100 tigers, but where’s the forest?

The Chinese, in all their ecological ignorance, have reason to be proud. After systematically decimating all things living from their once-bountiful land, they now expect to be felicitated for their ‘conservation’ efforts. China announced on May 22 that it expects the birth of 100 Siberian Tigers at the Manchurian Tiger…

Death to Diclofenac

The ban of the veterinary drug Diclofenac comes as a relief to conservationists. The drug, administered to domestic cattle and water buffalo, has been blamed for the Great Asian Vulture Crisis. Diclofenac enters the food chain when vultures feed on livestock carcasses, causing kidney failure. Ornithologists the world over have…

A jumbo-size problem

“Tusker!” The cry stopped the safari vehicle in its tracks. About 20 tourists gawked at the picture of splendour, like a dark raincloud in a starless sky, chomping on shoots in a grassy verge beside the bamboo forest. On our drive through Nagarahole National Park, we had spotted Elephas maximus…

When a green finger hurts

I have lived all my life with a green finger. Now scurvied by years of abuse in the urban wilderness, it joins my palsied lungs in an anguished cry. For clean air. For fresh water. For uncontaminated soil. For quiet. Around me, the poisoned land is fast losing the battle…