The barometer of India’s leadership in tiger conservation will be both in securing Indian wild tigers in our forests as well as diplomatic heft for Chinese captive tigers. Continue reading
Category Archives: Indie Stories
Animals have swag
Wet/land II: Why the new Wetland Draft Rules are a disaster
The government is trying to refine its wetland rules. It’s a case of throwing out the baby with the waters.
Wetlands need to be reinforced as more than just open sources of water. How they are identified and conserved requires a rethink Continue reading
Wet/Land
Land or wetland?
A waste of land?
A look at our curious bipolarity towards wetlands, which teem with life but are valued more as land than waterbody.
This piece appeared in February this year, since then the National Green Tribunal has called for the re-establishment of the National Wetland Regulation Authority. Continue reading
Culture Vultures
Verse for vultures:
Silently, vultures watch us.
Their quiet gaze is cautious. Continue reading
Great Beasts III: how WE are driving Human-Wildlife conflict
What causes a gentle elephant to die on a railway track or go on a ‘rampage’? What stops the tiger from crossing the road?
Little-understood environmental clearances (roads, railways, highways), pigheadedness (making expensive walls elephants can break to keep them in) and an exclusively human-centric approach is increasing human-wildlife conflict throughout India. Continue reading
Great Beasts II: Wildlife and Religion
While the last post looks at how religion, in part, protects wildlife wildlife– even crop-damaging species like Nilgai– this is not a simple issue.
Looking at various moves to use, and abuse, them in rituals in India. Should religion and custom be part of state-sponsored decision-making? Continue reading
White tigers and Gir lions. Republic Day thoughts: are wild animals citizens?
A giant filter coffee tumbler, white tigers, wild lions, forests, coffee plantations, human progress: the state and ministerial tableaux presented in India’s 67th Republic Day parade ranged from colourful to fantastic, from beautiful to downright bizarre. Mind-boggling or not, all tableaux have one thing in common each year: they showcase what defines the state/agency best. … Continue reading
