Category: Conservation

Beej, ConservationLeave a comment

Krithi Karanth’s dream to re-wild India – we second!

Beej

Every now and then I delight in a moment where I can introduce my daughter to something alive and wild — the birth of a butterfly, a sisterhood of elephants, the jawbone of a monitor lizard, the nest of a carpenter bee, the bill of a pelican, the colour of a fruit bat’s fur, the proud puff of a baby cobra’s hood… And when I meet parents who, like me, revel in the moment they introduce their own children to these fast diminishing joys of nature, I can sense their wonder and share their delight. And rest, at least for a wink, in the comfort that our tribe will increase. Thanks to Krithi Karanth for this innervating talk about her dream to re-wild India. Watch, share and teach your children well. Continue reading Krithi Karanth’s dream to re-wild India – we second!

Beej, Cartoons, Conservation, Tiger2 Comments
Tourists and tigers need to tell each other apart

Wanted – Tiger-friendly ID cards for tourists!

Beej

The wildlife resort business in India, modeled on African game safaris, has taken off in the last decade, and tiger reserves have been under the most pressure to entertain their guests. And it has been the beholden duty of these businesses to stuff into eco-sensitive zones vanfuls of tourists who pay stiff fees to enjoy intimate encounters with the big cats and who, sadly, almost always miss the forest for the trees, and the other joys that the forest inevitably offers. What makes this any more than trophy hunting, albeit in a modern sense? Continue reading Wanted – Tiger-friendly ID cards for tourists!

Conservation, Lakes, Sandy, Travelogues, Trip Reports6 Comments

All is not well with Alleppey

Sandy

The Vembanad Lake in Alleppey, once praised by Lord Curzon as the “Venice of the East”, is a Ramsar Wetland and a Birdlife Important Bird Area. But those tags have not stopped greedy and exploitative tour operators from turning it into a sickening playground of hooligans and a dumping ground for trash. Here’s a horror story that will turn Stephen King’s stomach. Continue reading All is not well with Alleppey

Beej, Conservation1 Comment

100 tigers, but where’s the forest?

Beej

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 Park in the city of Harbin. The cats, bred entirely in captivity, are likely to have limited or no hunting or survival skills (a publicity shot shows a young tiger relishing a chicken). But even if some of them survive, where is the habitat available for their successful reintroduction? Wildlife … Continue reading 100 tigers, but where’s the forest?

Beej, Birds, ConservationLeave a comment

Death to Diclofenac

Beej

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 been concerned about the sharp dip in the population of vultures of the Gyps genus, particularly in southern Asia. In the 1990s, within an alarmingly brief span of three years, the numbers of three species of Gyps vultures fell by 95%. Over the last 15 years, their numbers are believed … Continue reading Death to Diclofenac