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
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
On the fateful night of April 26, 1986, as the world slept, a nuclear disaster of unimaginable scale unfolded in northern Ukraine. One of the nuclear reactors of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded spewing radioactive substances over the next … Read More
From the confines and safety of our homes, as we express gratitude to medical staff, police, and other essential service providers, let’s not forget our forest guards. These earth protectors, who work tirelessly to safeguard our forests and wildlife, are … Read More
The wounds reappear every winter,” said Sabulal Kasdekar, and pulled up his pants to his thighs. His legs, discoloured by burn scars, were painful to look at. The story behind the scars was equally painful. Kasdekar lived in the Mangia … Read More
The web of an orb-weaver spider is a giant sensory organ, a deadly trap, an architectural wonder, and a spectacle of elegance. Members of this group build large, intricate, concentric webs using a toolkit of different special-purpose threads produced from … Read More
The first time I visited Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Mumbai was during the monsoon of 2018. Light showers made it look as inviting as ever. It was quite an experience to be walking on trails which, in certain … Read More