Over the past few months, I have been consistently coming across rather disturbing news from all over the world, the headlines for which when read together could pass off for a ‘fictional’ doomsday film plot. But, this is real life. … Read More
Dr. Anish Andheria, a conservation biologist, naturalist and wildlife photographer, is the President of the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) that works in and around 160 national parks and sanctuaries in 23 Indian states. After decades of studying and monitoring wildlife … Read More
As we wrestle with the countless conservation challenges, it becomes all the more clear that the interplay between humans and their natural environment is at the heart of every single environmental issue. Conventional conservation efforts are falling short sans the … Read More
A trained field biologist and scientist, Dr. Anish Andheria and his team at the Wildlife Conservation Trust are currently engaged in a range of conservation initiatives in Madhya Pradesh. This article, a result of their field experience, explores the potential … Read More
How our under-equipped forest staff fights fires Dnyaneshwar Shinde stopped at a pool of water by the foot of a mighty banyan on a drying streambed, dipped his cupped hands in the water, and splashed some on his face. He … Read More
We witnessed this during a large carnivore monitoring exercise conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) in Dhargad, Melghat Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. Two of my colleagues, Rajesh Bhendarkar and Amol, and I, left the field station in the morning … Read More
Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic More than halfway through 2020, the world continues to find itself in the middle of a pandemic of an unprecedented magnitude. Initially reported in Wuhan, China, as pneumonia of unknown cause, COVID-19 has metamorphosed into … Read More
An extraordinary relationship between two living entities that goes back 70-90 million years, since the time of the reign of the dinosaurs, is bound to be that much more special and specialised, to the point of mutual obligation. The ubiquitous … Read More
Come to think of it – globally, countries have institutionalised election funding and corporations have nothing to complain about. We know why, but what’s the harm in putting it down? While everyone is responding to a stimulus, is it our … Read More
There is a pressure to utilise this lockdown amid circumstances surrounding Covid-19. Some paint, some cook, while some dance. Of course, I don’t have to remind everyone of the dishes quarrelling in the kitchen sink or the broom lying in … Read More
“What we have learned was that conservation depends not only on protection but also on connection,” wrote Thomas E. Lovejoy and Edward O. Wilson in The New York Times in 2015. With the emerging awareness and focus on the importance … Read More
Small protection huts, better known as anti-poaching camps (APCs), dot the tiger reserves across India. Men and women in uniforms keep flitting in and out of these camps. There are rangers, other senior forest officials, forest guards and special tiger … Read More
The world is currently battling a pandemic of unprecedented proportions and bats have been prematurely implicated as the source of COVID-19. Recent social media posts and unverified opinions about bats have led to widespread antipathy and fear in the general … Read More
“Bambb! Bambb! Bambb!” The alliterative sound blares from a trumpet-shaped loudspeaker tied to a bicycle, and fills the evening air around the 400 household Lohara village in the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra. As twilight falls, men assemble at the office … Read More
The pandemic has forced much of humanity to retreat in the hopes of containing the virus. On March 25, 2020, India announced the world’s largest lockdown in a massive effort to combat the spread of the infection. While most citizens … Read More