One of the primary targets of poachers around the world are rhinos. Their keratin horns form amongst the most lucrative products in the illegal wildlife trade. This has led to the decimation of the world’s rhino species. Fortunately, through conservation efforts, the White Rhino and the Greater One Horned Rhino (aka the Indian Rhino) have […]

The harsh biogeography of the Trans-Himalayan Plateau supports a unique high-elevation rangeland in Eastern Ladakh. These tablelands have characteristic vegetation assemblages forming alpine rangelands that have supported nomadic pastoralist communities co-existing with inimitable wildlife across millennia. The topographic and climatic restraints have sculpted a distinctive grassland ecosystem that although low in biomass and ecological productivity

The requirement for robust and sustainable food production is increasing as urban areas grow. A unique idea called food forests is gaining popularity. By blending fruit and nut trees, bushes, herbs, and perennial plants, these urban green areas resemble natural ecosystems and provide a varied array of self-sustaining foods. In order to better understand the

The revival of tiger populations across India is one of India’s most successful conservation stories.  India has more than doubled her tiger population between 2006 and 2018. According to the preliminary results of the 2022 national census, India has approximately 3,100 tigers.  On Episode 2, I interview Anish Andheria, who is the CEO of the

When googling “world’s ugliest animals”, the vulture often features on the author’s hit-list. While they may not possess the beauty or charisma of other keystone species, their importance for our planet cannot be overstated. The global decline of this flesh-eater has impacts as far-reaching as environmental degradation, wildlife conservation, public health, and culture. How devastating

Today, we live in an age of heightening environmental awareness.”Plant trees to Save the Environment is a common mantra in today’s urban ecology domain. However, this mantra may indeed be detrimental to the native plants and the birds, particularly in parks and grasslands, research shows. Urban aforestation movements have speeded up in India’s big cities-Delhi,

The illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest illict industry in the world, after the trafficking of drugs, arms and humans. Unfortunately, various species, ranging from pangolins to bears are on the verge of extinction due to the illegal wildlife trade. Worth over $23 billion annually, the impacts of the illegal wildlife trade goes beyond

World wide conservation efforts are targeted towards umbrella species or the flagship species. The humble leopard doesn’t fit into both and often find itself secondary to the tiger when conservation projects are being planned. Here we disc Leopards are able to survive better in human dominated landscapes owing to their adaptable behavior. They serve as apex

The Leopard (Panthera pardus -Linnaeus, 1758) ,once found to be widely distributed in Asia and Africa are facing various threats amidst declining numbers. The carnivore is classified as ‘vulnerable’ according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species  2020. It is also listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species

The term biodiversity usually brings to mind a vivacious collage of animals in the backdrop of pristine wildernesses such as a courtship display by the birds of paradise in Papa New Guinea; the epic migration in the Serengeti; the boisterous howling of new world monkeys inhabiting Latin American rainforests; darting schools of iridescent fish in