faulty implementation of the Forest Rights Act, and the step-motherly treatment meted out to India’s forest guards.
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Mumbaikars take part in a panel discussion on ‘Wildlife and the City’
The Times of India, September 2018
Read the insights shared by WCT President, Dr. Anish Andheria and WCT trustee, Bittu Sahgal on wildlife living in city scapes.
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Delving into the wild side
The Asian Age, September 2018
Human beings are compassionate towards wildlife but the perception that gets built up because of wrong science and wrong project clearances, is what creates man-animal conflicts.
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Green Hope
Mid-day, August 2018
A panel of conservationists and environmental activists discuss challenges wildlife faces in urban India.
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MSTrIPES – A Protective Web For India’s Tiger Forests
Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVIII No. 8, August 2018
In 2010, the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) along with the Wildlife Institute of India, launched MSTrIPES. Short for Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive Protection and Ecological Status, this vital tool is a patrol-based wildlife monitoring GIS database, designed to assist wildlife protection, monitoring, and management of Protected Areas.
Photo by Dr. Anish Andheria
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Protecting Our Protectors – Health Challenges Faced By India’s Frontline Forest Staff
Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVIII No. 8, August 2018
India’s frontline forest staff risk life and limb every day as they set out for their patrols. From chasing and confronting timber smugglers or illegal fishers, to being attacked or bitten by wild animals, these unsung heroes suffer injuries ranging from fractures and snake bites to bullet wounds.
Photo by Dr. Anish Andheria
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Parley with the Mind
Hornbill, July 2017
Forest guards patrol forests in some of the most challenging environments, they are pivotal protectors of elephants. The present survival challenge is probably the toughest that elephants have faced in the five million years of their existence.
Photo by Rushikesh Chavan
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Read the thoughts of Dr. Anish Andheria, President, WCT, on the evolution of Wildlife Conservation in India.
WIF India, July 2018
The unique thing that separates India from all other countries is its culture which advocates compassion for forests and wildlife, the primary reason why despite a population size of 1.3 billion people, acute poverty across several states, an increasing inequity between the rich and the poor and huge pressures on our natural resources, we have conserved our wildlife including large mammals such as tigers, elephants, one-horned rhinoceros, snow leopards, etc…
Photo by Dr. Anish Andheria
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Should Art Kill Its Muse?
Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVIII No. 6, June 2018.
Could art be cruel? Could it kill? The purpose of art, among others, is also the portrayal and appreciation of beauty. How can it then be self-defeating and exterminate the very forms of life that are its muse?
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Tightening The Noose On Wildlife Crime
Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVIII No. 6, June 2018.
With crime at an all-time high, and conviction at an all-time low, Wildlife Conservation Trust’s training on law and forensics for forest guards aims to turn the tide.
Photo by Rizwan Mithawala
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Tiger conservation is not about saving one tiger
The Times of India, May 2018.
Dr. Anish Andheria, a naturalist at heart, has invested nearly two decades of his life in fighting conservation battles. His immense knowledge about natural history and terrestrial ecosystems help him build strategies to achieve a win-win for both people and wildlife.
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Roads To Nowhere – Roadkills – A Citizen Science Initiative
Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVIII No. 4, April 2018.
Wildlife Conservation Trust engages concerned citizens to collect data on mortality of wild animals on roads, railway lines and irrigation canals across the country through a mobile-based application namely Roadkills.
Photo by Sheetal Navgire
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Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Camera Trapping Outside Protected Areas
Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVIII No. 4, April 2018.
President of the Wildlife Conservation Trust Anish Andheria provides a first-hand account of the remarkable work being done by the organisation to monitor forests outside the protected area network of central India.
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Meet Dr. Anish Andheria – Scientist, Naturalist, Conservationist, Photographer
Sanctuary Asia, Vol. XXXVIII No. 2, February 2018.
Meet Dr. Anish Andheria, President, Wildlife Conservation Trust, who speaks to Bittu Sahgal about how nature took over his life, his inspirations and the conservation challenges ahead of us all at a point in time when climate change is rapidly moving into higher gear.
Photo by Shashank Dalvi
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It’s all about us!
Hornbill, January 2017
Forests are not only magnets to rainfall, they have a very high aesthetic value in our lives and we are hard-wired to enjoy them.
Photo by Rushikesh Chavan
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Proven: Eurasian Otters found in India
June 11, 2016
Camera trap photos from a study conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) and the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department (MPFD) have revealed the presence of Eurasian Otters in India.
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Protecting corridors key to increasing tiger numbers
The Times of India, February 28, 2016
TOI talks to Aditya Joshi from Wildlife Conservation Trust to understand the significance of the latest 140km dispersal of a tiger from Tadoba’s Kolsa range to Umarzari in Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve (NNTR).
Photo by Dr. Anish Andheria
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Updates on the Wildlife Conservation Trust-supported Consultation on Tiger Conservation in the Central Indian Landscape
December 21, 2015
The first day of the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT)-supported workshop on tiger conservation in the Central Indian Landscape (CIL) has drawn to a close and the foundation for a long-term partnership between the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh Forest Departments (MFD and MPFD respectively) is being formed.
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WCT is hosting a consultation to promote inter-state collaboration on tiger conservation
December 21, 2015
The Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) is facilitating a consultation between the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh Forest Departments and the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) on landscape-level tiger conservation in Central India on December 21 and 22, 2015.
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Tiger Estimation outside PAs in Maharashtra
June 02, 2015
A first-of-its-kind tiger estimation study conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) in areas outside Protected Areas (PAs) of the Chandrapur District of Maharashtra has revealed the presence of 48 adult tigers. This pushes the number of tigers in the district to 120 including 72 living inside the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (as per the 2014 tiger estimation report).
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Site Security Training for STPF officials
February 23, 2015
WCT, in association with Panthera, is conducting a first-of-its-kind ‘Site Security Training’ for officials of the Special Tiger Protection Task Force (STPF) of the Pench and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserves.
Header image © Dr. Anish Andheria
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