A traveller’s peek into the world of birding and what over-enthusiastic birders might be overlooking.
Finding Rare Species may Soon be a Fly’s Job!
Data collection is hard work and though newer technologies like the camera trap have made the job a bit easier for researchers the biggest help in the future may come from tiny insects like flies – the new bio-helpers for field research worldwide!
Mesmerizing Coral Spawning Recorded in Lakshadweep for the First Time
The picturesque Lakshadweep is in news again. And this time it is for coral spawning seen around the island and being recorded for the first time. Also known as sex-on-the-reef, this indeed is great news and an assurance that the coral and marine systems are co-existing happily and healthily together.
Untouched Horizons – Namdapha National Park
Namdapha National Park in Arunachal Pradesh is like a well kept secret. Find more of this glorious forest tucked in the foothill of Himalayas…
Armed…not Dangerous
It is not men at war in the jungles of Assam and rest of the country, but the battle between vintage guns held by forest guards and new age ammunitions by poachers.The rotting corpses of the rhinos killed everyday are proof of who is winning this one sided war.
Bihar houses Stable population of Gangetic Dolphins
With more than 800 recorded sightings, the news from Bihar for the endangered Gangetic Dolphin is good.
After 135 Years ‘Extinct’ Gecko is Seen Again
A gecko that remained hidden and was believed to be extinct was re-discovered recently after 135 years. Called the Jeypore Gecko (Geckoella jeyporensis) it was found in Andhra Pradesh and Orissa by scientists who spent more than two years looking for this little creature.
How an Octopus in Kerala backwaters is Puzzling Scientists
Octopuses were recently spotted in the serene backwaters of Kochi. If you are asking why this is odd it is becausejust like freshwater fishes cannot survive in saltwater seas and oceans, and vice versa, octopuses too cannot live in freshwater. Their presence in the backwaters of Kerala is only a proof, that these freshwater arteries of a verdant state are becoming more salty.
Leopards as Neighbours
“We are running out of real estate!” cried a celluloid character in a movie. But if anything is true in the world we live in today, it is this fact, that we are all indeed running out of living space, especially because of the burgeoning human population. Now a new camera trap study in India has revealed how lack of space has led leopards and other wildlife to share space with humans, that too in highly populous locations.
In the Business of Killing
There was a time in India when Emperors surrounded by their noblemen would mount the back of an elephant and venture into the jungles to kill a beast. The time of these erstwhile trigger friendly maharajas may well have gone, but the hunt for animals is still on and has taken an uglier shape than ever. It is not royalties anymore but commoners who kill for profit. Wildlife crime is today is a profitable business and the biggest threat to animals and the survival of the planet itself.
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.