Ever wondered what fossils might have meant to our ancestors in older times, when the concepts of geology, evolution, and palaeontology were still to be uncovered? The scientific field of palaeontology (study of fossils) was formally established only in the … Read More
Manipulation is a domain that certain parasites have exploited to bizarre degrees. They can literally turn their victim hosts into fully-controlled ‘zombies’ to do their bidding. Call them Frankensteins if you will! Different parasites inject the hosts with highly-specific chemicals … Read More
More than one third of the world’s fish stocks are overexploited. Our ocean is already suffering. And right now, billions of dollars in government subsidies just encourage more fishing. The good news is that we have an opportunity to end … Read More
I grew up in a family which cooked and served the most mouth-watering seafood delicacies every so often. But I haven’t had a bite of seafood in over 15 years now. For someone who would drool on hearing the names … Read More
On the bank of a gushing river in the forests of India’s Western Ghats, under the black velvet dome shimmering with countless stars, a tree lights up with flashes of neon, and goes dark again. On the opposite bank, another … Read More
MUMBAI: Twenty-seven NGOs from India, Vietnam, USA, UK, Canada, South Africa and Germany, on November 18, 2020, published an open letter to lawmakers in China urging them to act to reduce demand for wild animal species threatened with extinction. Photo … Read More
The threat of wildlife crime has always loomed large over wildlife in India. Be it the hunting and poaching of charismatic, larger mega-fauna such as the tiger and the Indian one-horned rhino, or the lesser-known and lesser protected ungulates and … Read More
A lone male sparrow, perched on a television cable that runs past my window, calls every morning. He is raising a family in a ceiling nook of a store room on the opposite terrace. He’s a neighbor I have been … Read More
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