Conservation

June 2011: It was an early April morning drive in the Dalma Hills and there was a strong musky ‘elephant odour’ lingering around. We knew he was close. Within a couple of minutes, Sagarji, the driver, maneuvered the jeep around a sharp turn and came to an abrupt halt.

June 2011: While tourism offers a wonderful opportunity to make wildlife conservation a tangible source of profit, great care must be taken to ensure that it does not become a threat itself. A recent incident in the buffer zone of the Bandipur Tiger Reserve is a case in point. When a herd of elephants, including two calves, reached a waterhole, they were denied their basic right to…

April 2011: The author is one of India’s most knowledgeable experts on the impact of large development projects such as dams and  mines on ecosystems and people. He has travelled extensively across India and has been reporting and writing for Sanctuary for over 15 years. He writes here of India’s planned destruction of the Brahmaputra valley.

April 2011: Forget the fact that the elephant is venerated in India. The reality is that as a people we are changing the course of elephant evolution by interfering with the quintessence of its survival through our capricious behaviour that is resulting in whittling the space available to them and placing obstacles in the way of migrations that have been central to their survival.

April 2011: “In the case of elephant and man we have one of the best examples known of two superficially dissimilar animals sharing common biological needs, and therefore competing vigorously whenever they contact each other.” – Alistair Graham (1973).

February 2011: Consensus on the issue of wildlife tourism continues to evade those involved in wildlife conservation. One set of people suggest that tourists be kept at arm’s length from wildlife and another believes that tourism actually prevents wildlife poachers from ripping through our Protected Area network undiscovered. The authors are both involved with tourism but they…