Every year would have a bloody beginning at a small village, Lalgarh, situated in the interiors of Jhargram district, West Bengal.
As a small boy, Bapi Mahata recalls how elders of his village, along with several others from neighbouring areas, would gather to make a journey into the dense jungles, only to return brandishing blood-speared arrows, axes, swords and knives, along with a load of freshly-slaughtered animal carcasses – their prized kill.

An annual affair, this was a part of their celebrations; a grand feast of wild animals, some of which continue to be endangered.

“The hunting season mostly coincides with a full moon and is more a part of the celebration. Thousands of wild animals, many of which are already dwindling in numbers, would be mercilessly slaughtered for fun, as part of the feast. Growing up, it always disgusted me, especially to see the indiscriminate killing of protected wildlife in the name of ritualistic hunting,” says Bapi, who is one of the few alternate voices in the village fighting for the past three years to put an end to this.

In 2017, his growing urge to stop ritualistic hunting and poaching pushed him to join a wildlife protection NGO, Human & Environment Alliance League (HEAL), as an active volunteer. He is one of the 60 volunteers at HEAL who have been tirelessly trying to track down hunters and stop this practice across the forests of West Bengal.

With their aid, HEAL has been able to rescue over 250 animals, about 160 birds and made at least 15 arrests in the past few years.

Talking about the scale of impact achieved by HEAL in the past three years since its inception in 2017, one of its founding members, Meghna Banerjee says, “In this line of work, there is a lot of resistance, myths and a sense of secrecy guarding the act of hunting. We have had to penetrate all of that to be able to not only ensure the implementation of wildlife protection laws but also change the perception of people on a grassroots level.”

One of the major challenges has been the lack of awareness about this practice and the myths surrounding the laws that protect wildlife.

“While many would know about the hunting and poaching of megafauna for illegal wildlife trade, in various parts of the country, especially in states like Rajasthan or even the North-East, not many are aware of the situation in the interior parts of Bengal. The nature of hunting here is different from poaching for livelihood or illegal trade. It is associated with and ingrained in the culture; it is part of their rituals, which makes it more difficult to stop,” she says.

Tracking Ritualistic or Recreational Hunting

Although officially started in 2017, HEAL members, along with their volunteers, began to investigate and document ritualistic killings for the hunting festival since 2016.

According to their findings, most hunts start around January or February and last till June. Around this time, large groups of hunters from various parts of the state including many from ST communities, travel long distances often by train, to reach the hunting destinations. A report by Conservation India states that the hunting festival attracts more than 50,000 people every year, and that the hunters on each occasion may range between 1000 to 15,000 at a time.

“Scores of people assemble at the hunting locations, sometimes along with their dogs, and then participate in the slaughter of thousands of birds, reptiles, mammals etc, all of which are supposedly protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. From fishing cats, jackals, Bengal monitor lizards, jungle cats, porcupines, hyenas, Bengal foxes, wild boars, pangolins, civets to birds such as owls, barbets, jacanas, coucals and many more are killed during this time. In 2018, even a tiger was killed in Jhargram’s Lalgarh. While for some it is a part of the ritual, many recreational hunters join in for fun and make it more of a competition of killing as many as possible. Considering the large number of people participating in this, we can only imagine the scale of the massacre,” Meghna explains.

She points out that it was the shocking number of hunters that spurred HEAL into action, pushing them to seek assistance from law enforcement bodies. Over the years, their efforts of tracking down hunters, intercepting such assemblies, and rescuing wildlife have been possible with the association of the Forest Department and the Railway authorities, especially in parts of East Medinipur and Howrah, in South Bengal.

Misconceptions and Myths about Hunting Rights

Meghna adds that before the embargo on ritualistic hunting by the Calcutta High Court, most hunters would carry out their acts without any fear of the law.

Many even assumed that a certain exemption would apply to indigenous tribes hunting these wild animals. “There are a lot of misconceptions and myths around the law, both among the people as well as some authorities that bolster their resolve to continue this practice without any fear. But under the Wildlife Protection Act, no such exemption is provided even for forest dwellers, who traditionally were dependent on hunting for their livelihood. Hunting of wildlife animals is illegal under WPA 1972 making it a cognizable and non-bailable offence, punishable with imprisonment, which may extend up to seven years, and/or a fine, which may extend up to Rs. 25,000. Through HEAL we are trying to clarify this and implement strict on-ground measures that deter hunting,” adds Meghna, who is also a lawyer.

Even under the Scheduled Tribes and other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 (FRA) traditional hunting of wild animals is stated as illegal. As per this law, the rights of forest dwellers excludes hunting or trapping and extracting a part of the body of any species of a wild animal.

Legal course to Combat Hunting Practices

While these laws have been in place for several years, the weak on-ground implementation was one of the reasons for the unabashed hunting practices.

Hence in 2018, HEAL decided to intervene judicially, by filing a public interest litigation (PIL) before the Calcutta High Court to put an end to the mass hunting in East Medinipur and Howrah districts of West Bengal, especially during the Faloharini Kali Pujo hunt fest. This hunt fest would take place every year between May and June and would continue for approximately a week, creating an irreversible impact on the local wildlife. Over 5,000 animals would die annually just in this one festival.

Owing to HEAL’s incessant efforts, the Calcutta High Court, eventually, on May 10, 2018, passed an interim order that directed the West Bengal Forest Department to control hunting during Faloharini. From the district magistrate, superintendents of police to railway authorities in East Medinipur and Howrah districts, all were directed to work in tandem with the Forest Department to stop and prevent the hunt. This interim order finally was confirmed on April 18, 2019.

The judicial step then translated into grassroots-level implementation with increased patrolling in affected regions, that deterred people from carrying weapons or poached animals. Various awareness initiatives such as anti-hunting audio messages in railway stations, posters, police deployment to dissuade hunters and making common hunting spots inaccessible to them, slowly began to create an impact.

Alongside the authorities, HEAL’s 80-member team and volunteer group, Zero Hunting Alliance, continued to monitor the movement of hunting groups and informed any anomaly whatsoever to the local authorities. They even conducted various awareness campaigns across villages, schools and colleges.

“It is the youth that can help us in bringing about the change, so raising awareness in schools and colleges is an integral part of this multifaceted approach for preventing hunting practices. In order to build and strengthen trust with the communities, we have also been conducting medical camps and various other welfare initiatives,” says Meghna, while adding that owing to these efforts in East Medinipur and Howrah, they recorded a reduction in hunting practices by 95 percent in 2019.

A Long Road to Destination

While the impact in the southern part of Bengal has been exemplary, the other hunting festivals across the state continue to be a challenge. In a move to curb the practice of ritualistic hunting in districts of West Medinipur, Jhargram, Purulia, Bankura and Murshidabad, HEAL filed another PIL before the Calcutta High Court. The court order dated April 18, 2019, directed the Chief Wildlife Warden of the Forest Department to take all necessary measures to stop all hunting practices. In the last one year, efforts of awareness among local communities and monitoring of hunting spots have vigilantly been carried out by HEAL members along with the district officials.

“We haven’t been entirely successful to put an end to ritualistic hunting in these regions yet, but the COVID-19 lockdown surprisingly has played an important part in deterring this practice due to restrictions on transport, making the hunts smaller and more sporadic,” she adds. The focus she says is to inspire youth to not hunt but protect their backyard wildlife.

In addition to sensitization, awareness, training and monitoring programs, HEAL is also conducting a series of detailed hunting surveys across Jhargram, Bankura and West Medinipur in association with the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT) and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI). This survey is being done to create a detailed hunting calendar and map that could prove to be extremely helpful in nabbing the poachers and hunters across the region.

“Ours is a multi-pronged approach; this calendar will not only facilitate accurate monitoring of communities and hunting spots but also help us understand how to and where to better implement our awareness and sensitization programs. Communities, especially their youth, need to realize that their fit of fun comes at such a huge prize. They need to understand the large scale environmental impact of their actions, especially on the future generations,” she concludes.

(Edited by Sandhya Menon)

Growing up in Chilling, a small village approximately 60 km from Leh, 42-year-old Khenrab Phuntsog would regularly spot snow leopards at a distance while taking out the household goats and sheep for grazing up on mountain pastures nearby. With Chilling situated inside the famous Hemis National Park, it wasn’t hard to spot snow leopards if one climbed up to the higher ground.

However, it was during preparations for his grandmother’s cremation, when he was aged 12, that he actually came within 100 metres of a snow leopard. It was a sight he would never forget.

“I had gone with two local painters for the finishing touches on the structure where my grandmother was to be cremated. While they were at work, one of the painters pointed towards the opposite mountain slope at the snow leopard quietly waiting just above a herd of blue sheep. Initially, the rest of us didn’t see it. But when it took a couple of long leaps down, we saw it. It had caught one of the sheep and went for the kill,” recalled Khenrab in a conversation with The Better India.

It was that magnificent sighting that inspired Khenrab to first volunteer with the Wildlife Protection Department, and eventually, join it as a wildlife guard at the age of 22 in the year 2000. Since then, he has rescued 47 snow leopards.

Tracking Snow Leopards

As per the last scientific survey conducted through camera traps in 2012, the number of snow leopards in the 3,350 sq km-large Hemis National Park stood at 11, compared to 7 in 2006. However, for those surveys, camera traps were only installed across 300 sq km.

“We are now in the process of completing another census for snow leopards using extensive camera trapping methods in different parts of Ladakh, including in Changthang, Hemis National Park, Kargil and Nubra Valley. In Hemis National Park, we have about 60 snow leopards today. For this census camera traps were installed in half the total area unlike in 2006 and 2012. If you take all of Ladakh, however, my guess is that the figure would be above 250. This census is being carried out under the guidance of the Wildlife Institute of India. The results of this census may come by the end of this year or early next year,” he said.

Wildlife guards like Khenrab identify areas like ridgelines, broken cliffs, deep valleys and hanging rocks where snow leopards usually traverse, to install camera traps. Rolling and flat land isn’t really conducive terrain for the snow leopard, although for this census camera traps have been installed in not so conducive terrain as well, to ensure that none are missed.

Knowing where to install camera traps is a result of Khenrab’s 20 years of experience in tracking the elusive snow leopard. As a tracker, the first things he looks out for are indirect signs like pugmarks, scrapes, faeces, scent-sprays, claw-rakes and the remains from kills.

“The best times to spot them are early morning and late evening. When looking for scrapes or faeces, you can find them in the bottom of the valley or along the ridgeline. They make a pile of sand with their hind legs sitting on the ground and then urinate atop it. This is how they mark territory. They also rub their necks or cheeks on hanging rocks, leaving behind fur. One doesn’t look for high hanging rocks but suitably sized ones, where they can stand up and rub their necks. Here they also urinate and spray a pungent liquid from scent glands located under the base of the tail. Each one has its own unique scent,” says Khenrab.

In February-March, which is the mating season for the snow leopards, these hanging rocks are used frequently to scan and smell for potential mates. If these signs don’t work, they start calling each other on top of these ridgelines since this is the quickest way to communicate. Once you know where to look, the likelihood of spotting a snow leopard directly through your binoculars increases.

Rescuing Snow Leopards

During the late 1970s and 80s, some snow leopards were killed by the local populace in retaliation for their attacks on livestock. These predators would enter various corral pens in villages and kill livestock, a major source of income for many families. When snow leopards get sick, old or can’t hunt in the wild, they target livestock in corral pens

These kills have significantly reduced since then because of awareness raised by the Wildlife Protection Department and other government agencies about the legal penalties involved for killing snow leopards, including jail time. Today, whenever a snow leopard enters a human habitation, the people immediately call the rescue team of the Wildlife Protection Department. After it’s in the safe hands of the rescue team, a vet assesses its medical condition. Once the snow leopard is deemed medically fit, it is let back into the wild.

“From 2000 onwards, the introduction of ecotourism, particularly in villages in the vicinity of areas like the Hemis National Park, played a big part in furthering the change in mindset against killing these predators. When tourists began visiting villages like Chilling to spot snow leopards and live in local homestays, the villagers began to earn enough to offset any livestock loss to the predator. Along with my colleagues Smanla Tsering and Tsering Tashi, I was involved in training local eco-guides, who ensured tourists kept the premises clean, facilitated their interaction with homestay owners, and knew where to take them to spot these creatures,” says Khenrab.

But the process of rescuing snow leopards is a hard job with lots of risks.

“When I began my work rescuing these predators in 1995, we had no equipment. We would merely carry empty gunny sacks, ropes and sticks for these rescue missions in different villages where snow leopards were stuck inside corral pens. It was extremely risky work. One of my senior colleagues nearly had his entire hand bitten off during one such rescue,” says Tsering Tashi, a range officer posted in Changthang.

During his two-decade tenure as a wildlife guard, Khenrab has been involved in rescuing 47 snow leopards. And in the early days, these rescues were conducted without tranquilisers.

“My first rescue mission with Khenrab was in Ney village sometime in the early 2000s. The snow leopard was caught inside a corral pen with multiple rooms, while villagers outside were standing around terrified. We noticed that the snow leopard was sitting near one of the windows. I explained to Khenrab that we must first close the window from outside. Once we closed the window, we drove the snow leopard into the last room of the corral pen. There was just one door. We had carried a blanket with us inside the corral pen, while an elaborate net trap set up at the door. Two others were standing guard outside,” recalls Tashi.

As they entered the room with a blanket, Tashi warned Khenrab not to run away if the snow leopard jumped on them because the animal was also scared for its life.

“So, when we closed in on the snow leopard, it jumped towards us. We wrapped the snow leopard in our blanket first before driving it inside our net. Post-2000s, however, we started getting some equipment like camouflage nets, blowpipes and tranquillizer guns. Most of my rescues were without tranquillizers since possible overdoses can harm them,” explains Tashi.

“With modern techniques, it’s critical to understand how much of a drug needs to be used in a dart before tranquillizing the snow leopard. You have to assess the size of the animal before loading the darts with drugs. Also, you still have to be careful because it’s an aggressive animal. It’s very important not to get too close and also to prevent sudden movements and carefully calculate how to trap it. If you rush the process, the animal gets very aggressive,” says Khenrab.

Tashi goes on to add, “Khenrab has a genuine love for snow leopards. Even if called upon for a rescue past midnight, he never shies away from taking up the assignment.”

Threats Remain

Every year, about 21 to 45 snow leopards are killed in India for poaching or as retaliation for livestock loss, according to a 2016 report by Traffic, a wildlife trade monitoring network.

“In Ladakh, the biggest threat to their survival is habitat destruction due to rising urbanisation and development activities that are happening around villages and in areas where their prey feast. When massive areas are cordoned off for developmental activities, losing all the alpine plants and other scarce vegetation is detrimental to herbivorous animals like blue sheep, goats, marmots, etc. These, in turn, are food for snow leopards. Another threat is a scarcity of water as a result of fast-shrinking glaciers, thanks to climate change,” says Khenrab.

Despite these threats and 20 years on the job, his passion for snow leopards hasn’t waned. “My objective is to create a safe habitat for them. There is no one to represent the snow leopards. I like to believe I represent them. They are critical for the maintenance of the ecological balance. We must do everything to protect them,” he concludes.

(Edited by Nishi Malhotra)

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“A rhino,” pointed out my guide from the front of our jeep. All of us turned to look at the magnificent creature on our left happily munching away on grass, stopping only to drive away oxpeckers from its back.

I was deep within Manas National Park in north western Assam in January 2020. In front of me was a vast expanse of wooded hills, fertile grasslands, and tropical forests punctuated by periodic sighting of animals. Located on the foothills of Eastern Himalayas, Manas is home to many rare species of flora and fauna including the pygmy hog, Indian elephant, and greater one-horned rhinoceros.

We had finally spotted a rhino after five hours of driving around. The famous Indian one-horned rhino made an appearance from behind a thicket of tall yellow grasses. With a sea of blue mountains and wild green bushes behind it, the creature looked perfectly at home, safe and unperturbed.

However, things were not always so calm and peaceful in Manas.

Less than 20 years ago, Manas National Park was a virtual death trap for thousands of unsuspecting animals including the vulnerable Indian rhino.

Poaching was rife and killing of animals was rampant. And that was because Manas was located right at the heart of Bodoland, a culturally-diverse and politically-volatile autonomous region in India.

Bodoland had always been wrung by ethnic tensions. When the Bodoland Nationalist Movement started in 1986, the whole of north western Assam was plunged into a state of lawlessness.

Forests were left open and unguarded. Rhinos were poached and sold across the border in Bhutan. Elephants and tigers were ruthlessly slaughtered. Smaller animals were killed for meat. Trees were felled and timber was siphoned off. Manas was badly caught in the quagmire.

Rampart poaching and deforestation eventually led to a serious shift in the ecosystem balance within and outside the national park. After a while, there were no animals left to kill nor did any underground water remain. Springs dried up, trees disappeared, and Manas was left barren.

There had been as many as 100 rhinos in Manas at the beginning of 1980s. During the insurgency that lasted between 1986 and 2003, all of them were wiped out.

These years also saw the killing of six forest staff and several domesticated elephants and the reckless destruction of camps and range offices.

The wildlife sanctuary, which had been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, stood at the brink of imminent disaster.

That is when the formation of Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC) in 2003 came as a godsend.

Ethnic tensions eased as Bodo autonomy was recognized in 2003. BTC members started taking an active role in conservation. They educated poachers on how poaching was affecting their own ecosystem. Most importantly, they encouraged locals to participate in the process and instilled in them a sense of pride and belonging for their motherland.

Budheswar Bodo, an ex-poacher from the 1980s who lost an arm in a nasty wildlife encounter, recounts, “BTC members made me realise that the protection of my motherland rested on my shoulders. For the first time in many years, I felt that Manas truly belonged to me and my fellowmen. It was my forest and it was my responsibility to nurture and care for it.”

A prolonged discussion with Budheswar and two other ex-poachers made it evident that these people had given up poaching not necessarily for an assured income or a respectable lifestyle (though they were important factors) but for their own sense of belongingness. Recognition of Bodoland had finally made the poachers feel at home.

Over the second half of 2003, a 3-tier structure was put in place to restore Manas to its former glory. It included members of the BTC, ex-poachers, and local youth organizations that played a vital connect between the government and the erstwhile rustlers.

Kalen Basumatary, head of Manas Maozigendri Ecotourism Society (MMES) – one such grassroot organization, fondly reminisces of the time when they would go out with a mission every day to reform former poachers. Kalen and his friends were instrumental in shifting public opinion from poaching to protecting. They ran anti-poaching and anti-logging campaigns.

“It wasn’t an easy task”, Kalen notes. “But it was definitely a fulfilling one. Every time I brought a poacher back into the fold, it felt deeply gratifying.”

He proudly points out that none of their employees have gone back to poaching in the last decade even though it has seemed lucrative at times.

With the launch of Indian Rhino Vision 2020 in 2005, rhinos began to be reintroduced into Manas.

Ex-poachers were made an integral part of the entire effort. They knew the forests of Manas like the back of their hands. They knew all about animal habitats, feeding times, cries, and calls. They could track and bring back animals if they went astray. Needless to say, they made the best protectors.

Slowly but surely, the rhino number at Manas increased. It is now back at 40.

Tigers and Asian elephants can be seen again. Even migratory birds who had sensed danger earlier have started flocking back to the sanctuary. Tourism is much better now giving locals the hope of an eco-friendly and sustainable future.

Manas is now home to countless birds and animals as well as hundreds of poachers who, for a while, had forgotten the touch of their motherland.

As I wrapped my head around this human face of wildlife conservation, I stumbled upon a water hole that was bubbling with the clean underground water. Birds swooshed by over my head and a peacock called from a distance. I could almost hear elephants trumpeting back home while a baby rhino played in the mud. Manas was fecund and green again with life and hope.

(Written by Soumya Gayatri. Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, many public spaces have been closed, including zoos. While some zoos reported that the animals were happy without the constant movement of humans and clicking of cameras, others like the Nandankanan zoo in Bhubaneshwar reported that it was hard for them to take care of the animals and make ends meet without the main source of income – entry tickets.

Nandankanan zoo, reportedly, generates around Rs 15 crore revenue a year to meet its expenses but failed to collect a single penny owing to the lockdown restrictions, until it reopened on October 4.

Therefore, to collect the funds necessary for animal care, Nandankanan zoo and some other zoos across the country have introduced online animal adoption. People can virtually ‘adopt’ any animal of their choice for a specified period, and the money they pay will go towards the food, grooming, and medical expenses of that animal.

Although this is not entirely a new thing – adoptions were encouraged earlier as well to create a sense of involvement and bonding between visitors and zoo animals — now it has become a necessity for many zoos.

Here are some zoos offering online methods of adoption –

1.Nandankanan zoo, Bhubaneshwar

Several animals, ranging from lions and tigers to various species of birds and snakes, are up for adoption.

You can visit their official website to see the list.

Adoption process:

• Select the animal you want to adopt.
• Choose the number of animals you want to adopt.
• Choose the time period you wish to pay for (ranges from 1 month to 1 year).
• Enter your details, upload a picture of yourself and your aadhar number for identity verification.
• Finally, you can pay through an online mode.

Once you have made the payment, the zoo will send a confirmation through email and update their ‘List of adopted animals’ page with your name and contribution. Following this, they will also update the same on their social media handles such as Twitter and Facebook.

2. Indira Gandhi Zoo, Visakhapatnam

Located in the Kambalakonda Reserve Forest in Visakhapatnam, this zoo needs people to adopt animals so it can continue to provide good food and facilities for its residents.

Here’s how you can adopt an animal at this zoo:

• Visit their official website.
• Enter the necessary information
• Select the animal of your choice
• Select the period you wish to provide for. It ranges from one day to one year.
• Pay via online mode.

You will get confirmation through a message or email. According to the official website, donors who give an amount ranging from Rs.10k to 30k will have their name etched onto the enclosure for the animal and receive free entry into the zoo for five persons once a year. They will also receive an adoption certificate and get regular updates about how the animal is doing.

Those paying an amount above Rs.30k will receive the above-mentioned benefits along with a t-shirt, cap, and free entry to participate in events held at the zoo.

3. Mysore Zoo, Karnataka

To be part of Mysore zoo’s wildlife conservation programme, you can adopt your favourite animal for one year or a shorter period.

Adoption process

• Visit the official website and access the adoption brochure.
• You can download the brochure or print it.
• The brochure contains details about the animals you can adopt and the price depending on the number of months you will adopt the animal for.
• Make an NEFT payment to the bank according to details given in the brochure, and take a screenshot of the confirmation you receive once the payment is made.
• Send an email to zoomysore@gmail.com with attachments of the filled application form along with the screenshot of payment.

Once the zoo has received this, they will send you a confirmation via email.

Mysore zoo also provides a zoo membership for one year to those who pay more than Rs. 5000 to adopt an animal.

To know more about animal adoption, visit the official website.

The above three are not the only zoos in India that allow animal adoption; most of them do provide the facility and have introduced an online way of doing so owing to the pandemic.

(Edited by Nishi Malhotra)

Parag Deka has always had a connection with wildlife. Perhaps because he grew up in Kokrajhar, a town surrounded by Sal forests, along the Western border of Assam.

He was only eight years old when he rescued a few baby birds that lay wounded on the ground after a storm hit the state. He took them home and tended to them. Most of the fledgelings died, which he buried with a solemn prayer, but a few lucky ones recovered, and he set them free.

That was the first time he experienced the joys of saving animals. Little did he know that years later, he would be leading the brigade to save an entire species from extinction.

Deka is now a veterinarian and conservationist heading the Pygmy Hog Conservation Program (PHCP) run jointly by Indian authorities, the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, and a local NGO called Aaranyak.

“It has given my life purpose,” Dr Deka, who has dedicated his entire career to the conservation of the pygmy hogs, tells The Better India. “The way I see it, I am spending my one human life to save a whole species from extinction.”

The World’s Tiniest Pig

The pygmy hog is the smallest species of wild pigs known to us. About the size of a house cat, pygmy hogs are on average 60 centimetres long and 25 centimetres tall. They are extremely rare, confined to the grasslands of Assam at the foothills of the Himalayas. Surveys using droppings and other markings as well as camera traps estimate that there are now 300 pygmy hogs currently left in the wild.

They are very shy animals and hypersensitive to their environment. They can only survive in the grasslands, hiding in the tall grass, wary of predators.

Initially, these grasslands were converted into fields, farms, grazing grounds, and villages. The destruction of their habitat due to human activity is why they’re endangered today.

Because pygmy hogs are so sensitive, they act as a measure of the health of the ecosystem. Striving to conserve such indicator species indirectly contributes to maintaining their habitats, which have huge ecological and economic advantages.

Deka explains, “These wet grasslands serve as buffers against floods in the rainy season while maintaining high groundwater levels in the dry season, which indirectly benefits farming communities.”

The Pygmy Hog Conservation Program (PHCP)

It was the naturalist and conservationist Gerald Durrell’s keen interest in pygmy hogs during the ’60s and ’70s that laid the foundation for their protection.

Later in 1995, the PHCP was established by biologists Dr Goutam Narayan and William Oliver of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust (DWCT). At the time, the hog population was at an all-time low.

In 1997, Deka, who was studying a masters in veterinary science, joined the team as an intern. After the internship concluded, he had the opportunity to join a college as a lecturer, but instead, he followed his heart and stayed on with PHCP.

“I am only continuing the legacy work started by Durrell, Oliver, and Goutam,” says Deka.

How To Save A Species

Bringing a species back to life needs a multifold approach. One of the main endeavours of PHCP is conservation breeding, that is, the captive breeding of pygmy hogs with the objective of reintroducing a subset back into the wild.

In 1996, two males and four females of the last remaining wild hog population were captured at Manas and brought to Basistha Research & Breeding centre for this purpose. The PHCP always has at least 70 captive hogs at their facilities. Over the past 11 years, they have reintroduced 130 pygmy hogs in four national parks and wildlife sanctuaries in Assam (Orang, Sonai Rupali, Manas, and Barnadi).

Before reintroduction, the hogs are trained in surviving in the wild at a pre-release facility in Potasali, Nameri Tiger Reserve. The hogs survival, health, and activities are tracked using field signs such as nests, forage marks, droppings, as well as modern technology like camera traps and radio telemetry.

Another important element of the conservation action plan is the up-gradation and protection of the sub-Himalayan grasslands. Deka and his team work closely with the fringe communities in the area to spread awareness of the importance of habitat maintenance.

Bringing The Wild Hog Back To Nature

Deka recalls seeing images of the released pygmy hogs for the first time.

“Three years ago, I was in my room at Nameri scanning through thousands of camera trap pictures. It is a tedious process but we need hard evidence of how the hogs are faring in the wild after reintroduction,” says Deka.

And then he spotted the tiny hogs in two images. But they weren’t alone. The mother hogs were accompanied by their young ones. The implications were huge. They were not only surviving, but the hogs had started breeding in their natural habitats!

The reintroductions have been very successful. In Orang, the numbers have more than doubled and the hogs have migrated to areas far from the release locations. In Manas, the total count of reintroduced hogs and their offspring is estimated to have reached 200.

Starting in 2021, another 60 hogs will be released over a five-year period in the Bhuyanpara range of Manas. Efforts are underway to identify and restore other protected grasslands for reintroduction.

In the coming years, Deka’s team is looking to do for other endangered species what they have done for the pygmy hog. Guided by Durrell’s ‘Rewild Our World’ strategy, the PHCP is now working on the recovery of highly threatened animals such as the Bengal Florican, the Hispid Hare, Eastern Barasingha, and the Water Buffalo.

In order to do so, they are using a three-pronged approach: Restore (the environment), Reconnect (with the communities) and Revive (repopulate the grasslands with several endangered species).

“We have drafted a plan for until 2025, the 100th birth anniversary of Gerald Durrell, the founder of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and whose vision has helped save the pygmy hogs from extinction,” Deka explains.
You can also help save this unique species by spreading awareness, helping raise funds and by volunteering at the conservation facilities.

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)

It was an evening in 2019 when Shiv Kumar, Deputy Range Officer at Lahaul forest and his three friends had packed up after another day of disappointment of not spotting the targetted wild animal.

“It was 5.30 pm and about to get dark in the Himalayan area when we decided to return. But one of my colleagues suggested taking one last glance at the ridge. As my eyes moved across the ridgeline, I saw a slight movement, and there it was dragging an ibex inside the cliff,” Shiv tells The Better India.

Shiv says he quickly scrambled to set up his tripod, camera and other equipment. After some adjustment, Shiv managed to take a picture of a snow leopard he had been chasing for years.

Since his first sighting in 2019, Shiv has managed to have multiple sightings of the rare and vulnerable species found in Central and South Asia. But he asserts that his first sighting was the most special.

“It was an unforgettable moment. I was the first to document the live sighting of a wild animal in the Himachal Pradesh range. I had been lucky to have captured the exotic animal on a trap camera before but had never experienced the thrill of watching it live. And then I was honoured with the satisfying moment of my life,” Shiv says.

‘Shooting’ Wild Cats

Sharing his experience, Shiv believes the snow leopard was aware of human presence. “I assumed it was a female and was waiting for us to leave as it dragged its hunt inside the cliff. The mother snow leopard probably wanted to feed its cub. But I managed to capture the moment it stared at us,” he adds.

Shiv says the picture quality of snow leopards was not excellent with less sunlight and the long distance between them and the animal. “I have taken far better pictures of snow leopards since then, but I still vote my first picture as the best,” he says.

The range officer says that his quest to find snow leopards sprung from his love for wildlife. “I joined the Lahaul forest division in 2004 as a deputy forest guard. I saw many wild animals and birds during my walks inside the forest. By 2010, I procured a camera and started documenting my sightings,” he adds.

During 2013-14, a few villagers living close to the forest area informed Shiv about spotting a snow leopard. “Residents often mentioned seeing the animal and finding its pugmarks. A wildlife photographer also mentioned witnessing it, but there was no picture to corroborate anyone’s claims,” he says.

Shiv then approached his seniors, requesting to set up trap cameras in the forest range where the villagers claimed to have seen the animal. “In 2016, I installed two cameras on a higher elevation area. It snowed that year. After the snow receded post-winter, I retrieved the camera in February and checked its footage. To my astonishment, the snow leopard was captured perfectly by the cameras,” he says.

After that, his excitement only grew stronger. “In 2017, a foreign researcher from the University of Chicago visited the range to conduct a study on birds. I requested him to lend us the trap cameras he had brought for his study. He accepted the proposition, and with his help, we captured two leopards with three cameras. They could be distinguished as one of them had a twisted tail,” he says.

“Now, there was confirmation of more than one snow leopard in the region. However, I always had self-complain about being unable to see it live. Close friends suggested I visit Spiti Valley, where there are higher chances of a sighting them, but I was adamant about spotting it at Lahaul,” he adds.

Since then, Shiv began exploring forest areas for long hours to fulfil his desire to witness the snow leopard’s life, which became a reality in 2019. He adds, “I have seen a snow leopard four times since then, except for 2022. I believe there are six animals, including male, female and cubs, in Lahaul. I have collaborated with a researcher to publish a paper on the same.”

“The population must have been less during the ’80s and ’90s. At present, the ibex population, i.e. snow leopard’s prey, has increased in the region, and the hunter may have migrated through forest corridors from Chamba to the neighbouring Himalayan region,” Shiv notes.

Thereafter, Shiv began conservation awareness classes about snow leopards among school children for the animal’s protection. “I also reached out to villagers to inform them about the importance of the animal, its threatened existence and the need for its protection,” he says, adding, “I am also drawing up a plan to generate livelihood opportunities for locals through tourism.”

His work of documenting the species that initiated the conservation efforts won him Sarvottam Vanya Jeev Mitra Award from Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in 2019, followed by India Biodiversity Award in 2021.

Shiv aims to continue his work on snow leopards and extend the conservation of Himalayan brown bears, too. “There are many man-animal conflict issues reported regarding the bear in the Dras and Kargil area. The bear attacks farmers, especially the ones growing exotic vegetables. And now it has become a matter of concern. I plan to draw a strategy to minimise the incidents with some research,” he says.

For now, Shiv finds satisfaction in contributing to the conservation efforts of the snow leopard.

“People used to claim that I would never be able to see one. But now I have proof and a lifetime experience to see the rather shy animal,” he says.

Edited by Yoshita Rao

Among all the male naturalists at Ranthambore’s National Park, 33-year-old Suraj Bai Meena stands tall. She is the first woman naturalist to work here, and so far, has conducted over 7,000 guided tours.

Suraj began her journey in 2007, when she was all of 16 years old. This, she notes, was an extremely difficult phase.

“I grew up on the periphery of the Ranthambore National Park in a village called Bhuri Pahadi. Here, girls were not allowed to go to school or study. Their only role was to cook, clean, and reproduce. In fact, if a girl was educated, the dowry her parents had to give would be doubled,” she tells The Better India.

For young Suraj, her brother Hemraj, who worked as a naturalist in the national park, was an inspiration. “I would sneak out and go with him to the national park. Memories of those trips spurred my own interest in becoming one.” It was because of Hemraj’s insistence that Suraj was allowed to move to Sawai Madhopur, where she was enrolled in a school. “Those were the best days of my life,” she smiles.

A Tigress Among Men

When Suraj completed her training and joined the park as a naturalist, she was subjected to many taunts. “My family said that being around foreign tourists would ‘corrupt’ me. The men I worked with would pass lewd comments and mock me. I did not let any of it get to me,” she says.

It took Suraj a very long time to change her family’s mindset. They belonged to the school of thought that only wanted to keep girls at home, she says. “The entire village took it upon themselves to try and get me to leave my job and sit at home. It was all of them against me,” she says. Through all these ups and downs, Hemraj stood by her side and supported her.

Suraj’s desire to learn and become a naturalist trumped all the challenges that came her way.

“I learnt the English alphabet only when I was in Class 10. Until then, I was in a Hindi-medium school,” she says.

As someone who had grown up coexisting with wildlife and nature, Suraj’s grasp over the animals and birds in the area was unparalleled. However, what she had to learn was communication skills.

Recalling an early experience, she says, “In one of my first few guided tours, I was with a foreigner couple. We had sighted a bird, and while I knew the local name for it, I was unable to explain what it was called to them. That was when the need to learn more dawned upon me.”

Suraj has never shied away from learning, and that has been her biggest USP.

The need to constantly stay updated has made her one of the most sought-after naturalists in the region.

During her early learning days, she also maintained a small notebook in which she would make note of all the new words she came across in conversation. Once back home, she would find the meaning of each word in the dictionary and make a note. “This is how I learnt conversational English,” she says.

A 15-year Long Ph.D. On Tigers

Suraj’s first professional sighting was on 16 October 2007. “I remember it like it was yesterday. Each tiger in the Ranthambore National Park is numbered, so I can say with certainty that I saw T24 in zone 5, and then a tigress, T13, in the same zone. These two animals were on either side of the jeep. Imagine being in such a situation, that too, during my first solo ride.”

Suraj has received awards like ‘Best Lady Guide’ by the Maharaja of Jaipur, amongst other accolades. “The work I have put in as a naturalist is akin to a PhD. I have learnt how to identify calls, track footprints, and study the behaviour of other animals,” she says. With unflinching support from her husband and in-laws, she continues to strive for better.

In leaving her village and making a mark for herself, Suraj has not only made her own life better, but also inspired many others to follow suit. Today, girls from her village are studying, applying for jobs, and exploring opportunities outside their hometown. “I am thankful that this change has happened. There are so many things that us girls can achieve if they are supported,” she says.

Suraj is so popular today that schools in and around Ranthambore often call her as their chief guest.

“Nothing makes me happier than to motivate younger girls,” she says.

The flip-side to knowing the national park so well is the unfair expectation people place on her, she says. “Many tourists often say we paid to see tigers, so don’t show us birds and deer. They forget that I am only a guide and I cannot make the tigers show themselves.”

However, Suraj adds that with each group she takes into the national park, she has learnt a little.

From earning her first tip of Rs 500 on 5 October 2007 to now being called on by all photographers and wildlife enthusiasts who visit Ranthambore, she has come a long way.

Keeping the desire to learn alive, she has also completed her BA, MA, and B Ed over the years, all while working and managing her home and two children. While she has been working for 15 years as a naturalist and guide, Suraj says that even now, each trip feels like it’s her first. “The excitement of spotting an animal, whether it is a tiger, sloth bear, deer, or even a bird, is just as exhilarating as the first time.”

(Edited by Divya Sethu)

As a kid, Suyash Keshari’s favourite television channels were the Discovery and Animal Planet channels. His curiosity and love for wildlife remained with him as he grew up, which made him quit a well-paying job in the US.

And so he returned to India with a decision to become a full-time wildlife photographer.

Today, his work has earned him praises from Nat Geo and Sanctuary Asia. He also made a series called Safari with Suyash. It was released by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

This 25-year-old is now the founder of India’s first wildlife OTT platform.

The youngster has always been a fan of internationally acclaimed presenters like Bear Grylls and Steve Irvin.

“Wildlife has fascinated me my entire life. It began at a very tender age of four, under the influence and tutelage of my late grandfather. What began as disgust for animals kept in captivity slowly transformed into love and thirst for learning about the last remaining wild places on our planet,” he wrote on his website.

He is on a mission to present the rich wildlife of our country to the people through his platform.

Watch his extraordinary journey here:

Sources:

 

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Suyesh Keshari

Edited by Yoshita Rao

In the 90s, when Delhi-based brothers Nadeem and Mohammad Saud were in their late teens, they came across an injured kite. The bird was entangled in a manjha, and lay on the side of the road.

This was the first time that the duo saw how birds fall prey to injuries and even death due to excessive kite flying. Manjhas, which are synthetic kite strings coated in metal or glass, can be fatal to birds flying in the sky — they can lose their wings, leaving them permanently grounded.

Nadeem says that after being injured, many of these birds end up in the gutters or on the roadside, where they are run over by vehicles or bleed to death. Otherwise, the trauma of being unable to fly is soon followed by death.

Despite the fact that Chinese manjhas were banned by the government in 2017, conservationists end up rescuing thousands of birds from their clutches every year.

When the brothers came across the injured kite, they picked it up and rushed to the hospital. But they were met with refusal no matter where they went, recalls Nadeem, now 44. “We knocked on the doors of several veterinary clinics. They told us, ‘We do not treat carnivorous birds’,” he tells The Better India.

Unable to find a solution, the brothers returned the bird to the spot where they found it. But since then, they have come a long way. From their basement, they run a makeshift veterinary operation centre for injured and maimed birds, helping save thousands of birds to date.

Navigating a death trap

After their first encounter with the kite, Nadeem and Saud spent the next few years picking up other injured birds and placing them in safe places that will prevent them from being run over or choking in a gutter. But the fate of these birds would remain unknown. “We kept looking for help, but couldn’t find any,” Nadeem says.

In 2003, the siblings found another kite in a parking lot. This time, they decided to take a different approach. “We took it to a veterinarian who had treated our uncle’s dog. He agreed to help us, and we were able to save the bird,” he says.

From then on, every injured bird they found was taken to the vet.

“Over time, the number of birds increased to the extent that we needed to buy a cage. We released the birds on the rooftop during the day and put them in the cage after dark. Our neighbours appreciated our efforts and started pitching in to help,” Nadeem says.

He adds that the number of injured birds grew so high that they eventually converted their roof into an enclosure.

“We rescued almost 400 birds, including owls, hawks, water hens, and egrets between 2003 and 2010. In 2010, we decided to set up an NGO, Wildlife Rescue, to take up the cause,” he says.

Since then, the brothers say they have saved over 23,000 birds from more than 100 species. “We cater to at least 40 species each year, and have 100 healing birds at our rooftop on any given day,” he says.

Nadeem and Saud also collect birds from all hospitals in the surrounding areas. “We receive calls from locals, the Delhi Police, the fire service department, and civic body officials. They spot the birds and hand them over to us,” he says.

Nadeem notes that the rescued birds have all sorts of injuries or diseases. “At times, the cuts are minor. Otherwise, some birds sustain serious injuries. Some have gynaecological issues, such as eggs getting stuck while delivering. On other occasions, the chicks fall from the nest or juveniles get injured while learning how to fly,” he says.

He adds that the bird species who come in for treatment also vary with season. “The kite bird season starts from March, and there will be at least 500 injured kites in the next two months. The number of rescued hawk birds will increase more during mid-summer. The highest number of birds are injured in August, as the number of people flying kites peaks during Independence Day celebrations,” he says.

Nadeem says all the rescued birds are given balanced food with meat in their diet and treated by an expert veterinarian.

“Many birds recover and fly, while the birds with severe injuries feel highly stressed and die. Birds are psychologically vulnerable, and the trauma severely affects their health,” he says.

Protecting the ecosystem

While Nadeem and Saud’s cause is noble, they do not have any formal education in wildlife rescue. “We quit school in 1997 as our family’s financial condition could not allow us to study further. Our parents wanted us to revive their business, so we started working at our bathroom fittings shop,” Nadeem says.

Saud says, “We work for our social cause in our free time. We have a team of a part-time veterinarian, and two persons who tend the birds and take care of the paperwork.”

The duo often visit the US to receive training in and attend workshops on wildlife rescue.

“Wildlife rescue is entirely different from biology, and there is no formal course in India that addresses it. The US is one of the most advanced places and is known for its commendable work in bird rescue. We learn new techniques and train ourselves with help from experts at various wildlife centres across the country,” Saud explains.

For many years, the brothers were using their own savings to fuel operations. In recent years, donations from kind strangers have helped ease the financial burden.

Saud says, “We have been receiving donations for the past five years. These partly support our cause. Otherwise, it is challenging to manage all the expenses from our earnings. We have also registered an NGO, Raptor Rescue and Research Inc, to raise funds in the US and help our cause in India.”

But the 40-year-old notes that the NGO needs more financial support. “We run on a limited budget. Many bird rescue calls coming from far corners of Delhi go unanswered. We do not have an ambulance and cannot travel far to rescue birds. Many people who wish to help us cannot bring them to our house for logistical reasons. Some fear handling birds of prey. Reaching out to birds from far-flung areas is difficult.”

Saud adds that receiving donations will help them cater to a farther geographic area. “We can manage other daily issues and challenges at our end,” he says.

The siblings plan to establish a full-fledged hospital for birds. “We have rented a small clinic, and more donations will help us build an adequate facility for the birds. Talks are also underway to receive a piece of land from the government for the hospital,” he says.

Urvi Gupta, a Delhi-based researcher at Wildlife Institute of India (WII), says saving raptors is important, as they are threatened in multiple ways.

“Raptors occupy top trophic levels of the food web, and generally occur at low populations, making them susceptible to rapid anthropogenic changes and extinction. They predate and scavenge at various taxa, providing essential ecosystem services, which also makes them vulnerable to biomagnification of toxins,” she says.

Urvi adds that apart from being indicators of biodiversity and environment health, raptors play a pivotal role as cultural symbols strengthening human-animal relationships.

“In India, threats to raptors include habitat degradation, poisoning, hunting, trade for black magic and falconry, and electrocution. In cities, black kites face threat from the manjhas of paper-kites. Monitoring and conserving raptors will prevent disruption of critical ecosystem services, as well as maintain the health of the ecosystem and human well-being,” she adds.

Meanwhile, Nadeem hopes that people understand the seriousness of causing harm to birds for the sake of entertainment. “Injuries from the manjha cause unmeasurable damage to birds. I hope people reduce kite flying and help bring down the number of incidents,” he says.

To contribute to their cause, click here.

Source

Mongabay India

Edited by Divya Sethu

India’s vast topography and vivid fauna provide an extensive canvas for photographers to capture the magnificent wildlife in its natural habitats. From the Himalayas to the Western Ghats, there is a treasure trove of wildlife sanctuaries in the country.

The hundreds of national parks and wildlife sanctuaries across India are home to innumerable rare, endangered and vulnerable animal species, offering wonderful experiences to those who’d like to take note.

Here’s a list of the 10 best destinations for wildlife photography in India:

1. Jim Corbett National Park, Uttarakhand

One of the most notable wildlife sanctuaries in India, the Jim Corbett National Park is located in the picturesque valley of Uttarakhand. The park is home to diverse fauna and is known for its sightings of Bengal tigers.

Other than the wild cats, the national park is also an abode for elephants and leopards. Different species of deer, Indian grey mongoose, Himalayan black bears, Yellow-throated martens, Indian pangolins, gorals, langurs and Rhesus monkeys are seen there making it a perfect spot for wildlife photographers and enthusiasts.

Photo credits: Aarzoo Khurana ( @aarzoo_khurana on Instagram)

2. Kaziranga National Park, Assam

Situated in the northeastern state of Assam, the Kaziranga National Park is one of the most acclaimed for wildlife conservation. Also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the national park is noted for its successful conservation of the Indian one-horned rhinoceros which was almost on the verge of extinction.

Besides, being a unique destination for capturing the one-horned wonder, it is also a tiger reserve with a high-density population of Bengal Tigers. Asiatic wild buffaloes, hog deer, hoolock gibbons are some of the other species of animals found at Kaziranga which is also home to around 495 species of avians.

Photo credits: Aarzoo Khurana ( @aarzoo_khurana on Instagram)

3. Keoladeo National Park, Rajasthan

Known as the bird watcher’s paradise, Keoladeo National Park makes the perfect location for wildlife photographers who want to capture the amusing habits and colours of the avian species. The national park, formerly known as the Bharatpur Bird Sanctuary, has approximately around 370 species of birds and was declared a world heritage site by UNESCO in 1985. Siberian Rubythroat, Marsh Harrier, Dalmatian Pelican, Indian Courser, Eurasian Spoonbill, Ferruginous Duck are some of the members of bird species that are found at Keoladeo.

Other than the avians, the national park is also has a decent population of different varieties of fish, reptiles and amphibians.

Photo credits: Aarzoo Khurana ( @aarzoo_khurana on Instagram)

4. Satpura Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh

One of the most scenic tiger reserves in India, the Satpura Tiger reserve is located in the Satpura Range of Hoshangabad district in Madhya Pradesh. The reserve is formed by joining three wildlife sanctuaries, namely, Satpura, Pachmarhi and Bori where each of them have different terrains. Other than tigers, the reserve is known for its sightings of spotted deer, Indian bison, leopards, blackbuck, marsh crocodile, langurs and also the rare Indian giant squirrel.

Photo credits: Sarosh Lodhi ( @saroshlodhi on Instagram)

5. Ranthambore National Park, Rajasthan

Set in the foothills of Vindhya and the Aravalli hills, the Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan is one of the ideal places in India for wildlife photography. The national park along with the Ranthambore fort and surrounding hills and valleys creates a beautiful background for photography. The good population of tigers makes it convenient for wildlife enthusiasts to view and capture the big cats in their natural habitats. Apart from that, the park is also home to other animals like leopard, striped hyena, sambar deer, chital (Spotted deer), nilgai, gray langur and crocodile.

Photo credits: Aarzoo Khurana ( @aarzoo_khurana on Instagram)

6. Gir National Park, Gujarat

The Gir National Park, located in Gujarat, is known for being the only natural habitat of the Asiatic lions in India and hence considered one of the most important protected areas in Asia. The rugged topography and moderate climate support a wide variety of flora and fauna in Gir.

Apart from the Asiatic lions, Gir is also the abode of other species such as leopards, sloth bears, striped hyenas, jungle cats, golden jackals, langurs, spotted deer, barking deer, nilgai, chinkaras, gazelles and sambar deer.

December to March is suggested to be the best months to visit this national park when the cold mornings and prolonged golden light in the forest are suitable for photographs.

Photo credits: Tapan Sheth ( @tapansheth on Instagram)

7. Kabini Forest Reserve, Karnataka

Situated on the banks of the Kabini river, this forest reserve is a vital part of the Nagarhole National Park or Rajiv Gandhi Tiger Reserve in Karnataka. The place is known for its beautiful lakes, streams and valleys and was once the hunting ground for the Mysore Kings.

Currently a popular tourism spot, this forest reserve is famous for its sightings of tigers, leopards, elephants, deer, Indian gaurs and was in news for the sighting of a rare black panther.

Photo Credits: Shaaz Jung ( @shaazjung on Instagram)

8. Pench National Park, Madhya Pradesh

Named after the river Pench, this national park is located on the southern boundary of Madhya Pradesh. It is known for inspiring Rudyard Kipling to pen his iconic novel — The Jungle Book.

The park serves as a dwelling land of numerous wild species including the ferocious Bengal tigers. Also, there is a huge variety of other mammals, reptiles and amphibians and over hundreds of species of birds including migratory birds.

Photo credits: Mithun Hunugund ( @mithunhphotography on Instagram)

9. Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Karnataka

Located amidst the scenic background of the Western Ghats in Karnataka, the Bandipur Tiger Reserve is one of the most beautiful national parks in India. It is an important part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve and is particularly known for tigers and elephants.

Apart from tigers, several other endangered species such as sloth bears, gaurs, Indian rock pythons, jackals, muggers, and four-horned antelopes can be spotted in this national park. There are over 200 species of birds and also diverse flora.

Photo credits: Tauseef Ahmad (@tauseef_traveller on Instagram)

10. Hemis National Park, Ladakh

One of the noted wildlife destinations in India, the Hemis National Park located in Ladakh is famous for its high population of snow leopards and a wide variety of birds. The rich wildlife in the park includes several endangered animals and the ones found exclusively at high altitude areas like the bharal (Bleu du Maine), shapu (Ladakh Urial), Himalayan Marmot, Himalayan Mouse Hare and the snow leopard.

It is also home to a huge variety of avians, like the golden eagle, lammergeier vulture, robin accentor, streaked rosefinch, red-billed chough and fire-fronted serin. Thus making the national park a destination equally enjoyed by wildlife enthusiasts, photographers and trekkers. As it is situated in the rain shadow area of the Himalayas, the park is dotted with dry forests.

Photo credits: Behzad J. Larry (@behzadlarryphoto on Instagram)

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)

In a bid to protect wildlife from poachers in India and around the world, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Harvard University have developed a novel machine learning (ML) algorithm called ‘CombSGPO’ (Combined Security Game Policy Optimization).

This ML algorithm was developed following a study led by Professor Balaraman Ravindran from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Madras, who is also the head of the institute’s Robert Bosch Centre for Data Science and Artificial Intelligence, in collaboration with Professor Milind Tambe’s Research Group– Teamcore– at Harvard University. (Above image courtesy Facebook/Akhtamar Tour)

In their peer-reviewed paper they co-authored titled, ‘Reinforcement Learning for Unified Allocation and Patrolling in Signaling Games with Uncertainty’, the authors note, “CombSGPO depends on knowledge of an underlying animal density and on assumptions of certain knowledge by poachers, such as the poacher knowing an initial allocation in the patrolling stage. If a poacher knew the defender’s location at all times, he may be able to evade the rangers, and a better strategy for the defender may be to simply protect high-value(d) targets.”

They go on to add, “We also assume that poachers know that signalling implies rangers are responding to prevent poaching from occurring. In the real world, it is possible that poachers would not know this is the case and may fear worse, such as the drone being armed. There may also be adverse effects of signalling on animals. Any deployment must therefore be done with transparency and collaboration with local stakeholders, especially in traditionally marginalized communities. Depending on this local context, other interventions may be better, or maybe used together with strategic signalling and CombSGPO.”

Researchers found that combined and coordinated use of forest rangers and drones was a good way to protect wildlife from poaching. As the resources (Rangers and drones) are limited, the researchers developed this algorithm which provides a good strategy to protect wildlife with the resources available. “This new algorithm provides highly efficient strategies that are more scalable than the earlier ones created for the same purpose,” the authors claim.

Highlighting the need for such Research, Professor Balaraman Ravindran, said, “The work was motivated by the need to perform strategic resource allocation and patrolling in green security domains to prevent illegal activities such as wildlife poaching, illegal logging and illegal fishing. The resources we consider are human patrollers (forest rangers) and surveillance drones, which have object detectors mounted on them for animals and poachers and can perform strategic signalling and communicate with each other as well as the human patrollers.”

This developed algorithm utilizes a game theory-based model created by the researchers. To the uninitiated, according to Investopedia, “Game theory is a theoretical framework for conceiving social situations among competing players.” In the context of wildlife protection, game theory helps predict the areas where poaching may take place. These predictions are based on the earlier poaching incidents and the interaction between poachers and defenders.

Elaborating on this Project, Aravind Venugopal, first author of the study, and a Post-Baccalaureate Fellow, RBCDSAI, IIT Madras, said, “The game model and the kind of resources we use to simulate such a ‘poaching game’ between the defender (Forest Rangers and drones) and attackers (poachers) are based on the widely-studied ‘Stackelberg Security Game Model’ and are linked to drones that have already been deployed by Air Shepherd (a foundation that deploys drones to stop elephant and rhino poaching in Africa).”

Researchers tested this algorithm in a computer simulation with a behavioural model for the poachers that led each poacher to move towards areas where there is a high probability of finding animals but also move away from the defender agents (drones and rangers).

“We are currently working towards additional steps required for eventual real-world deployment such as improving sample efficiency. This algorithm has not been used in India for the time being. However, we would like to eventually see it being used in the real world for combating poaching,” says Aravind, in a conversation with The Better India.

Elaborating on the potential impact of such an algorithm, he adds, “Forest rangers often have to patrol huge areas of forest with limited resources. Currently, surveillance drones exist that can also perform object detection for activities such as detecting humans, animals etc. in forests. Our algorithm combines drones and rangers and trains this team to perform strategic resource allocation, patrolling and communication. We think that this will lead to more efficient and effective strategies for combating poaching.”

As per the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), the wildlife trade poses the second-biggest direct threat to the survival of species after habitat destruction. While several organizations and regulatory authorities are trying to curb the incidences of poaching, the poachers seem to have always remained one step ahead of the patrollers.

To extend this research for application in domains such as security, search and rescue and aerial mapping for agriculture among others, the team is trying to perform sample-efficient multi-agent reinforcement learning to learn with the least amount of data since data collection is costly in a real-world scenario.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

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Frederick Walter Champion, an ex-soldier in the British Indian Army, an officer of the Imperial Forestry Service [Indian Forest Service] and a pioneering conservationist, took the first photograph of a tiger in the wild in India. A 1921-batch officer, Champion served in the United Provinces (corresponding to approximately present-day Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand) until 1947 and rose to the rank of deputy conservator of forests. A pioneer of the camera trapping technique, he was also credited as a pioneer of wildlife photography in India by Jim Corbett.

Speaking of Corbett, Champion’s undying commitment to conservation inspired him to give up the gun for the camera, and together, they became the founding members of India’s first national park established in 1935, which was renamed Corbett National Park in 1957.

Born on 24 August 1893 in Surrey, England, Champion grew up in a family of nature lovers with his father George Charles Champion, an entomologist. His brother, Sir Harry George Champion, a forester, was credited later on with creating a classification of the forest types of India.

Champion first came to India in the early 1910s, serving in the East Bengal police department until 1916, following which he was commissioned into the British Indian Army Reserve of Officers (Cavalry branch). After World War I and his retirement from the army in the early 1920s, he joined the Imperial Forestry Service. Unlike other officers of his era, he detested the idea of shooting animals for sport and preferred documenting them through wildlife photography.

Tripwire photography

Even before joining the IFS, Champion had tried to obtain an image of a tiger in its natural habitat. As wildlife historian Raza Kazmi noted in a Twitter thread, “It took him 8 long years to finally get these images.” Taken in the Kumaon forests, these images were first published on the front page of ‘The Illustrated London News’ on 3 October 1925 with the accompanying headline, “A Triumph of Big Game Photography: The First Photographs of Tigers in the Natural Haunts”.

Two years later, he came out with a book titled, ‘With Camera in Tiger-Land’. This book set new precedents for publishing “photographs of wild animals, just as they live their everyday lives in the great Indian jungles, away from the every-destroying hand of man” instead of ones marked by these majestic animals running from beaters, about to be and eventually shot by hunters.

The pain-staking technique he employed to shoot these photographs was called ‘trip-wire photography’. As Raza Kazmi explains, “A tiger (or any other animal) tripped on a wire carefully concealed below his usual walking path resulting in him taking his own image, usually by the night as the flashes connected to the wire went off simultaneously.”

Champion described this process in a letter accompanying the piece in ‘The Illustrated London News’, “These photographs are quite unique, no satisfactory photographs ever having been taken before, to my knowledge, of tigers in their native haunts.” Going further, he stated, “The flash is so sudden that he probably takes it for a flash of lightning.”

The implications of this technique have been far and wide. Further refined in the subsequent decades, this technique is today known as ‘camera trap photography’. Conservationists today use this method to calculate tiger census and monitor their movements.

As Mahesh Rangarajan, a professor of history and environmental studies at Ashoka University, states in this column for The Telegraph, “Of the 200 camera traps placed by Champion, tigers came by on only 18 occasions. In all, he had 11 shots of nine individuals, but this was enough to prove how each animal had distinct stripe patterns. This was a path-breaker in every sense. Over the last three decades, scientists the world over working with far more advanced cameras and aided by software can tell a tiger by his or her stripes. It is now a widely used technique worldwide, and its pioneer was a deputy conservator of forests nearly a hundred years ago.”

To give us some context on how difficult this process was for Champion, K Ullas Karanth, a leading tiger expert based in Karnataka, wrote this in his introduction to ‘Tripwire for a Tiger, Selected works of FW Champion’:

“As I struggled with my camera traps, trying to photograph tigers to get a more accurate count in the late 1980s, using 35mm SLR cameras and tripwires, I marvelled at Champion’s tenacity with his archaic camera traps, 60 years earlier. I was astounded to learn from his accounts that, after 30 years of using camera traps in prime tiger jungles, Fred Champion managed to get just nine high-quality photos of tigers.”

For photographer friends, Champion even gave what we today call the EXIF details:

“…although the photograph of the tiger pulling his kill was taken at 1-50 sec. on a special rapid plate; suitable exposures are from 1-150 to 1-200 sec., with f6.8 on an ultra-rapid plate…” pic.twitter.com/q4Ro1PCSn5

— Raza Kazmi (@RazaKazmi17) June 8, 2022

Legacy as conservationist

Besides his role as the ‘Father of Camera Trap Photography’, Champion also played a pivotal part in leading the conversation around wildlife conservation at a time when British officials took pride in big game hunting. Concerned about the dwindling number of tigers due to hunting, he allotted “shooting blocks where there were likely to be no tigers for hunters to shoot,” wrote Rangarajan. Also, he strongly advocated for limiting gun licences, preventing motorcars from entering reserved forests and reducing cash rewards for killing wildlife.

For example, the Shivaliks, where Champion had served with real distinction, contained shooting blocks of the governor-general. Before Corbet came across Champion’s works including ‘With a Camera in Tiger-Land’ (1927) and ‘Jungle in Sunlight and Shadow’ (1934), he would organise big game shoots for top officials of the British Indian administration.

When India attained Independence, however, C Rajagopalachari (Rajaji), a freedom fighter and the second and last governor-general of India, changed things.

“It is said that when Rajaji, the newly appointed Governor General, was invited for a hunt but he was so impressed by the biological diversity and plethora of wild animals in the area that instead of hunting, he suggested the creation of a wildlife sanctuary in the area,” notes this description on the Rajaji Tiger Reserve website. Thus, out of the shooting blocks in the Shivaliks, a sanctuary was carved out in 1948 and today it’s known as the Rajaji National Park, which “extends over the Shivalik Range from the Dehradun-Saharanpur road in the north-west to the Rawasan River in the southeast, with the Ganges dividing it into two parts”.

Post 1947, Champion left for East Africa, where he said in a letter to British tea planter and naturalist Edward Pritchard Gee, “Animal photography here is too easy”. He was nostalgic “for my friends, the tigers of India, which can at no time be photographed easily.”

But this didn’t stop him from adding valuable inputs to the global discourse on wildlife conservation. Noting that “every creature has its place in nature’s balanced scheme of wildlife”, he argued that predators like the leopard, wild dog or jackals weren’t bloodthirsty animals who deserved to be shot down and that the best course of action would be to leave them alone.

Speaking of other animals, his book ‘The Jungle in Sunlight and Shadow’ explores the forests he witnessed in India beyond the tiger-like the scaly ant-eater, honey badger, swamp deer and the pangolin, amongst others. He would also go on to take some of the first night-time photographs of wild leopards, sloth bears, dholes, etc.

At the age of 76, he passed away in 1970, but the legacy he leaves behind is remarkable. A man ahead of his time, he advocated for a strong forest department in India. He believed they had a duty and responsibility to protect wild animals like the tiger and their forest habitats.

Some argue that Project Tiger, which Indira Gandhi launched as prime minister back in April 1973, is in many ways the legacy of Champion’s work in India. In fact, Kailash Sankhala, the first director of Project tiger and a legendary conservationist, once said that if tigers had been given a vote, the Corbett National Park would have been named after Champion.

If you want to understand what real wildlife photography feels like, here’s what Champion said: “Such pictures, hanging on one’s walls in subsequent years, bring back vividly, as no skin or head can ever do, what may have been the most thrilling moments of one’s life. Surely, looking at the photographs, one can half-close one’s eyes and see, not photographs, but real scenes.”

Sources:

Twitter/Raza Kazmi

‘With A Camera In Tiger-Land’ by FW Champion; Published in 1927; courtesy Digital Library of India

‘The other hero: In Jim Corbett’s shadow’ by Mahesh Rangarajan; Published on 13 October 2020; courtesy The Telegraph

‘Origin of Rajaji Sanctuary’ courtesy Rajaji Tiger Reserve

‘Tripwire for a Tiger: Selected works of F.W. Champion’; Published in January 2012 by Rainfed Books; Edited by James Champion

(Edited by Yoshita Rao)

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There are about 3,100 grey wolves (Canis lupus) left in India. Like many endangered species in the world today, loss of habitat poses the primary threat to their existence. 

“The wolf, unlike the tiger, is not a creature of forests. It requires vast areas, and manages to live in the interstices of agricultural spaces that are left fallow by farmers dependent on rainfall as their only source of irrigation,” noted Abi T Vanak, senior fellow at ATREE in Bengaluru, and Mihir Godbole, president of The Grasslands Trust, Pune, in a May 2022 column for The Hindu. 

Tragically, according to the Government of India’s Wasteland Atlas of India report, a significant portion of the wolf’s native habitat lie in barren wastelands, where the government has prioritised solar and other renewable energy projects, tree-planting drives for carbon sequestration and other such “development” activities.  

“The semi-arid savanna grasslands and rocky areas of the Deccan plateau, in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh — along with some areas of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — are among the last strongholds of the Indian wolf,” Vanak and Godbole note.

Their survival, they argue, depends a great deal on their relationship with nomadic pastoralist communities whose goats and sheep graze on these grasslands. It’s a relationship that swings from acceptance-reverence to outright revenge, given how these wolves prey on sheeps and goats for survival. 

“Only by granting the savanna grasslands of India their legitimacy as a natural habitat, and recognising the deep and intricate dependencies between the human and non-human denizens of these vast open landscapes, do we have a chance of saving the wolves,” they argue.

Given this context, it’s important to remember Mahuadanr Wolf Sanctuary in Jharkhand — the only sanctuary in India dedicated to wolf preservation. 

The forest officer who first saved wolves from extinction

The wolf sanctuary only exists because of the efforts of a forgotten Indian Forest Service officer, SP Shahi, who paid close attention to how wolves were hurtling towards extinction back in the 1960s.  

“Back then, the preferred habitats of wolves — scrub and open forests and grasslands — were the easiest to bring under the plough, and swiftly converted into agricultural land. Thus their habitat was rapidly declining. Simultaneously, a policy of elimination of wolves was followed on a wide scale by the British authorities and the killing continued into independent India,” says wildlife historian Raza Kazmi, in a conversation with The Better India.  

In a recent Twitter thread, he noted, “Shahi, unlike most forest officers of his era — to whom the mosaic of ravines, open thin Sal forest and rainfed fields of the Mahuadanr valley…[were] a ‘wasteland’ primed for ‘reclamation’ through ‘restorative plantation’ and afforestation — recognised the importance of what today we call ‘Open Natural Ecosystems’ for wolves.”

These Open Natural Ecosystems (ONEs) consist of a range of non-forested habitats from savanna grasslands to deserts, which host a high density of “large mammalian fauna”. 

What’s particularly interesting about these ecosystems is that unlike wildlife sanctuaries and other protected areas where limits are set on human habitation, they support the lives and livelihoods of pastoralists and their livestock. Understanding what was at stake, Shahi lobbied the government for years to create a wildlife sanctuary to preserve Mahuadanr’s wolves. 

Finally, during his tenure as the chief wildlife warden of Bihar, he managed to eke out 63.25 square kilometres of wolf habitat and got it notified as the Mahuadanr Wolf Sanctuary. More importantly, however, he recognised the critical role villagers living in the surrounding areas and their livestock (primarily goats) played in the survival of Mahuadanr’s wolves. 

“He ensured that the grazing and movement rights of local villagers shall not be impeded by the creation of this wolf sanctuary (legally a wildlife sanctuary), while simultaneously ensuring protection of the habitat, especially from hair-brained wasteland reclamation exercises,” says Kazmi. 

Raza argues that rather than notifying an unbroken continuous block of forest land as a wildlife sanctuary, Mahuadanr sanctuary was created by focusing on wolf denning sites, which meant that the sanctuary is discontinuous and consists of many enclaves. 

“These dens were identified and protected. One of his favourite dens was ‘Urumbhi’, a cluster of large rocks where he spent many days and nights — both during service and even after his retirement — observing ‘his’ wolf packs, their breeding and overall ecologies,” says Kazmi. 

“This system allows villagers to graze their goats and move about in the landscape through the discontinuous patches of land that are not part of the sanctuary. On a managerial level, he simply had the staff instructed to manage the sanctuary in a way that did not create hostility against wolves due to restrictions on the resource use of villagers. That mantra continues to this day in the sanctuary’s management,” he explains.  

Why was it important to not impede their grazing rights? 

The most obvious was that the wolves of Mahuadnr are highly dependent on small livestock such as goats, sheep, pigs, and occasional poultry belonging to the villagers. Having these in the landscape was essential to sustain them. 

“On the other hand, he didn’t want villagers to develop hostility against wolves due to restrictions on their resource use because that would likely end in the wolves being killed off by the people. Since Mahuadanr did have a history of angry villagers sometimes smoking out wolf dens to kill pups as well as occasionally poisoning wolves, he didn’t want to take any risks,” he adds. 

Shahi’s death in 1986 was earlier seen as a devastating blow to Mahuadanr, given how forest administrators left it uncared for. 

Fast forward to 2013, when Kazmi says he began “retracing some of Shahi’s trails in Mahuadanr using his old field notes”. Much to his delight, he found “wolf signs, spoor, and trails all across his [Shahi’s] erstwhile field sites”.   

These wolves had survived largely because of the goat-rearing pastoralists who could still freely access the Mahuadanr valley. Shahi’s decision to ensure their grazing rights had paid off. 

Regardless, it’s not as though these wolves and villagers shared a totally peaceful co-existence. There have been instances of some disgruntled villagers poisoning adult wolves and killing their pups by smoking their dens, both during Shahi’s tenure in the service and thereafter.

“However, in totality, the wolves had managed to hold their own and the herders mostly did not mind a goat or a pig being taken off by the wolves. Wolves adapted, and villagers tolerated their occasional raids. ‘Don’t you feel angry when wolves snatch away one of your goats?’, I had once asked a goat-herder on the banks of Burha river in Mahuadanr. ‘No. The wolf takes his share. After all, he too needs something to survive,’ he nonchalantly replied,” recalls Kazmi.  

In 2012, however, forest department officials at the neighbouring Palamau Tiger Reserve, who manage the wolf sanctuary, initiated the process of camera trapping and monitoring of dens where Mahuadanr’s wolves reside. Thanks to camera trapping, the first images of these elusive wolves were revealed since Shahi took those photographs back in the 1970s. 

Earlier this year, forest authorities released images of a new generation of Mahuadanr wolves from the dens of Urumbhi. This is where Shahi first observed these wolves more than 50 years ago, which led him to the path of notifying this sanctuary.

Mukesh Kumar, deputy director (South Division), Palamau Tiger Reserve, notes that the number of wolves at the Mahuadanr sanctuary has crossed 100 as per the latest annual census. 

“It’s important to note that their pups are born between the months of December and February. During these months, the grey wolves reside in dens/caves where they can raise their young, so we ensure that public disturbance and interference are kept at a minimum. This requires greater vigilance from the forest department in terms of foot patrols and we advise local villagers to not loiter around these dens, particularly at night when mothers train their pups to navigate this habitat,” says Mukesh Kumar.   

Also, to offset the occasional loss of livestock to villagers, the forest department has engaged them in eco-tourism projects like the one in Lodh Falls, the highest waterfall in Jharkhand, which lies in the Mahuadanr Wolf Sanctuary. 

“In the last two years, eco-development committees of Lodh and other nearby villages have taken control to manage this site and surrounding forest areas. Currently it is peak tourist season and locals are earning a lot on a daily basis. This initiative has allowed them to connect with the conservation effort. Another important initiative is to raise awareness about the state of these wolves among local villagers. Today, they appreciate and understand the fact these wolves are as endangered as tigers. Raising awareness has also corrected a common misconception among local villagers that these wolves are ‘child lifters’,” he adds. 

“Wolves are the top predators of the scrub, open and grassland ecosystems in India and are critical indicators of the health of these ecosystems. As explained earlier, wolves and the health and sanctity of these ecosystems go pretty much hand in hand. As soon as these ecosystems start declining, wolves are among the first to disappear,” says Raza.

What makes these Indian grey wolves special?

According to Vanak and Godbole, “Indian grey wolves are unlike their European and American counterparts. They are smaller, leaner, [and] highly adapted to the hot, arid plains of the Indian subcontinent. They are, along with the Tibetan wolf found in the Himalayas, among the oldest wolf lineages in the world. Scientists have given the Indian wolf its own sub-species status,  Canis lupus pallipes, and some have argued that it should be its own unique species. If the Indian wolf were to disappear, this ancient evolutionary lineage would be forever lost, and India’s savannas would be bereft of both their top predators.”

All-round conservationist

Shahi arrived on the scene at a time when more than two-thirds of undivided Bihar’s forests were privately owned by royals and wealthy zamindars. 

According to Bittu Sahgal, editor of Sanctuary Asia, “A product of his time, [he] was trained by the British who then considered trees to be worth no more than the amount their timber fetched. And wild animals, he was taught, had no greater value than their pelts, ivory, horns, or the ‘sport’ they offered to hunters. When narrating stories of his earlier life to me, of trees felled and tigers shot, his eyes would mist over — “I wish someone had introduced me to the joys of the camera earlier.”

Following Independence, however, the government of an undivided Bihar took over the management of these forests through the Bihar Private Forest Act, 1947. The legislation was passed in the leadup to the Zamindari Abolition Act & the Land Reforms Act immediately after independence. 

Unlike other states, the forests of undivided Bihar were unique in the sense that an overwhelming bulk was part of the estates of various large zamindars. Through the 1947 act, the government confiscated all these forests from the owners and turned them into government forest land. 

Shahi, who first joined the Bihar Forest department in 1942 as a timber supply officer, was among the cadre of forest officers hired to prevent the large-scale destruction of these forests by their owners, who had refused to accept this new piece of legislation. 

His exceptional work in fulfilling this particular assignment earned him an out-of-turn promotion. His rise in the forest service was meteoric — in 1960, at the age of just 43, he became the first chief conservator of forests, the youngest in the country. He would go on to serve as a forest officer with distinction till his retirement from service in 1976. 

Kazmi argues that after the passage of the law, “Expectedly there was a huge pushback from powerful landlords. Shahi was one of the most prominent officers of the state tasked with implementing this law in letter and spirit. Slowly, he managed to get the forest department to establish full control over these former private forests.” 

One such step, which highlighted his foresight and ability as a forest officer, was to cancel all shooting blocks in undivided Bihar in 1968, a whole two years before a similar nationwide ban on hunting was enforced in 1970. 

“Also, all major PAs (protected areas) of Bihar and Jharkhand were either created during his tenure as Bihar’s chief wildlife warden or immediately thereafter as a follow-up on the proposals already passed during his time in office. In Jharkhand, some of these include the Palamau WLS (now part of Palamau Tiger Reserve), Hazaribagh WLS (wildlife sanctuary) and Lawalong WLS, Dalma WLS. In Bihar, they include Valmiki WLS (now part of Valmiki Tiger Reserve), Bhimbandh WLS, Gautam Buddha WLS, and Kaimur WLS among others,” says Kazmi. 

Towards the end of his career in the service and post retirement, he took up his passion in wildlife photography to whole another level. 

Spending nights in hide-outs and machans in various forests of Bihar trying to capture elusive species like leopards, tigers, grey wolf and other wildlife in his state. His much-acclaimed photographs of little known grey wolves in the Mahuadanr valley in Palamau were, for the longest time, the only photographic records of the species from the state. He was also the first wildlife photographer to take portraits of Indian wolves hunting (a baited goat), in the early 70s.

Besides photography, he was also a prolific writer, and his book ‘Backs to the Wall: Saga of Wildlife in Bihar’ till this day remains the only book written on the wildlife of present-day Bihar and Jharkhand, more than 40 years ago.

P K Sen, former director of Project Tiger, who passed away last year due to COVID-19 and knew Shahi well, once said, “S P Shahi’s work in Palamau and his meticulous documentation of its wildlife was a very key reason that this forest was chosen as one of the first nine to be declared as tiger reserves in 1973. Few people realise that as far back as 1968, he had all shooting blocks in the state of Bihar cancelled, two years before the Government of India took this step in 1970. What triggered this determination was the remorse he felt when he himself shot a tigress and was haunted by the senselessness of the act.”

Bittu added, “Not surprisingly, after realisation struck, he was like a man possessed. Having given up the gun for the camera he began to spend extraordinary amounts of time in the wilds of his beloved Bihar, often spending night after night in make-shift hides, waiting for a chance to photograph a wolf or tiger. He also rededicated his life to the proposition that new, young forest officers should not be contaminated by faulty learning that placed nature at a discount. Towards this end he published articles, scientific papers and proceeded to give lecture after lecture in an effort to wean future decision makers away from the ecological quick sands of the past.”

(Edited by Divya Sethu)

Additional Sources:

‘India’s missing wolves’ by Abi T Vanak and Mihir Godbole; Published on 20 May 2022 courtesy The Hindu

‘S.P. Shahi – (1917-1986)’ by Bittu Sahgal; Published in February 2011 courtesy Sanctuary Asia 

‘Conservation in east-central India’ by Raza Kazmi; Published courtesy India Seminar 

Images courtesy Twitter/Raza Kazmi and Mukesh Kumar

‘Mapping the distribution and extent of India’s semi-arid open natural ecosystems’ by MD Madhusudan and Abi Vanak; Published on 25 July 2021 courtesy ESSOAr

If you have come across a photograph that showcases an elephant mother-calf duo desperately trying to escape flaming tar balls and crackers that were hurled at them by a jeering mob then you might want to know, it is titled ‘Hell is here’.

And it is one of the winning photographs of the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2017.

India’s longest-running and most prestigious initiative of its kind, Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards is an annual competition that draws thousands of entries from across Asia. Beating all previous records, this year’s leg drew over 5,000 entries.

The competition is organised by Sanctuary Nature Foundation in association with and support of Urvi Ashok Piramal Foundation and M. R. Morarka Foundation.

The judging panel included an illustrious group of prominent photographers like Steve Winter, a National Geographic conservation photographer, Kalyan Varma, a conservation photographer and filmmaker and Dr. Anish Andheria, conservation photographer and President of Wildlife Conservation Trust.

“All our inspiration springs from nature—music, dance, philosophies, religions, culture, arts and photography. These awards are Sanctuary’s way of acknowledging this reality and reminding us all to celebrate, revere and protect this source of life,” said Bittu Sahgal, who is the founder and editor of Sanctuary Asia and one of the panelists.

Take a look at the winning photographs and brace yourselves for some of the breathtaking shots that showcase nature at its best and worst:

The heat from the fire scorches their delicate skin as the elephant mother and calf attempt to flee the mob. In the lead, the mother’s expansive ears are angled forward as she ignores the crowd of jeering men. Behind her, her calf screams in confusion and fear as the fire licks at her feet. Flaming tar balls and crackers fly through the air to a soundtrack of human laughter and shouts. In the Bankura district of West Bengal, this sort of humiliation of pachyderms is routine, as it is in the other elephant-range states of Assam, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu, among others. India is the world’s stronghold for the Asian elephant, home to over 70 per cent of the global population of the species. But this achievement rings hollow as vital elephant habitats and routes continue to be ravaged, and human-elephant conflict escalates to a fatal degree.

On Chivla beach in Malwan, Maharashtra, a starfish collaborates with pea crabs and sea shells to create a fleeting masterpiece that will soon be washed away by the tide. The delicate whorls and loops traced in the sand by the scuttling crabs emphasise the firmer movement of the starfish, whose body imprints deeply but momentarily on the beach. These gentle, placid delights of being outdoors weren’t lost on Abhishek Nandkishor Neelam Satam, who found these artists at work while on a survey for the National Institute of Oceanography.

The image tells an inspirational story of a leopard that fell into a well in Nashik, Maharashtra, where it swam for an incredible 30 hours before being discovered, barely alive. The cat would undoubtedly have died had it not been for local villagers, who, once informed, swung instantly into action by alerting forest officials, and then pitched in to help them. At great risk to life and limb, using the remarkable ingenuity for which the people of rural India are renowned, villagers and officials worked in unison against all odds to save the leopard.

Lure your victim by appearing helpless. Attack the throat with your curved, hook-like mandibles. Clamp down and begin your feast. This is the modus operandi of the larvae of the ground beetles of the genus Epomis that predate exclusively on amphibians. And this chilling image is believed to be only the second record of Epomis predation on an amphibian in India. That the amphibian in question is the endemic and critically endangered Amboli bush frog demands further study to understand the impact that these unassuming predators are having on frog populations in the Western Ghats. The dilated eye of the dying frog and the larvae obscenely hanging out of its throat make this crisp image eye-catching, but it is the questions that it prompts that make it exceptional.

Death is inevitable. A spotted deer struggles furiously and helplessly as a bask of crocodiles enter into a feeding frenzy. It turns its eyes heavenwards, but seconds later it is ripped to shreds by the ravenous reptiles. The acute desperation evident in this image captured on the banks of the Buthawa tank in Yala National Park is enough to trigger one’s fight-or-flight response. The ill-fated deer was originally felled by just one crocodile, but the others were quick to join in. While last year, Milind Wattegedara’s equally well-timed special mention image was compared to a Monet painting, this year it’s reminiscent of a twisted, jungle-themed Botticelli. With his steady hand, he has framed a staggering, action packed image that depicts the gory, no-rules-apply rule of Mother Nature.

A plastic crate in the Mangalore Port cradles the lifeless body of a shark ray. Though not a targeted species by most Indian fisheries, shark rays are nonetheless considered valuable catch. Soon this specimen will be sold – its meat dried, salted and consumed locally, while its fins perhaps find their way to the Far East to be cooked into a soup. These graceful shallow-water dwellers are classified ‘Vulnerable’ and though there is scant data on their biology and population, it is accepted that they are facing global decline. Young Vishruth Cavale has made a poignant, desolate image that is emblematic of the on-going, silent annihilation of dozens of little-known species across the world.

In Sri Lanka’s Yala National Park, where colossal metamorphic rock formations look out over the Indian Ocean, a pair of peafowls studies a slumbering leopard. Belly full and sated after a successful morning hunt, the spotted cat had scaled the boulder and then been lulled to sleep by the tropical sun. Velutinous tail casually hanging down, oozing self-assurance even in repose, the leopard was
oblivious to the vigilant birds, which kept an eye on the predator while exploring the scene.

Are our closest cousins getting too close for comfort? At a pit stop on the drive up to Valparai in the Anamalai Hills, Sitara A. Karthikeyan observed a bonnet macaque perched on the tyre of a tourist
vehicle. As various states in India lobby to cull or sterilise monkey populations, and grapple inefficiently with chronic monkey-human conflict, the simians continue to adapt as best as they can to live alongside humans. Unfortunately, root problems – shrinking wild habitats, an abysmal lack of waste management systems and the annoying penchant that tourists have for feeding monkeys
– continue to fester. The soft tones of this image, the monkey’s pronounced bonnet and its disconcertingly expressive eyes call for a moment of introspection and the realisation that this is yet another species that’s trying to survive the age of the Anthropocene.

Mystic plumes of smoke seem to waft across the waters of a lake in Lalbagh, Bengaluru. But it wasn’t the mist but an egret that Vishruth Cavale photographed that October evening. These ubiquitous herons are a common sight across the Indian countryside and even urban areas. However, by capturing the movement of these commonplace birds along the water’s edge in a milky smear, Cavale has made an enigmatic frame.

In addition, 18 other photographs have received Special Mentions in the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2017.

More information on these images is available on www.sanctuaryasia.com.

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Do you remember how as kids, most of us were awestruck by the life of Mowgli? The carefree, naked, feral child from the forests of Pench in Seoni, a fictional character, was immortalised by Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book series.

While most of us only dreamed of living that life, a little boy living 50 metres away from the core of the Pench forests of Madhya Pradesh is doing exactly that!

Swinging from branches, running barefoot through the forests, imitating monkeys, chasing butterflies and enjoying tiger calls by his window at night, three-and-a-half-year-old Kaizen is unleashing the Mowgli inside him, and living life to its fullest.

All thanks to his parents, Harshita and Aditya Shakalya, who gave up their corporate life to live close to nature and raise him in an unconventional way.

Kaizen was only six months old, when Harshita and Aditya quit all their businesses back in Indore in two months, to become caretakers of the ‘Tiger N Woods‘ resort in the core of the Pench Tiger reserve.

While Aditya was born in Delhi, Harshita was raised in Indore. The foreign-educated couple, with their exceptional marketing qualifications, has worked across industries.

Harshita, who is a professional chocolatier, started her own business as early as 17! Aditya, who is also a novelist, worked with several brands and publications.

The couple first met when they were working at the same firm and hoping to set up their own company. Sharing similar ideas and beliefs, they began their own social media and designing startup in Indore. What started as a business partnership, eventually turned into a partnership for life.

Calling the couple workaholics back in the day would be an understatement. Married in 2013, the couple even worked on their honeymoon! Harshita recalls their trip to Thailand that turned their lives around.

“We were on our way to Krabi, in a nice little van. But instead of looking out of the window at the visual treat that beheld us, we continued to worry about the network so we could work again,” she says.

That was the moment of truth for the couple. It dawned upon them that this clearly wasn’t the life they wanted to live for the rest of their days, especially with their future children.

While deciding to quit was impulsive and easy, they had no backup plan, whatsoever.

Read more: How This Tribal Couple Transformed a Barren Hill Into a Bountiful Farm!

It was only when everyone around them was welcoming the dawn of the new year that the opportunity came to them. At the New Year’s Eve party of 2014, Harshita and Aditya met a few acquaintances who started discussing Aditya’s new book.

At the time, the friend quipped saying he knew a place where Aditya could write peacefully and that he was anyway looking for a family who could manage the resort.

“By that time Kaizen was only six-months-old. We thought, why don’t we take it up? We were anyway thinking about raising him in a different environment, away from the exhausting city life,” says Harshita.

While they were lucky enough to receive a good education in city schools, that they are ever grateful for, Harshita sheds light on the flaws of the current system where schools have become a commercial business model.

“I knew in my heart that I did not want him to be a part of this neverending rat race. We did not want him to be worried about succeeding at something because the world expected him to or think that grades define success in life,” she says.

This was their opportunity to explore a life beyond the concrete jungle and do everything they ever wanted to as a family. While they first visited the place on 4 January, by 17 March 2015, they were stepping into their home with their backpacks.

Was the big switch easy? No.

“We had lived the city and corporate life, partying till wee hours in the morning. Being young and reckless. So, the big switch was difficult. Visiting a park is way different than living in the core of a Tiger reserve.”

While living this close to the wilderness makes you feel one with nature, it continues to strike fear too, confesses Harshita.

“It was scary, it still is. I, once had a cobra walk out of the bushes and Kaizen has had alpha monkeys growl at him. But the truth is, we are living in an area which is dominated by wildlife. It is their home, and we’ll always be encroachers here. So it was important for us to live in harmony with them and keep this place as close to nature as possible,” she says.

The first year was difficult when they were trying to rebuild the resort from shambles and struggling with electricity.

She remembers days when her heart ached while a young Kaizen would keep turning over, sleeping in the heat. But today, when she looks back, there are only happy memories. From watching birds in the forests from their ten foot high machans to spotting deers, jackals, nilgais and other wildlife – they not only see, but experience the changing weather every single day.

The nearest village, with over 30 to 40 homes, is right outside the Tiger Reserve’s main gate. Kaizen is an absolute hit among the villagers. Harshita remembers how he first ran to her crying out, “Mumma, machchar chaap gaya” which meant a mosquito bit him in the local dialect of the village.

“He is more flexible and adaptive than most city kids and even adults. He strikes a conversation easily with new people. When guests arrive from other countries, he speaks to them in English and speaks to our village staff with the same ease in their local dialect. He also signs to our hearing & speech impaired staffers,” she says.

From knowing his way around the kitchen to growing fruits, vegetables and herbs, he assists the staff and continues to stay grounded. While most parents struggle to give their kids maximum exposure, Kaizen has the world coming to him.

Even though the kid might not write like most kids his age, he is learning all the basic skills he needs, to become self-sufficient. He started going to an open school this month, 60 km away from home called Caterpillar Labs. This school format has no age-specific classes. Instead, it holds different language and activity labs and helps them progress as and when they master each of those skills.

One of the reasons for sending him to school was that he started missing children his age. He’d get really excited when guests arrived with their kids but would be heartbroken when they left.

“To help him maintain consistency with friends, we decided to enroll him,” she says.

With the resort giving them time for themselves, Aditya, who is a qualified yoga teacher too, holds workshops for guests and children. His recently launched Bodhisattva Yoga foundation – for the emotional and mental wellbeing of young children – is teaching them to embrace the philosophies of yoga to fight early anxiety and depression.

While running a chocolate business was certainly not an option, Harshita went around the village and understood the local ingredients, rice, seasonal vegetables etc from the villagers.

She launched her project called Pench Pickle company, which manufactures marmalades, pickles, jams, squashes etc. from the local produce.

I asked Harshita what if Kaizen wishes to move to the city when he grows up. She smiles saying, “Honestly, I know the city life would lure him someday. It lured us too. But it is his choice and call. We didn’t listen to our parents when we decided to take this leap of faith. But, we hope we did out groundwork well with our young boy,” she says.

And if you think Kaizen is restricted only to the village and forest all the time, you are far from the truth.

“Who are we to restrict him, honestly? In fact, we make sure he experiences everything. I want him to be what he wants to be. We take him to places within and outside India,” she says.

Embarking on several road trips, flights, trains, Kaizen has already travelled to Goa, Delhi, Indore, Varanasi, Sri Lanka, Andamans and other places.

Get in touch with Aditya and Harshita at Bodhiyoga.foundation@gmail.com

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Visiting a wildlife sanctuary is a thrilling experience, for newbies and seasoned wildlife enthusiasts alike. The joy of seeing animals laze around, and exhibit natural behaviour in their habitats is genuinely gratifying.

Wildlife sanctuaries are a far cry away from the cruel zoo infrastructure, where animals are kept in cramped conditions, with little or no effort to make their life better. Zoos are also over-crowded, full of people who don’t think twice before teasing the poor miserable animals.

A wildlife sanctuary offers the ideal atmosphere. There are designated car-routes, where one can travel in an open-top jeep, and view animals. However, thanks to sheer popularity, sanctuaries have started getting crowded as well.

It isn’t unusual to see a long line of jeeps and other safari vehicles, with people craning to get a look at the elusive exotic species found in our forests.

Obviously, the most sought-after animal is the tiger, and people go out of their way just to catch a glimpse of it. If not, seeing a leopard ‘at least’ is warranted, else what is the use of a safari? The other animals, the herbivores, rarely matter.

Well, the animals one prefers to see is a personal preference. Having said that, there are a few ground rules that sanctuary visitors must obey. Follow these rules, not only for your own safety and benefit but also for the sake of the sanctuary and its wild inhabitants.

1) Dress appropriately: Clothes that cover your arms and legs are preferred, to keep away bugs and insects, or branches that can leave scratches. Stay away from bright clothing, or attire that has trinkets/noisy bells and tassels.Blending in with the surroundings is desired when you are in the animal’s habitat, so as not to startle/surprise them.

2) Do not interact with wildlife: Do not make sounds trying to attract the animal’s attention. You are there to observe them, and not the other way around. If you see a hunt in progress, do not interfere.If you find an injured animal, call the necessary authorities. Most importantly, if you come across a carcass, do not attempt to disembark from your vehicle and approach it. It could be a fresh kill, and the carnivore that finds you near it will not be very pleased.

3) Maintain decorum: This is very important, as you are in the animal’s home. Do not talk loudly, scream or shout, or be a general nuisance. Remember to obey the entrance and exit timings of the park. They are there for a purpose. Most carnivores hunt at night, and you wouldn’t want to find yourself in an unfortunate situation.

4) Respect the surroundings: Needless to say, the jungle should be treated with absolute respect. Do not get down from your transport to pick up souvenirs like bird feathers, or stones. Do not try and light a fire, or smoke inside the sanctuary premises. Do not try and set up camp in areas where it isn’t permitted. Most importantly, do not litter. Carry a separate bag to collect your litter, and dispose of it in a safe location, away from the jungle.

5) Photography etiquette: Do not try getting close to animals for a perfect shot, as it can provoke/scare them, and considerate towards fellow safari-travellers, and refrain from spending hours trying to get a “perfect photo.” Most importantly, do not publish everything you have, on the internet. It has been reported, that poacher use photographs that tourists post online, to find the exact locations of specific animals. While you should take photos and document your safari, exercise some caution to make sure that your prize picture doesn’t put a target on the animal’s back.

You may also like:- Home to Over 60 Tigers, Mudumalai Tiger Reserve All Set to Become Twice Its Size!

National parks and sanctuaries are supposed to be a space just for the animals, because humans have shamelessly eroded their habitat over the years. We are lucky that they exist and so that we can go and observe these animals thrive in their natural habitat. Let us keep enjoying the beautiful and unique sights and sounds that they provide, never forgetting that we must respect it always, at all costs!

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Shashank Dalvi is a conservationist and wildlife biologist from Mumbai. His interest in nature began in childhood, and he took the hobby forward when he decided to pursue a career in the field.

The ornithologist was a member of the team which discovered that Amur Falcons are mass hunted in Nagaland. Another feather in his hat is the description of the Himalayan Forest Thrush, a bird species discovered in 2016.

Shashank was awarded the Wildlife Service Award by Sanctuary Asia this year.

Nikit Surve, another Mumbaikar received the Young Naturalist Award from Sanctuary Asia. As a teenager, Nikit aspired to follow the footsteps of Steve Irwin and wanted to work with crocodiles. However, his interests gradually changed to the man-animal conflict. He has been studying leopards through camera trapping and scat analysis.

The fantastic knowledge and commitment that Shashank and Nikit have displayed in their respective fields have been recognised and felicitated by Sanctuary Asia.

Know more about them and their work here:

Featured image soources: Sanctuary Asia/ Sanctuary Asia.

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Tigers are a symbol of pride for India. They are not only are the national animal of the country, but it is estimated that 60% of the world’s tiger population lives in India.

In India, the big cat inhabits the Sundarbans in the east and the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in the west. You will see them in the hills of Uttarakhand, and the backwaters of Kerala.

According to figures released by the National Tiger Conservation Authority in 2008, only 1411 tigers were left in India’s forests.

Large areas of lands were deforested for the simple fact that these animals are on the top of the food-chain. Saving them would have a trickle-down effect on saving vegetation too.

In such a vast country, how did we come to the number of 1411?

How did we estimate that 60% of the world’s tigers reside in India?

What methodology do we use to calculate the population of this beast, and who all are involved in the counting?

Watch the video to find out.

Featured image source: Flickr.

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Most people who pay attention to wildlife-related issues are aware of the human-tiger conflict in India, but there is another big cat in town making an even bigger ruckus—the Indian leopard.

Not a month goes by without newspaper reports about the attack by a leopard on humans, followed by days of reporting of the hunt for the cat, and invariably, ending with the capture or death of the unfortunate animal. For every headline which speaks of cute cubs being rescued, there are horrific instances where villagers have burnt an animal because it dared to sneak into their midst. India is indeed a place to test the leopard’s survival—leopards in large numbers, live outside protected areas, often alarmingly close to human settlements.

The term ‘man-eating leopard’, romanticised by Jim Corbett, strikes fear into the hearts of people, many of whom might never actually witness one in the wild.

It is indeed ironic that in India for all the hype and bad publicity the leopard gets there is a higher chance of people dying due to civilisation.

Road accidents, electrocution, and rail accidents claim far more lives than leopard attacks, but the attacks gain more popularity because people can blame something else, not their own carelessness.

Dr Vidya Athreya, an expert who studies leopards, and is associated with the Wildlife Conservation Society, was based in the town of Akole, Ahmednagar district, for five years, and during her stay there, she found leopards everywhere. 11 adult leopards would roam around the town throughout the day. Why such a high density of wild animals in such a densely populated area?

The answers were plain as day, yet startling. It was again the age-old concept, where feral animals like stray dogs, pigs and other small animals rely on open trash dumps, and meat markets. The leopards, in turn, have made these animals their prey base. A study by Dr Athreya showed that 87% of the leopard’s diet in this area, came from stray animals—dogs made up 39% of the prey base, domestic cats around 12%, and livestock, surprisingly minimal, at 11%.

This is startling because livestock was more abundant than dogs, in the area. The above study cements the fact that leopards, though considered wild, are living off human-related food sources.

The small percentage of wild animals that make up their prey base are civets, monkeys, birds and mongooses—a far cry from the deer that the big cat usually hunts.

In the 1980’s, the Government introduced irrigation schemes. This led to the cultivation of sugarcane in the otherwise dry Akole region and provided the perfect hiding place for leopards, where they hide and eat dogs, and other stray animals when hunger strikes.

Another study threw up yet another factor. During 2001-2003, attacks in and around Junnar increased, co-incidentally after the Government started relocating hundreds of leopards after livestock attacks. The captured animals would be released around 20 miles from the area, as is usually the case.

Dr Athreya and her team found the incidence of attacks increase by around 325%, with fatal attacks doubling.

The reason—the trapped cats, boxed and traumatised by humans, would acquire behavioural problems.

Also, these cats have a large territorial range—something that the authorities did not consider. A leopard would more often than note, find itself in the territory of another.

Another study revealed that relocating cats might not be the best solution. This was observed in and around the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, where relocating leopards often opened up the territories for new ones, who weren’t so well-versed in co-existing with humans.

People in settlements around parks are used to, and welcome the leopard’s presence. Near the Tungareshwar Sanctuary, located between Vasai and Virar, not far from Mumbai, there is the Chinchoti bypass, home to many tribal settlements like the Warli and Mahadeo Koli communities that call these forests home.

There is a temple of the village goddess in almost every village, and adjacent to the goddess’s idol, there is another statue—Waghoba.

The tribals regard Waghoba as a big cat deity, revered as the king of the jungle, The tribal communities depend on the forest for survival, and have built an almost spiritual connection with it, as part of their culture.

The Waghoba deity is worshipped with reverence, in the belief that it will protect them and their cattle, from potential leopard threats. While people of the land, more specifically tribes, manage to incorporate wild animals into their traditions, many others do not. These stories might be a great way to understand these secretive and timid cats.

In an article in the Indian Express, Dr Athreya explains how large cats can walk hundreds of kilometres, searching for prey. Humans in India average a population density of 300 people per square kilometre.

Leopards don’t prefer competing with tigers, for prey. Hence, in densely-populated tiger areas, leopards are few. Outside these dense forests, there are villages. The leopards thus make do with the thin sliver of land, between reserve and community, preying on small feral animals.

Livestock loss due to wild animals is an age-old problem, with humans coming up with solutions for them, time and again. However, these are usually based on exclusion, removing the offending cats and relocating them somewhere else-always not the best idea A relocated cat, is a disturbed and a traumatised cat, stressed and nervous—not a good trait when confronted by a human.

Leopards are usually shy, and scared of humans, like most other wild animals.

Even more so, because the animals have developed the idea that unlike themselves, humans kill for fun, not for food. A leopard that wanders into a human settlement is probably as terrified of the people, as the people are of it.

Camera traps set up in and around the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, show leopards preying on dogs and chickens. Perhaps it is the human footprint that attracts them? Small feral animals are easy prey, even though they might not be the ideal food. But you make do with what you get right?

The Sanjay Gandhi National Park is just 104 square kilometres and is occupied by 30 odd leopards. All this, in a city that has more than 28,000 people per square kilometre. Therefore, human-leopard conflicts were inevitable.

When relocation was doing more harm than good, authorities came up with an initiative-the Sanjay Gandhi National Park Experience. The indigenous Warli tribe, residing in the park helped. The initiative wanted to bring a change in the mindset of the people. The study covered critical points—camera traps caught the leopard’s movements, while their movements in areas outside the park were recorded.

The researchers found that in spite of there being an abundant prey base in the park, feral animals like dogs and pigs were abundant. The initiative then trained forest officials in various aspects, most importantly in the task of redressing a situation. They were taught to tranquilise the animal, if necessary.

The third stage was to develop partnerships. For this, the authorities discussed with the municipal corporation, to provide better street-lights, and safer public toilets, and manage the garbage that attracts stray dogs. The police force was also sensitised, to prevent an untoward mob incident, in case a leopard was sighted. Media houses were requested not to sensationalise the news. The final stage, was to sensitise the public, and inform them of the do’s and don’ts, in case of a leopard sighting.

This move, from sensational news to sensibilities, is a much-needed one.

Hopefully, gone are the days, when the picture of a possibly traumatised cat, with its teeth bared, inside a tiny cage, will be titled “Aggressive and dangerous man-eating killer captured.”

When it comes to the basics of dealing with a wild animal confrontation, it is best to eliminate fear. Fear gives rise to rash thinking and behaviour. Peacefully sharing space and co-existing with animals might mitigate some of this concern.

Populations that share living space with wild animals understand the animal’s behaviour and act accordingly. Weaving them into myth and folklore causes them to respect the ecosystem and animal more.

We have been steadily eroding forests, and indiscriminately swallowing up the vast ranges of land that these cats need, for their survival. The leopards are confused and are forced to survive on the fringes of civilisation, scraping through by hunting feral dogs and pigs. The sudden intrusion of a human is startling and is what probably leads to the attack.

It is essential to understand the concept of shared space. No more, can we just randomly relocate cats, without paying heed to their survival requirements.

The elusive, shy, and gorgeous leopard, is making do in India, just as mountain lions, on the fringes of civilisation in California, coyotes in Chicago, wolves on the outskirts of Rome, and great white sharks off Cape Cod.

2017 was marked by a few landmark instances, in which the leopard was handled carefully and professionally, and rehabilitated in a suitable manner.

Two leopards were rescued from wells in Maharashtra and Kozhikode respectively, while another was rescued from the Maruti Suzuki plant in Manesar, and another from a garage in Goa. The best rescue was the cat from the well in Maharashtra. At some point during the operation, the animal probably sensed that everything being done was for its good, and looked up at its rescuers, with an almost thankful expression.

This moment was immortalised by Anand Bora, who won an award.

Once pulled up, the leopard stared at its rescuers, and with one leap cleared the well’s rim and ran into the forest, all in a matter of seconds, reminding us yet once again that these animals are wild, and not comfortable around humans, and given a chance, would avoid us entirely.

You may also like:- What to Do If a Leopard Wanders Into a Village? A Microchip Will Rescue the Cat!

It is only fair that the next time one strays into our midst, we treat it responsibly, and don’t set it on fire, in its cage.

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Pawanpari, Sonakali, and Lacchama, three elephants who served the Jim Corbett National Park for around four decades, retired amidst an emotional farewell, at a function organised for them near the park’s Dhangari Gate.

The gentle pachyderms had a lot of responsibility. They would take thousands of tourists on safaris through the park and help the rangers patrol the park, famous for its thriving tiger population.

Elephants are the best way to see wildlife because they access places where automobiles don’t go, and more importantly, other animals don’t get spooked by their presence.

All the elephants have crossed 65 years of age. They came to the Jim Corbett National Park in the 1970’s, from Assam and Karnataka, and have been tirelessly serving the forest department since.

The elephants will no longer be used for duty and will be kept at Kalagarh camp and be taken care of by the forest department.

Uttarakhand Forest Minister, Harak Singh Rawat, while feeding jaggery to the elephants, said “I will never forget this event. The park authorities have taken a praiseworthy step to honour the services provided by the jumbos to the department.”

You may also like: TBI Blogs: How Do Rescued Elephants Fight the Bitter Chill of Winter? With Jumbo Jackets, of Course!

The elephant’s mahouts were felicitated as well. Pawanpari is special, as she had saved a mahout’s life when he was attacked by a tiger. The brave elephant charged at the big cat and made it flee.

After years of selfless service to the park, the elephants are going to get some much-deserved rest!

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