Dozens of Blue Tiger butterflies jostle for space on a few bruised leaves of rattlepod. Each square centimetre on these blackening, bleeding leaves is precious, enough for four claw-tipped legs and a proboscis. The claws scratch the leaf, the proboscis … Read More
Under the iconic clock tower of the Sydney Town Hall, a blond pre-teen wears a wry expression. Among many others, his placard stands out. It says, “Don’t Mess With My Future”, the ‘o’ replaced with a 🙁 . Youngsters like … Read More
Tiny flippers leave tiny tracks on the shore. Palm-sized hatchlings of sea turtles, just out of their egg chamber under the sand, are almost instantly drawn to the sea. After a first wash by a mild wave, they wipe the … Read More
Marvel ghaas hona… usko zyada janwar khaate, isko nahi khaate (Marvel is the favourite grass of wild herbivores, not this one),” Keshav Jamunkar tells me, as he poses for a picture in a thicket of sorghum grass, over 1.8 m. … Read More
Scientists don’t make sweeping statements. They speak, and write, objectively. Research papers, even those on climate change, don’t have alarming titles. Rousing public emotions, and appealing to the collective conscience of humanity, is the work of writers like me. Scientists … Read More
It permeates our world, it will outlast us Bright red anemone, bright blue polythene; white squid egg-cases, white sachets of gutka tobacco; red carapace of an egg crab, red crushed cola can. These juxtapositions are neither staged nor imagined. These … Read More
In Late Stone Age Europe, 20,000 years ago, a teenage hunter is tossed over a cliff by a bison. He survives the fall, just fracturing his foot. On his way back home, he is attacked by a pack of wolves, … Read More
My new home overlooks an old cemetery. Surrounding the gold-plated finial atop the dome of a Sufi’s mausoleum in the centre of the cemetery are crowns of palm trees, interspersed with a mix of natives and exotics. Surrounded by a … Read More
On a rainy July evening in the Kanha National Park in Central India, forest guard M. P. Kartikey was returning to the anti-poaching camp after patrolling his beat, when he accidentally came uncomfortably close to sloth bears – a female … Read More
The Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) recently concluded a year-long occupancy survey for four large carnivores in the vital Sahyadri-Konkan corridor. Wildlife biologist Girish Punjabi, who is in charge of the project, speaks to WCT’s Conservation Writer Rizwan Mithawala about valuable … Read More