Science
Sanctuary Asia
The Dhole: Up-close
A large chital stag headed rapidly in my direction pursued by the pack. My sudden presence disrupted the hunt, the stag got his chance to escape, and the disappointed dogs yapped and snarled at me from a distance.
6 min |
August 2019
Sanctuary Asia
An Avian Quest in the Eastern Ghats
Project Coordinator of the Care Earth Trust, Chennai, J. Patrick David travelled across some spectacular hills and sholas of the Eastern Ghats of Tamil Nadu (EGTN) to conduct a bird survey. The survey was part of a threeyear project to document the avian diversity of the region, supported by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC).
7 min |
June 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Run Rhino Run
The rhinos are an ancient lot. If you spend any time looking at the few that survive today you are struck by their antiquity. Let your eyes wander over a rhino’s anatomy; its thick leathery skin, beady eyes, lumbering bulk and that epitome of being a rhinoceros, a horned nose, and you could sympathise with Ogden Nash when he wrote: “The rhino is a homely beast, for human eyes he’s not a feast. Farewell, farewell, you old rhinoceros, I’ll stare at something less prepoceros.”
5 min |
June 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Real Estate Contemplations in God's Own Country
Thank you for the music; I can still hear it now. That sweet trumpet tone: rich, beautiful, sharp-edged with anger (an ex-girlfriend suddenly comes to mind). The rest is a jumble. A looming grey shape in the darkness, growing very large very quickly. A rapid swerve and acceleration. And briefly in the splash of our headlamps, an anxious little elephant.
9 min |
June 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Delta Dog
Eyes, luminous and watchful. Ears, alert. Tail, hanging low. An Indian wolf Canis lupus pallipes, momentarily fixes its lupine gaze on the camera before silently loping into the dense mangrove forests of the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve.
1 min |
June 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Nature's Business: Leadership Lessons
You can either see hope in the world, or you can see despair. You can either rise to the challenge and bring about change, or bundle yourself up in fear of the next mindless environmental clearance. You can either allow the leader within you to rise, or sink under the burden of the immense task ahead.
5 min |
June 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Arulagam
“Arulagam was founded on the occasion of World Environment Day in 2002 in memory of our beloved friend and mentor, Arul Mozhi Devan. We were clear from day one that the focus of our conservation activities would be on wild species that are less charismatic than the well-known ones,” says S. Bharathi Dasan, Secretary, Arulagam.
5 min |
June 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Stop Uranium Exploration in Telangana's Tiger Forests!
In 2014, when Telangana was awarded statehood with the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, the NagarjunsagarSrisailam Tiger Reserve was divided into two. About 2,600 sq. km. was included within the boundaries of the new state of Telangana and was rechristened the Amrabad Tiger Reserve, which happens to be India’s largest. The dense, deciduous forests of Amrabad, and the livelihoods of the Chenchu tribals that depend on them, now lie threatened by a proposal to mine uranium within the reserve.
3 min |
June 2017
Sanctuary Asia
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.
4 min |
August 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Kohka Foundation
Tribal communities in India have traditionally lived in close association with forests.
3 min |
August 2017
Sanctuary Asia
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!
3 min |
July 2017
Sanctuary Asia
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.
9 min |
December 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Why Otters Matter
Why Otters Matter
9 min |
December 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Being My Father's Daughter
Being My Father's Daughter
9 min |
December 2017
Sanctuary Asia
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.
7 min |
December 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Tiger Dekha? Tiger Dekha?
Tiger Dekha? Tiger Dekha?
2 min |
December 2017
Sanctuary Asia
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.
1 min |
May 2018
Sanctuary Asia
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.
2 min |
May 2018
Sanctuary Asia
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.
2 min |
May 2018
Sanctuary Asia
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.
2 min |
May 2018
Sanctuary Asia
The Queen Mother's Heirs
It has been almost two years, but I still remember it like it was yesterday.
6 min |
April 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Purse Seines And Migrant Labour
Managing fisheries in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district.
5 min |
April 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Cashew Feni And Forest Tales
With support from the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Wildlife Conservation Society – India, Department of Science and Technology, Maharashtra Forest Department and the Tillari Biodiversity Research Trust, Anushka Rege undertook a vital research project to study mammals in the forest-cashew plantation landscape of the Tillari region in Maharashtra’s Western Ghats. Here, she met life-loving locals, and learnt how people’s lives are closely intertwined with the biodiversity the region supports.
8 min |
February 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Jallikattu and Jailbirds
The year has started with two reversals for conservation and animal welfare. In Rajasthan, the High Court has acquitted actor Salman Khan in the infamous blackbuck poaching case and in Tamil Nadu the state has promulgated an ordinance that overturns the Supreme Court ban on Jallikattu, the ancient sport of bull taming. Both are unrelated cases that are only linked overtly by the fact that they deal with animals, one wild and the other domesticated. But I have been fascinated by both for the fundamental lessons that they give those of us who wish to protect the natural world.
4 min |
February 2017
Sanctuary Asia
A Dove Tale
One day, eight years ago, a Spotted Dove got trapped in my house and was desperately trying to escape through a closed window. We finally managed to release it into the garden. The next day it came back with a partner for a look around. A day after that they came back again – this time to build a nest in the bathroom. They’ve lived with us ever since!
2 min |
March 2019
Sanctuary Asia
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.
8 min |
October 2017
Sanctuary Asia
A Monkey That Wears A Cap
In the jungles of Northeast India lives a brilliantly coloured primate that wears a cap on its head. Meet the capped langur, also known as the capped monkey, capped leaf monkey or bonneted langur.
2 min |
November 2016
Sanctuary Asia
PUMAS, Close Up
Meets the secretive apex predator of Patagonia in South America. On foot!
4 min |
September 2017
Sanctuary Asia
Gabbar Battle-scarred Survivor
By 2010, the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR) had become a tiger conservation success story. Good protection, management and local support combined to turn TATR into one of Maharashtra’s finest parks. An increase in tigers, also brought tourists and photographers flocking to the park. And scientists were not far behind.
7 min |
December 2016
Sanctuary Asia
Bandhavgarh National Park
A pack of four jackals on the left flank of the road seemed absorbed with something in the Rajbhera grassland in Bandhavgarh, and were so engaged that they paid little notice to our presence just less than seven or eight metres away.
3 min |