You won’t know when. You won’t know where. You must keep your peripheral vision peeled and neck rotating 180 degrees perpetually, for a split-second sighting along the river as it breaks the surface for air. That is the only way … Read More
Mercy “She asks me to kill the spider.Instead, I get the mostpeaceful weapons I can find. I take a cup and a napkin.I catch the spider, put it outsideand allow it to walk away. If I am ever caught in … Read More
When we think of charismatic mammals of the central Indian forests, we tend to think of tigers, leopards, dholes, barasinghas, and gaurs. With the recent return of elephants to central India, some would add these pachyderm to the list as … Read More
There was a time when millions of vultures soared across the skies of the Indian subcontinent. This was true right uptil the late 1980s, when the estimated population of vultures was around 4 crore. Then, in the 1990s, the vultures … Read More
Ganges river dolphins are never quiet. They are effectively blind and do not need eyesight to live in the super-murky, sediment-rich waters of their riverine habitat. But this means that they must echolocate almost constantly to map their environment and … Read More
We drive through the dusty road that promises to take us to my much-awaited destination ensconced in the Siwalik Hills in Himachal Pradesh. The hills grow bigger as we get closer, and soon we are in Suketi village, driving past … Read More
Wildlife watchers love a good field guide. It helps them identify plants and animals in the field, and tick off long lists of species they wish to see in the wild. And there are people that walk the wilds, not … Read More
“Veterinarians are irrevocable generalists,” reads a line in the book Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology. While most people associate a veterinarian only with treatment and welfare of individual animals, their role extends to maintaining the health of wildlife populations and ecosystems … Read More
We walk up the cobbled stone steps, Dr. Anish Andheria and I, in a forest situated right in the middle of Mumbai’s hyper-urbanised, noisy suburbs. We soak in the beauty and significance of this small preserve better known as the… Read More
European Bison disappeared from Romania over 200 years ago. WWF Romania and Rewilding Europe have been working together to reintroduce this iconic species back to the Southern Carpathian mountains. Since the first translocation in 2014, more than 100 Bison have … Read More
WCT’s FLOWIDER App Integrates Crucial Flood Data for Riverine Species Conservation and Flood Risk Management River flooding keeps species, ecosystems, and societies living on floodplains alive and healthy by annually replenishing and recharging them with life-giving nutrients, sediments, and water.… Read More
What is sand mining? Sand mining is the extraction of naturally formed sand from river banks, riverbeds, wetlands, or coasts. Sand is a silicate mineral and is of high value in construction, which is the primary driver of sand mining.… Read More
Every five years, India’s Finance Commission (FC), a constitutional body instituted by the President, determines the criteria for the devolution of the tax revenue by the Centre to the States. Of the total demarcated fund pool, a percentage of the … Read More
Tarun Nair is a conservation biologist with an affinity for crocodilians and rivers. Leading the Wildlife Conservation Trust’s (WCT’s) Makara Programme, he works along North-Central Indian riverscapes that harbour the last remaining populations of the Critically Endangered gharial, a fish-eating … Read More
It is interesting to behold the pre-colonial, colonial, and post-colonial trajectory of forest governance in India. The forests have been viewed through a spectrum of administrative lenses over the past few centuries, ranging from subsistence to extraction in the past, … Read More