Wildlife & Biodiversity

‘Konkan’s rich biodiversity has lured poachers to its pangolins’

Vishwas Katdare is the founder of Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra, a non-profit operating for the last 26 years, mostly in Maharashtra's coastal Konkan region towards 'conservation for the benefit of environment and locals'. The non-profit was recently awarded a grant by The Habitats Trust, a foundation that works towards the protection and conservation of habitats. He spoke to Down To Earth about …

Wildlife & Biodiversity

'Animals and humans have shared spaces in India long before 1972'

In the aftermath of a tragic incident in Maharashtra's Junnar, where 5 leopard cubs were burnt to death unknowingly by a farmer in whose field they were in, Down To Earth talks to leopard expert Vidya Athreya about how humans and leopards can share the same space 

Wildlife & Biodiversity

'Crocodiles are affected by low frequency vibrations'

Down To Earth interviews crocodile expert Adam Britton on impact of noise on the breeding and behaviour patterns of crocodilians

Wildlife & Biodiversity

The story of how mammals evolved

In his book ‘I, Mammal: The Story of What Makes us Mammals’, former neurobiologist Liam Drew takes the reader on a spectacular journey

Wildlife & Biodiversity

‘Such an ad-lib translocation would lead to human-mugger conflict’

As the Gujarat government sets about catching 500 crocodiles from two ponds near the Statue of Unity to make a seaplane lauchpad for ferrying tourists, Down To Earth speaks to veteran crocodile expert, Raju Vyas on the issue

Wildlife & Biodiversity

The sexual world of the tiger has been invisible to the world: Valmik Thapar

Down To Earth talks to veteran conservationist Valmik Thapar about his book 'The sex life of tigers', the cat’s mating rituals and why his book is an important addition to tiger literature

Wildlife & Biodiversity

‘In a world in which wildlife is so threatened, the Indus dolphin is a rare good news story’

Gill Braulik, who has been studying Indus River dolphins in Pakistan for over 15 years, speaks to Down To Earth about the future of the animal in both Pakistan and India

Wildlife & Biodiversity

'Don't misunderstand the leopard'

Few wildlife enthusiasts have tracked leopards more closely or known them more intimately than jonathan and Angela Scott, who have made the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya their home for over 40 years. They speak to Deepanwita Gita Niyogi about their book, The Leopard's Tale, that chronicles the secret and risky life of two leopards and their cubs

Wildlife & Biodiversity

‘We inform locals about the wildlife in their backyard’

Sanjay Gubbi, who recently set up a nature information centre in Karnataka, says this it’s the first such centre to disseminate information in a vernacular language

Wildlife & Biodiversity

"Pre-Independence India did better conservation"

M K Ranjitsinh has been involved in conservation for more than 40 years. Rajat Ghai speaks to him about his latest book, A Life with Wildlife: From Princely India to the Present, and India's conservation challenges

Wildlife & Biodiversity

'We could discover new bird species in the eastern Himalayas'

Trevor Price has been studying birds in India since 1972, investigating breeding biology and bird distributions, especially in the Himalayas. He is a leading expert in bird speciation—the formation of new bird species in the course of evolution. Currently, on a Fulbright Fellowship and working with the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, he speaks to Rajat Ghai about Himalayan avifauna

Wildlife & Biodiversity

‘A zoo must strive to meet animals’ physical and psychological needs’

Gerald Durrell was a British naturalist, zookeeper, conservationist, author and television presenter. He founded what are now called the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Durrell Wildlife Park on the English Channel island of Jersey in 1959. Tiasa Adhya talks to his wife Lee Durrell about how zoos can take up pro-active roles in animal care and conservation

Wildlife & Biodiversity

'Lt. Col. John Henry Patterson’s accuracy of description is very much in question'

Bruce D. Patterson is the MacArthur Curator of Mammals at the Field Museum of Natural History (FMNH) in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is also an authority on lions. On April 19, 2017, Patterson, along with Larisa DeSantis from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, USA, published a new study about the most (in)famous man-eating lions of all time, the Tsavo Maneaters. In his study, Bruce …

Wildlife & Biodiversity

`Religion is not doing enough to help wildlife'

George Schaller is one of the first scientists to study and rediscover several rare and charismatic species. These include the mountain gorillas in the Congo, lions in Tanzania, tigers in India, jaguars in Brazil and the Asiatic cheetahs in Iran. He has also been researching the wildlife in China, including the giant panda, the Tibetan antelope and the snow leopard. On a recent visit to India,…

Wildlife & Biodiversity

'Mission Tiger will make an emotional appeal to poachers to save the big cat'

Poachers come from very poor backgrounds and some poach for as meagre as Rs 2000 per tiger

Wildlife & Biodiversity

'Lions’ presence in human-dominated areas is neither new nor surprising'

Wildlife expert and authority on Gir lions Ravi Chellam, who is currently the executive director of Greenpeace India, talks about attacks on humans

Wildlife & Biodiversity

'River regulation responsible for decline in water bird population in Australia'

Kate Brandis, joint research fellow at the Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW and Australian Nuclear Science Technology Organisation

Wildlife & Biodiversity

‘Russia will do its best to protect the Amur tiger’

Sergey Aramilev is the Deputy Director of the Vladivostok-based Amur Tiger Centre. He is in Delhi to attend the third Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation. He speaks to Down To Earth about the status of the Amur or Siberian tiger, the largest extant tiger subspecies. Excerpts:  

Wildlife & Biodiversity

‘Wild tigers could be back in Kazakhstan by 2026’

Igor Chestin is the head of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)’s Russia chapter. He is in Delhi to attend the third Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation. Chestin is heading a radical scheme to introduce the tiger back to Kazakhstan, Central Asia’s biggest country. It was once home to the now-extinct Caspian subspecies of tiger (Panthera Tigris Virgata). With Chestin&…

Wildlife & Biodiversity

‘The future of the Indian Wolf is hanging by a slender thread’

Karnataka-based documentary filmmakers, Senani Hegde and Krupakar, whose work on wild dogs has been feted in the past, have recently, won another laurel. Their documentary, Walking With Wolves recently won the Wildlife Conservation Award at the Centre for Media Studies’ Vatavaran festival. The duo spoke to Down To Earth on their movie and the Indian Wolf. Excerpts: