The water from the well is bitter, sharp. Tastes like one of those pills that is supposed to solve your issues but doesn’t really do its job. You swallow, wishing for a better aftertaste, but maybe the purpose of swallowing was not for the taste but for the coolness that settles in your throat afterwards.…
Wild Shaale: Where Conservation Meets Education
Have you ever wanted to make a difference in the lives of India's rural children AND help save our endangered wildlife? Then click here to read about Wild Shaale, a unique conservation education programme! Trust me, this is a cause worth supporting
Jaws of Extinction: The Plight of the Gharial
The long-snouted gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) has been my favourite crocodilian from the moment I saw one at the Madras Crocodile Bank at the age of six. Well, to be specific, there must have been at least ten floating lazily in the brackish water of their enclosure, but it was feeding time, and one particularly ambitious…
Why India Needs Her Tiger Forests
The forests of India are alive with the presence of the tiger, whether or not one actually sees this magnificent cat. To the amateur wildlife enthusiast, the cat is a treat to spot at national parks and wildlife reserves. To the seasoned biologist or those who share space with the tiger, it is a ghost.…
Elusive Cats in Unexplored Places: World Wildlife Day 2018 is Almost Here!
Today, on the advent of UN World Wildlife Day 2018, join me on a brief journey into the lives of two of India's rare and elusive big cats - the snow leopard and the clouded leopard.
Can Wolves Fight Back Against the Lonely Walk to Extinction?
The wolf is perhaps the only terrestrial mammal that has a reputation worldwide, from the Rocky Mountains of North America to the woods of Europe to the tundra to the African highlands and to the scrublands of India. It is also one of the least-loved and most misunderstood creatures with which we inhabit this planet.…
Monsoon Mountains: Field Notes from a Tiger Forest
The Malabar whistling thrush is never a moment late. At 5:53, a peculiar, human-like whistle cuts through the still, pre-dawn air, jaunty and cocksure. He sits somewhere hidden in the huge tree in the courtyard at Hulikanu, staking his territory and doubling up as my morning alarm. But I am already awake and pad outside,…
Killer Roadways: Can Conservation and Development Occur Side-by-Side?
Roads link human settlements...and fragment wildlife habitat. One of the driving forces behind the movement to designate and build wildlife corridors was to avoid the hazards that roads pose towards wildlife. Roads travel through rare and limited habitats and niches, divide territories of large wildlife, and impede the free dispersal of migratory terrestrial species, such as elephants...
Where Fish Climb Trees: Endangered Wildlife of the Sundarbans
In the dense, knotted swamps of the Sundarbans mangrove forest in West Bengal and Bangladesh, nature's rules are topsy-turvy. This is a land where fish climb trees and animals drink salt water. This is a land where tigers attack humans by day and trees reach their roots up to the star-speckled night skies. This mangrove…
On Giant Trees and Craggy Coasts: The Pacific Experience
"In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks" - John Muir As a conservationist, my idea of a good vacation involves abounding nature, long arduous hikes, and a photogenic example or two of local wildlife. Of course, I love dragging my family along on such escapades as well, because family makes…
On Life and Wildlife 