BNHS Blog

The Heartfelt Story Of Rajasthan’s Godawan Smarak: A Tribute To A Female Great Indian Bustard Who Tragically Lost Her Life

By Dr Sujit NarwadePosted on December 14, 2024December 16, 2024Posted in BNHS Education and Awareness programs

The Great Indian Bustard (GIB), which used to thrive across the Indian subcontinent, now faces severe challenges due to habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation stemming from the relentless increase in anthropogenic disturbance across its range. The population of this critically endangered species (Ardeotis nigriceps) is now primarily confined to the Thar Desert in Rajasthan, India. […]

The Tale Of A BNHS Birdwatching Trail At Ana Sagar Lake, Ajmer

By Srushti NarwadePosted on December 3, 2024December 3, 2024Posted in BNHS Education and Awareness programsTagged Ana Sagar lake birds, Birdwatching trail by BNHS

The Sun had just begun peeking at its own reflection in the waters of Ana Sagar Lake, from behind the ancient ranges of Aravali in Ajmer, Rajasthan. We stepped onto the cemented pathway embroidered around the glittering water body as the first rays of dawn gently bathed our faces. It was lovely cold weather on […]

Lesser Floricans, The Vanishing Birds Of The Disappearing Grasslands

By Dr. Oishimaya Sen NagPosted on September 18, 2024September 18, 2024Posted in Biodiversity, BNHS Research, Wildlife ConservationTagged bnhs bustard conservation, bustard of india, lesser florican conservation

As the monsoon rains drench one of the last remaining grasslands in Rajasthan, the male of one of India’s fastest-disappearing bird species makes its move to woo the female. It folds its legs and shoots vertically upwards to about 2 to 3 metres above the grass, with its partly open wings fluttering and producing a […]

Critically Endangered Vultures Find New Home And Hope In Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra

By Dr. Oishimaya Sen NagPosted on July 17, 2024July 17, 2024Posted in BNHS Research, Wildlife ConservationTagged BNHS vulture research, Vulture release program BNHS, Vultures in Tadoba

It was a bright, sunny summer morning. I was waiting, all excited, at the Moharli Safari Gate of the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve (TATR). I was there to meet the reserve’s new residents—ten gorgeous white-rumped vultures and the BNHS vulture conservation research team stationed there. The vultures had been transported from the Jatayu Conservation Breeding Center […]

BNHS Launches Study To Save India’s Loved And Revered Sarus Cranes In Vidarbha, Maharashtra

By Dr. Oishimaya Sen NagPosted on June 23, 2024June 23, 2024Posted in BNHS ResearchTagged Sarus crane conservation, Vidarbha sarus cranes

They symbolise eternal, unconditional love and inspire timeless tales of devotion, passion, poetry, art, and architecture. They are believed to be harbingers of good fortune whose presence indicates the sound health of wetland ecosystems. They are the sarus cranes, the world’s tallest flying birds. However, these birds we associate with all things positive are no […]

Mountain Memoir: A Day Beyond The Clouds

By Atharva SinghPosted on June 22, 2024June 24, 2024Posted in BNHS Research

Today, on the second day of fieldwork in the high-altitude mountains, I awoke before my alarm, feeling acclimatized to the altitude. Gone was the sleep inertia; all I needed to kick-start the day was a steaming cup of black coffee. The scent of kerosene wafting from the bhukari (a traditional Himalayan room heater) in the […]

11 Interesting Wild Species You May See In Mumbai’s CEC-BNHS

By Dr. Oishimaya Sen NagPosted on May 15, 2024May 15, 2024Posted in Biodiversity, CEC-BNHSTagged BNHS Conservation Education Centre, CEC-BNHS

CEC-BNHS is a

As Tigers Break Records In The Himalayas, Many Questions Are Raised

By Dr. Oishimaya Sen NagPosted on May 5, 2024May 5, 2024Posted in BNHS ResearchTagged Sikkim tiger record, tiger in Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary, tigers in Himalayas

The temperature was freezing, but the view was spectacular. The snow-clad lofty peaks of Mount Kanchenjungha spread across the horizon in the distance. However, neither the cold nor the jaw-dropping views distracted the team of researchers from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). They had gathered in a small shack at the Thambi View Point […]

An Attractive Oddity Or A Doomed Rarity: The Case Of Leucism In The Northern Palm Squirrel

By Dr. Oishimaya Sen NagPosted on April 11, 2024April 11, 2024Posted in BNHS ResearchTagged albinism, five-striped palm squirrel, Leucism

In nature, everything has a meaning, including the colours adorned by various species. For example, the stripes of tigers act as camouflage to help them hunt prey. The stick insects’ colour and appearance, blending them with the surrounding vegetation, make them less noticeable to predators. The vibrant colours of resplendent peacocks help them attract females […]

Linear Infrastructure Fragments One Of The Last Homes Of India’s Threatened Ape Species – The Western Hoolock Gibbon

By Dr. Oishimaya Sen NagPosted on April 7, 2024April 8, 2024Posted in Wildlife ConservationTagged hollongapar gibbon sanctuary, hoolock gibbon, Linear infrastructure

It was a beautiful, calm spring morning in February. Lush tea gardens carpeted the landscape on either side of the road through which the car was passing. I was travelling from Jorhat town towards the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in the Jorhat District of Assam to set my eyes on a highly threatened species – the […]