CONSERVATION SUCCESS: An early warning system using SMSes or text messages is now showing results, reducing the human-pachyderm conflict in the Anamalai hills of Tamil Nadu. Read the story in this guest post by Ananda Banerjee. One night the watchman at the Parry Agro tea factory in Valparai, Tamil Nadu, saw a man getting off […]
Train Stops to Rescue Baby Elephant that Fell into a Ditch (Photos)
RESCUED: It could have been a really sticky situation for one baby elephant when it slipped into a ditch and got stuck in it, in Assam, India. But thanks to a train full of passengers passing bye, the calf was rescued and re-united with its herd. When a herd of elephants was passing a railway […]
How to Stalk a Tiger
TRAVEL TALE: Tara Harrison, Destinations Editor of Travel Weekly Magazine, Australia, recently visited the Nagarhole National Park in southern India to see a wild tiger. But is it that easy to catch a glimpse of the mega predator in its jungle territory? Read the guest post, to find what the adventurer witnessed on her maiden […]
Western Tragopan: Vulnerable State Bird of Himachal Pradesh
SPECIES WATCH: Just like we have a National Bird, a National Animal and a National Flower, every Indian state has a State Bird, a State Animal and a State Flower. The motive behind designating these National and State features is to give them protection and to take corrective measures to avoid extinction of these species. […]
Vanishing Medicinal Plants of Kashmir Himalaya
RED ALERT: The practice of using local herbs as medicinal remedies for a variety of health conditions is widely known in India. It is a knowledge that has been acknowledged by the world as India’s Ayurvedic medicine tradition. Even as modern drugs gain popularity, the tradition of using herbs to cure a headache, a cough, […]
A Sackful of Surprise
Having been brought up in Manas Wildlife Sanctuary in Assam, Sangeeta, a nature and wildlife enthusiast always thought that everyone who visited this World heritage site, came to witness the wild animals. That was till the day her aunt visited – a genuine non-lover of wildlife. Read Sangeeta’s hilarious account of what followed that perhaps […]
Conversation with the Gooty Tarantula
Who am I? My name is Gooty Tarantula. What are some of the other names given to me? I am also called, 1. Gooty sapphire ornamental tree spider, 2. Gooty sapphire, 3. Parachute peacock spider 4. Metallic tarantula 5. Peacock tarantula 6. Salepurgu …phew! Scientists call me – Poecilotheria metallica What is a tarantula? A […]
The Python in Wayanad
Anuradha Shankar , a mother, blogger and a traveler recently visited Wayanad in Kerala and had an unexpected encounter with an Indian Rock Python. As curiosity took Anuradha and her family including her inquisitive son Samhith, to the place where the python was incubating its eggs, she also wondered how difficult it must be for […]
Facts You Did not Know about Biodiversity of India
Each year, 22 May is celebrated as World Biodiversity Day. The word ‘biodiversity’ defines the variety of life on earth, but in its broader sense it is the reason life exists because in the living planet nothing can exist on its own. It is a term used to describe the different plants, animals, marine life, […]
Three minutes with Demoiselle Cranes at Khichan
A traveller’s peek into the world of birding and what over-enthusiastic birders might be overlooking.
Are Bird Photographers Damaging the Avian Habitat?
Activities such as bird photography appear benign and in tune with nature. But ornithologists in Bangalore find how this supposedly eco-friendly activity is damaging precious bird habitat at the Hesarghatta lake when photographers carelessly drive right into the crucial habitat.