“What you’ll find in the textbooks is that monkeys can’t talk because they don’t have the appropriate vocal tract to do so. That, I think, is a myth. My colleagues and I all get very tired of seeing this. But you see it in all the textbooks. Lots of popular books, and also scholarly books […]
Spider Discovered In Western Ghats Gets Name Inspired From Harry Potter Books
What do you call a spider that looks eerily similar to the sorting hat of the Harry Potter books? You officially name it Eriovixia gryffindori ! A new spider species discovered by Mumbai researchers in the Central Western Ghats of Karnataka has been named after the fictitious character Godric Gryffindor in the J K Rowling […]
Rhino DNA Cataloging Will Soon Help Nab Poachers In India
Come 2017 and the rhino poachers in India might not gee-horning a rhino that easily. Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) along with WWF India, the environment ministry and state governments of Assam, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh have come together to implement a unique project for DNA indexing of rhinos. This move, it is […]
These Year End Tiger Numbers Are Not Going To Leave You Happy
91 wild tigers have died in India this year between January and 11th December. This is the highest number of deaths since 2010 and sees a 25 percent increase in tiger mortality from last year. The data was released by ‘tigernet’ – a collaborative effort of the National Tiger Conservation Authority and TRAFFIC India, a wildlife […]
Bandipur Animals Get Solar Powered Pumps To Quench Their Thirst
Poor rainfall this year has resulted in acute shortage of water at Bandipur National Park in Karnataka. The forest department is making use of solar pumps in an attempt to better the situation. Out of a total of 250 ponds and lakes in the park that’s home to tigers among other wildlife, only 15 have […]
Tracking The Secret Lives Of Spoonies
In Russia, close to the Arctic, there is a tiny, buff coloured bird that is born with a spoon for a mouth – the Spoon -billed sandpiper. This wader flies to Southeast Asia during winters looking for a warmer place to feed. You would think, with such a peculiar looking beak, it would be so […]
More Than 200 Bird Species Close To Extinction Warns New Report
According to the results of a new research conducted by Duke University, more than 200 species of birds in six rapidly developing regions of the world are at risk of extinction. This study used remote-sensing technology to map out changes in land usage which was slowly resulting in restricted habitats of more than 600 species […]
Desert National Park Gets App For Tracking Wildlife
The Desert National Park (DNP) in Rajasthan has become the first in the state to use an android-based software for tracking and patrolling the activities of frontline staff. The field staff make use of this software to make observations on important information while patrolling. This is transmitted in real time to the authorities through a […]
Camera Traps Reveal Rising Number Of Sunderban Tigers
The latest survey of tigers in the largest mangrove forests of the world, puts the number to 85 – this is 9 more tigers than the survey conducted last year. The assessment exercise carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Forest in 2015 had put the number of tigers to be 76. This year […]
How The Ken-Betwa Linking Project Might Lead To Loss Of Wildlife
Development and conservation are more often than not at loggerheads. The upcoming Ken-Betwa River linking project is likely to submerge a portion of the Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR) with about 7.2 lakh trees and about 90 square kilometer area of the reserve forest possibly getting submerged. From tigers to gharials, life could change for the […]
Rare Blue Flower Blooms In Nilgiri Hills
Every 12 years, the Nilgiri (literally meaning blue mountain) hills of southern India turn blue as the flowers that give the range its name are in full bloom. Kurinji or Neelkurinji is a shrub that is found in the shola or montane forests of Western Ghats and blossom once in every 12 years. Some sub […]