Attack On India's Coastline

India’s 7,000 sq. km. coastline is critical to the survival of all those who live within our borders, irrespective of how far they live from the coast. The biodiversity of our coasts survives in a continuum with the inland biodiversity and ecosystems of India and as the planet’s climate continues to become more unstable by the day, protecting our coastal assets is no longer a luxury, it is a survival imperative.

Helping Tigers Thrive

Did you know that visits to our national parks and Protected Areas can help bring tiger numbers up? Entrance fees to parks provide money for protecting the areas you visit. Tourism can provide livelihoods for local people, making them less dependent on forests and helping them co-exist with their wild neighbours as shown by a recent study in Madhya Pradesh.

Purrfect Reunion!

It was dawn at Somatwadi village, a few kilometres from Pune, and the farmers were waking up to another long day of harvesting their sugarcane crops.

Humans Of Nature

When ordinary folk are empowered, the most extraordinary things can happen. Meet two outstanding humans who harnessed their people’s power to help save their communities and the planet.

A Party For Hornbills

Hornbills fascinate me. Their distinct way of nesting and their unique physical features leave me wonderstruck. “Such enchanting birds... who would ever want to harm them?” I wondered.

The Great Himalayan National Park

A Great Rosefinch fluttered right by my nose and perched on a shrub. The red side of my reversible jacket had piqued his curiosity.

Kohka Foundation

Tribal communities in India have traditionally lived in close association with forests.

I Love Corbett

It would not be an exaggeration to say that my love for Corbett Tiger Reserve began when I was just a year old. I have been going to the park every year since then with my parents!

Meet Shashank Dalvi - Naturalist, Conservationist, Scientist

This Sanctuary Wildlife Service Award 2017 winner’s career path was set early in childhood. Between walks through Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park and explorations through virtually every biogeographic zone on the Indian subcontinent, this remarkable young man has described a new species of bird to science and personally seen and documented as many as 1,190 avian species in India. A longtime associate of author and birding expert, Bikram Grewal, he met him to share both purpose and vision with Sanctuary readers.

Why Otters Matter

Why Otters Matter

Being My Father's Daughter

Being My Father's Daughter

Beasts Of A Different Stripe

Media sensationalism, public panic, political pressure, muddled thinking – at a time of increased conflict between humans and large carnivores, these interconnected strands have woven a narrative that depicts virtually every tiger that kills a human as a bloodthirsty man-eater. While underscoring how such attitudes are harming the larger cause of tiger conservation in India, Dr. Mayukh Chatterjee explores the complexities of man-eating and man-killing behaviour.

Tiger Dekha? Tiger Dekha?

Tiger Dekha? Tiger Dekha?

Treacherous Links

The blood-stained trade that connects terrorism, armed conflict, narcotics and human rights violations.

Pench - A Timeless Jungle

A loud moaning call carried across the forest causing the chital and sambar, which had come to drink to look up in anxious anticipation.

Tigers - The Disastrous Decade

For 40 years now I have served wild tigers.

A Day On A Hillock In Search Of The Famous Grouse

It was unusually hot by the time we reached the top of the hillock. The winter season was rapidly fading away. Already regretting my decision  to wear a sweater, I stood there on top of a rock, scanning the surrounding areas for any signs of bird life.

Summer With A Chiropterologist

“Jisne forest ko raat me nahi dekha, usne kuch nahi dekha (one who hasn’t seen the forest at night, hasn’t seen anything),” said Rohit, as Zarif and I sat beside him.

Corridors For Giants

Why did the elephants cross the road? Because we built one across their traditional migratory path, that’s why!

The Sal Tree

“Once upon a time, a king in Benaras decided that he wanted a grand palace that would rest on only one column. In his palace grounds was a huge sal tree that stood straight and strong. The royal family had always honoured and worshipped the tree and it was a favourite of all those who lived in the kingdom. However, when no other tree in the kingdom was good enough for constructing such a column, the king ordered that the sal tree be cut down.

Meet Ganesh H. Shankar

Winner of numerous awards from Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2016, Birds Category (Natural History Museum, London) to first place in the macro category in Nature Photography Network, Ganesh H. Shankar is also the co-author of the book, Daroji – An Ecological Destination and the founding member of Creative Nature Photography, a popular online photography forum. He has also served on the jury of several photography awards including the Sanctuary Wildlife Photography Awards 2017. As a  nature photographer, Shankar believes that his is a long and never-ending journey in search of art, and he is always on the lookout for forms, shapes, details, postures, light and more that is relatable to life’s experiences. His artistry is evident in his images that take the reader to a whole new level of visual experience. He speaks to Lakshmy Raman about his work and why he believes that photographers must choose to define the intent behind their imagery.

The Corbett Foundation

Originally from Bombay, Dilip Khatau began exploring the foothills of Nainital District in 1959 after reading about Jim Corbett’s adventures in The Man-eaters of Kumaon. He fell in love with India’s oldest national park and became a regular visitor over the next four decades.

Adapt And Thrive… Or Fade Away

Earlier this year, the UN Secretary General warned, “If we do not change course by 2020, we risk missing the point where we can avoid runaway climate change, with disastrous consequences for people and all the natural systems that sustain us.”

Mugger-Man In Disguise

“It was just a palm-sized baby; in four months it has grown to almost half a metre now,”

Off Track

Billy Arjan Singh would turn in his grave on seeing this image.

The Sanctuary Interview - Meet Pankaj Sharma

It would be an understatement to say that Pankaj Sharma is a brave and unassuming man. Part of a crack defence team that quite literally entrusted their lives with each other, they hit back at rhino poachers who had taken to killing rhinos in Kaziranga, virtually unchallenged, in the late 1980s. Rhino deaths dropped dramatically and the Kaziranga we see today was in no small measure a result of their do-or-die determination.A stickler for the law, he was content to stay a Forest Ranger for decades, unwilling to trade forest life for a desk job in Guwahati. Still a field man, he is currently the Divisional Forest Officer in charge of the Nameri Tiger Reserve. Bittu Sahgal met him recently at Nameri and had to quite literally coerce this quiet, self-effacing man to speak about himself.

The Cranes Come Home Again To The Pangchen Valley!

The excitement in Degin Dorjee’s voice was palpable as he shared the news of the arrival of Black-necked Cranes at their wintering site along the Nyamjang Chhu river this winter.

The Numbers Game

When a species begins to overwhelm its resource base, it is destined to go down. Having decided as a young woman of child-bearing age not to bring a child into this world, Purva Variyar asks whether Homo sapiens is headed down that road.

Trapping To Protect

The Camera as a Conservation Tool.

Birding With Pastels

A dusty box of oil-pastels in the cupboard reads mixing ka magic – richer and intermixable: 15 shades. There is no paper or pencil around. There is an abandoned file on the shelf. It becomes my canvas… the oil-pastels, my medium. A black ball point pen, my highlighter and a bottle of whitener (thanks to ‘sarkaari naukri’), my enhancer.