It was the chance to pursue an engineering degree at India’s prestigious Manipal Institute of Technology that brought Ramit Singal to Manipal, a town ideally located near the world heritage site- The Western Ghats. But in the four years of his stay there, while the engineering degree became part of the formal curriculum, the real […]
High Infertility Rates Putting Indian Rhinos at Greater Risk of Extinction
RESEARCH: For a species to survive well in the planet the existing members should live safely in a healthy environment and the birth of future generations should continue at a regular pace. But the Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis) is not surviving too well in the existing world. Not only is the animal getting lesser and lesser […]
Solar lights to keep Tigers at Bay in Sunderbans’ Villages
CONSERVATION ACTION: The use of a renewable non-polluting and viable source of energy that at one go helps tackle human-animal conflict and also lights up the lives of communities. This is the goal of the new, innovative method being employed to prevent tigers from entering Sunderbans’ village – solar lights. The project ‘Lights for Stripe’ […]
Find the Age of an Elephant from its Call
Did you know that you could get an accurate estimate of the age of an elephant just by analyzing the frequency of its call? Recent research has shown that it is in fact possible to calculate the age of an elephant from the low frequency long distance call sounds made by them. In a paper […]
End of a Dark Era: India’s Most Notorious Poacher Dead
Infamous poacher Sansar Chand, who single-handedly wiped out all the tigers of Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan died on Tuesday of lung cancer. Often called the deadliest wildlife criminal of India, Chand and his family killed more tigers and leopards of the country than anyone else till date. 60 year old Sansar Chand was suffering […]
Olive Ridley Turtle gets Help from Locals in Protecting Eggs
Its ‘Arribada’ time on the East coast of India. Every year hundreds and thousands of Endangered Olive ridley turtles swim across miles of oceans to reach the beaches of Orissa, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Puducherry to lay eggs and bring the next generation into the world at the same places where they were once […]
Two Bird Species make Debut Appearance at Andaman & Nicobar Islands
SPECIES SIGHTING: Researchers of the Zoological Survey of India have been delighted to find two new bird species in India’s Andaman and Nicobar Islands. These birds namely the Blue and White Flycatcher (Cyanoptila cyanomelana) and the Great Short-Toed Lark (Calandrella brachydactyla ) have never before been seen or photographed in these parts, proving once again the […]
‘SMS’ for Elephants: Innovative Idea Resolves Man-Elephant Conflict
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 […]
GPS Tracking to help Study Snow Leopards in India
TRACKING: Satellite-linked collars will be soon fitted on six snow leopards in the tribal Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh to get a deeper understanding of the behaviour of the endangered cat. The $40,450 project (Rs 25 lakh) will benefit the state wildlife department in studying the movement of the snow leopards in the Himalayas where […]
Veerappan’s Ghost Surfaces: New Gang Duplicates Method to Retrieve Elephant Tusks
POACHING: Almost a decade after he was gunned down by Special Task Forces, the ghost of dreaded forest brigand – Veerappan – seems to have resurfaced in the forests bordering Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. A series of elephant-killings has led forest officials to suspect that an organized gang of poachers is operating in the area. […]
7 Spectacular Butterflies of India (Photos)
PHOTOS: According to Hindu mythology when Lord Brahma – the creator, created this world he made the flowers, trees, fishes, animals and insects, but his personal favorites were the plants and the flowers. One day to his horror, Lord Brahma found all plants had been stripped off their leaves. Soon, he found the culprit. It […]