An archipelago of 36 palm-laden coral islands nestled amidst the endless Arabian sea, Lakshadweep embodies a precious heritage of ecology and culture and forms India’s smallest Union Territory. In July 2020 it also became home to the world’s first Sea Cucumber Conservation Reserve. Sea cucumbers convert decomposing organic matter into inorganic nutrients which are sparse […]
What is an American Wood Duck doing in Bengal?
There is a hubbub in the atmosphere. The residents of Ghoshpara Bakpukur, a Bengal village about 20 km from Kolkata cannot believe how their luck has turned around thanks to a duck. But it surely seems like it. Around ten days ago a single male American Wood Duck was seen swimming in the village water […]
Video: New Diatom Species Discovered in Meghalaya Cave
Researcher Dr. Karthick Balasubramanian and the team from the Agharkar Research Institute (ARI), Pune have discovered a new diatom species named Diploneis mawsmaii after the Mawsmai caves of Cherrapunji, where it was found.
Every Bite of Seafood you Eat is Full of Plastic: Study
If you are fond of eating prawns and sardines, crabs and oysters, chances are, you are eating plenty of plastic along with them. New research from Australia took these popular choices of seafood and found traces of plastic in every sample tested. The study — by the University of Exeter and the University of Queensland […]
Kerala’s Sacred Groves to Protect Endangered Trees too
God’s Own Country has launched a new campaign – the ‘GOD Trees’ and it might do a lot of good for endangered species. Growing Our Dying (GOD) Trees campaign has been planned by the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) where they plan to plant and protect a hundred of endangered and threatened trees in the […]
Air Pollution is Affecting Our Chief Pollinators
Geetha G Thimmegowda, a researcher with the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, first noticed a few years back, that the number of Giant Asian honey bees were gradually decreasing in urban areas of the city. Immediately, the scientist in her wanted to find out more. She began traveling to different locations of Bangalore […]
Growing A Forest For Odisha’s Elephants
There was once a time, not very long ago when there were over 2,000 elephants in Odisha and the entire landscape from the coast of Mahanadi to the Satkosia Tiger Reserve and the Mahanadi Elephant Reserve was a single uninterrupted habitat for the elephants to roam. As times changed, villages, agriculture, urban developments, and infrastructure […]
Not a Good Time to be an Herbivore
About one in four species of herbivore or 25.5% of the planet’s plant-eaters are at risk of extinction according to a new study by the International Union of Conservation of Nature. The study was published this week in the journal Science Advances. The study author Trisha Atwood of Utah State University added that by comparison […]
Arunachal Pradesh Bird Conservation Film earns Paris Film Festival nomination
Bugun Liocichla is a multi-coloured bird discovered by physicists-cum-naturalist Ramana Athreya on a field trip to Arunachal Pradesh in 1995. The bird was officially recognized as a new species in 2006, given the scientific name Liocichla bugunorum, where Liocichla is the genus name and bugunorum after the Bugun tribe in whose community forests the species […]
Hangul Sighted in Naranag, Kashmir
Hangul or Kashmir Stag is one of the rarest deer in the world found only in Kashmir, India. Recently a herd of around 6 to 8 deer were seen in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district, an encouraging sign that the deer are present in the area. “A group of Hangul numbering about 6 to 8 has […]
Righty or Lefty? Elephants pick their Sides Early in Life
A baby elephant’s trunk is its biggest toy. As it twists and tumbles taking care of the protrusion coming out of its face and slowly learning its importance, the elephant also must decide one thing. Which side does it prefer more? Indeed, just like people are left or right-handed, elephants too learn to rely on […]