A rare orange coloured bat was seen in Chhattisgarh’s Kanger Valley National Park. The bat species is the Painted Woolly Bat/Painted Bat or what is commonly called the ‘Komola-badami Chamchika’ in Bengali because of its bright orange colours. This is the first time the species has been spotted in Chhattisgarh. Kerivoula picta as it is […]
New Climber Discovered from the Western Ghats
A new and rare species of climber has been discovered in the Western Ghats in Idukki district of Kerala. The discovery was made by a team of scientists from the Jawahar Lal Nehru Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute. The climber belongs to the same family as Colocasia, the popular indoor plants with broad heart-shaped […]
A Gharial travels 1100 km from Nepal to India
The river Gandak in India is called Narayani in Nepal, but ask one Ghariyal, and the trans-boundary differences just merge into one long river path which it took to travel for more than 1000 kilometres from Nepal to India. According to the Wildlife Trust of India, biologist Subrat Behera working on the Gharial Recovery Project […]
A Rare Dragonfly is Photographed by chance After 90 Years
Ravindran Kamatchi and S Gopala Krishnan were out birding in Kallar Garden in Coimbatore when they saw an unusual dragonfly near a stream. The two began clicking photos of the dragonfly enamoured by its bigger than usual size. Later, they posted the pictures on a WhatsApp group ‘Odonates of the Western Ghats’ only to find […]
18 to 35 Caracals found in Ranthambore National Park
In local parlance, the Caracal is called ‘Siyagosh’ meaning ‘black ear’. It is an ode to the black tuft of hair peaking on the two ears of this wild cat. They act like antennae, picking up distant and minute vibrations. For the Caracal they are one of the many characteristics adapted to survive in the […]
Watching Birds During Lockdown
Kids glued in front of the TV or playing video games all day – this has become a familiar scene for most families stuck at home during the global lockdown. And now that the home quarantine is all set to continue, there is no surety when kids would get a chance to go outdoors. One […]
Three New Species of Horned Frogs Discovered in North East India
Asian Horned Frogs are a group of small frogs found in Northeast India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Bhutan. They belong to the genus Megophrys and most have for centuries broadly categorized into one name Megophrys parva – considered to be among the most widely dispersed species within the genus. However, recent studies have provided compelling evidence […]
Rare Ganga River Dolphin Spotted in Meerut and Kolkata amidst Lockdown
The natural world is finding different ways to reveal itself amidst the nationwide lockdown. From spotted civets in Kerala to deer in Punjab, and flamingos in Mumbai to now the endangered Ganges river dolphin seen in Meerut and Kolkata, it seems the pause button in people’s lives has created just the right opportunity for the […]
Camera Trap Captures Snow Leopards in Nanda Devi National Park, Uttarakhand
In a rare sighting, camera traps set up at the Nanda Devi National Park in Uttarakhand clicked images of snow leopards roaming around the snow laden forest. The images were taken from January through March, 2020 and show four of the elusive cats including a pair. DK Singh, director of Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve said that […]
World’s Largest Cavefish Discovered in India
In the caves of Meghalaya, scientists have discovered the largest known cavefish in the world. The fish looks very similar to the Golden Mahseer (Tor putitora), a surface-dwelling endangered fish. The newly discovered subterranean species is five times the average length of a cave-dwelling fish. There are approximately 250 species of subterranean or troglobitic fish […]
Rare Rusty-spotted Cat Seen in Uttar Pradesh Reserve After a Decade
The last time, the rusty-spotted cat was seen in Pilibhit Tiger Reserve was in 2011. It was recently spotted again by Director of the reserve, H Rajmohan on a usual patrolling in the park after nearly a decade. “I rediscovered the elusive cat last week during a usual patrolling in the Mala range. This was […]