South Asia

Tourism-dependent nations value elephants

The butterfly effect

As India continues to lose its rich butterfly diversity at an alarming rate, a handful of individuals work towards creating newer habitats

Wildlife parts, live chameleon seized in Odisha’s Jajpur

Forest officials trying to find whether two arrested persons are poachers or couriers  

Hunting elephants, rhinos and pangolins for trade may affect climate, says UN paper; here is how

UNODC paper highlights that illegal wildlife trade has implications for ecosystem function and resilience, including to the persistence of …

Legal, controlled trade of wild species can have many benefits: CITES report

Adressing causes of poaching will benefit indigenous people, local communities and others involved in the supply chains

South Africa to combat poaching by shifting Kruger rhinos

South Africa plans to move up to 500 rhinos from Kruger National park to counter a wave of poaching of the animals for their horns, highly prized …

2 leopard skins, bones recovered in Odisha, 1 arrested

At least 155 leopards have been poached across Odisha in the last 10 years

Curse of the horn

Soaring prices of rhino horns have led to a new spurt of poaching in the Kaziranga National Park, Assam. Once heralded as a conservation success …

Goodbye Indian mermaid

Tricks of the e-waste trade

New rules offer no help to informal operators. They ignore reality and are likely to be toothless  

Back on menu: bird nest soup

IT's underbelly

India produces about 400,000 tonnes of electronic waste each year, growing exponentially. Handling this is a great challenge. What adds to it is …

More than 1,300 rhinos fell to poaching in Africa in 2015: IUCN

Poaching of rhinos is fuelled by the demand for their horns in Southeast Asia

Last pangolins

The world is running out of time to save its only scaly mammal

Homeless hilsa

The ocean fish that swims against the tide to spawn in rivers is moving away from Bangladesh

Should ivory trade be legalised?

International ban on ivory trade has neither reduced elephant poaching nor the volume of the illegal trade. Is it time the trade is legalised? …

A fish moves west

Ten years ago Bangladesh’s rivers were deeper and hilsa plentiful. Silting, dams and pollution pushed the fisher into deep ocean leading to …

Single window dumpyard

India wants global waste. So it gets what it wants  

Out of control: why monkeys are a menace

Damage by raiding monkeys has become a menace of unprecedented magnitude. Down To Earth travels to Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar …

Elephant poaching rates vary across Africa: 19 years of data from 64 sites suggest why

Poaching rates are lower where there is strong national governance and where local levels of human development are relatively high

Tracking the elusive metallic spider

Sighted only twice in India since its discovery in 1899, the peacock spider is in huge demand as a pet in the West

No cap on iron mining in Odisha

Centre rejects Shah Commission recommendation, says it would upset industry

Chinese honey route

Thriving honey laundering traced to Asian giant

Red Sandalwood export gets nod

Centre allows Andhra Pradesh to export 8,500 tonnes of unfinished woodÔÇêseized in crackdowns