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.…
In India, where people and wildlife often find themselves on each other's doorstep, the public mindset towards nature can go three ways. It can blossom into a healthy respect and love for our beautiful wildlife, or it can result in a matter-of-fact ambivalence towards our wild neighbours. Occasionally, relations between people and wildlife go sour.…
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.
The air became more turbulent, and then suddenly, as though a curtain were whipped aside, skyscrapers reared up their grey heads below us, cropping up like the world's fastest-growing grass. Startled, I realized that we were much closer to ground than the view from my window had led me to believe. And the cause of this loss of visibility was evident - smog.
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,…
"It is always the same with mountains. Once you have lived with them for any length of time, you belong to them. There is no escape." - Ruskin Bond Much like the enigmatic Ruskin Bond, I find myself returning to the mountains time and time again. This month, my quest for higher ground (and a…
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...
The elephant-headed god, Ganesha, is revered and celebrated by Hindus across the world. He is the remover of obstacles, the lord of beginnings and journeys. Yet in the birthplace of Hinduism, the Asian elephant faces rampant, and often disguised, cruelty at the hands of those who profess to value all forms of life as equal…
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…
Most people know me as the tiger girl, but if I had to choose an animal that I most identify with, it would be the leopard (Panthera pardus). The lithe beauty and silent grace of this smaller yet deadly big cat is rivaled by few other animals in the Indian subcontinent. Less endangered and beloved…
On Life and Wildlife 