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Why Children Are Needed To Help Save The World

On my very first day in India, I encountered many marvelous new customs not practiced in the United States, my home country. But the most curious by far involved trees. Here and there, alongside the roaring streets of Mumbai were rings of marigold wreathed around twisting banyan trunks like dried rays of afternoon sunlight…

Who's Who?

Fact: all toads are frogs, but not all frogs are toads! Let’s unpack this...

The Sea Raptor

The White-bellied Sea Eagle Haliaeetus leucogaster is one of the most common raptors along the Indian coastline. Nevertheless, the sight of this soaring, broad-winged, white and black bird of prey is nothing less than majestic

Bringing Up Bob Hoots.

While we were visiting a friend’s farm in the village of Yelachetty, near Bandipur Tiger Reserve, we found Spotted Owlets nesting on the tiled roof… and one of the chicks on the kitchen floor!

Yala, Land Of The Leopard

Yala is not only Sri Lanka’s second-largest, but also the most-visited national park in the island nation.

The Wizards Of Oz!

Australia is not only a country, but also a continent. The land down under, cut-off from the rest of the world has an abundance of unique species of native animals, birds, reptiles, insects and plants.

Scales & Tails

I was really excited and looking forward to the workshop on reptiles and amphibians at Nature’s Nest in Mollem, Goa, between June 24 and 26, 2017. It was my opportunity to meet renowned herpetologist Varad Giri.

Big, Brilliant And Endangered

When one thinks of elephants, the first word that probably comes to mind is BIG! But elephants, while they may be the largest creatures on land, are not just big and powerful, they’re wise and sensitive as well. Recent scientific studies have established that they are among the most intelligent animals in the world.

Earth Manners

Everyday habits matter! Let’s be kind to the planet, animals and ourselves!

World Scan

CHINA’S IVORY TOWNAn explosive investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency has revealed how criminal gangs originating from an obscure town in southern China have come to dominate the smuggling of ivory tusks poached from African elephants.

Karanpura Must Live

The story of a campaign to save a landscape

Meet Erik Solheim

Environmental champion, politician, climate and peace negotiator

Bats in the land of Hornbills

“Bamboo bat!” My eyes gleamed when I heard that and I rushed for the bats, which were hanging in cloth bags.

Conservation Photography

As a precursor to the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2017, a reminder that a ‘picture can save a thousand lives’. Details at www.sanctuaryasia.com.

Stop The Killer Highway Through Corbett

Even as conservationists in Assam try to minimise wild animal roadkills on NH-37, a highway that obstructs the movement of wildlife from the flooded Kaziranga National Park to the safety of the KarbiAnglong hills… across the country, another killer highway has been foisted on us by the state of Uttarakhand.

The Heat Is On

The Heat Is On

Preservation Of Wild Landscapes

Preservation Of Wild Landscapes

Prof. Ratan Lal Brahmachary (1932-2018)

A brilliant man, pioneering scientist, and a beloved teacher, Prof. Ratan Lal Brahmachary was all that and much more. Dr. Silanjan Bhattacharyya writes about this great mind, who took him under his aegis and put him on the path of Nature and excellence.

Meet Sunil Mehta

A national-level basketball player and an alumnus of St. Stephens College, Delhi, this eco-entrepreneur started life as a pharmaceuticals promoter, exporter and as the Chief Coordinator for the Rajasthan State Government and the Rajasthan Association of North America (RANA). He now runs a real estate business that seeks to change the image of the sector by helping to improve the ecology of the geographies where his businesses are located. He met Bittu Sahgal at the Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge in Tadoba and spoke to him about how ensuring equitable justice to local communities could end up rewilding India.

New Seeds Of Hope For Nature

“What kind of far-sighted vision is needed to turn a devastated overgrazed landscape into a wildlife paradise?” I asked myself as I drove through the Van Vihar Wildlife Sanctuary, Dholpur. I tried to envisage what it would be like, or what it used to be like? Did it have the essentials to be restorable? How long would it take? What are the critical biodiversity ‘switches’, the key actions that are needed to transform a scrubland into a wilderness haven.

Arunachal Pradesh An Imperiled Haven

Most government officials consider a posting in Northeast India or the Andaman & Nicobar Islands a punishment on account of the remoteness and the lack of ‘amenities’. In my case these are the very reasons I treasure such postings. The five years I spent in Itanagar with the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), in the beautiful land of hornbills, were among the best of my life.

A Crocodile, A Deer And A Tiger

It was one of those fateful Tadoba mornings. As my jeep pulled up at the Telia Dam, a chital alarm call rang across from the opposite side of the lake.

Should Art Kill Its Muse?

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?

Birds Of A Feather

I had travelled all the way from Pune near the Western Ghats to the Northeastern state of Sikkim in the hope of sighting some of the rare and endemic birds for which this erstwhile monarchy is so justifiably famous.

Wildroots

In 2016, Assam-based organisation, WildRoots, launched a programme known as Art for Conservation (AFC) in rural and urban educational institutions in the state. A brainchild of Biswajit De, the programme aims to nurture a community of artists and empower aspiring conservation artists to become effective environmental ambassadors.

Daft National Forest Policy 2018?

On World Environment Day 2018 Lakshmy Raman and Bittu Sahgal ask that politicians, planners, activists and scientists join hands with long-suffering citizens to tackle the conjoined problems of biodiversity loss, climate change and the falling quality of human life on the subcontinent. With over 90 per cent of the accessible water available to over a billion humans being sourced from, fi ltered through, or fed by sources originating in natural ecosystems including wetlands and forests, the authors have chosen to focus on the most immediate threat to natural India by way of the poorly-drafted, irresponsibly-posited Draft National Forest Policy 2018 for India.

wildlife affected by floods in northeast india

earth manners

everyday habits matter! let’s be kind to the planet, animals and ourselves!

Satpura: The Highs & Lows

Captain J. Forsyth said, ‘‘in the very centre of India, lies a considerable region to which the term ‘highland’ is strictly applicable and where there are numerous peaks and ranges where the term ‘mountain’ could be rightly used.’’ This is an apt description of the Satpura National Park located south of Hoshangabad, and the location of my wild getaway.

All That Glitters...

You’re a langur.Just imagine,okay?.Not any old langur,but a very special one,with golden fur!