How a shamanic community has saved tigers in the Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh
THE PRELUDE
It was March 2012. I was in the Lower Dibang Valley district of Arunachal Pradesh conducting surveys for a renowned conservation organisation to determine tiger presence outside Protected Areas of Northeast India. “If you want to fi nd a lot of tigers, you must go high up in the mountains. In our culture, tigers live on tall mountains,” said an Idu Mishmi elder as I sat in his hut close to Roing town, the headquarters of the Lower Dibang Valley. I nodded, as you do when dismissing someone, politely. I was well versed in tiger ecology and knew that ‘a lot of tigers’ didn’t, and couldn’t, ‘live on high mountains’. During my years in graduate school and then as a conservation practitioner, I had fi rmly believed, backed by hard data, that tigers were a conservation dependent species that survived when governments and NGOs, like the one I worked for, put in active measures to protect them. There were no tiger reserves in the area, no guards and the nearest sizeable tiger population was more than 400 km. away in Assam’s Kaziranga. Surely the ‘tigers’ that the Idu elder was talking about were either fi ctional or unfortunate remnants of a past population.
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Denne historien er fra April 2019-utgaven av Sanctuary Asia.
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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.
