In November 2025, the golden sands of Ramgarh, Jaisalmer, yielded a long-lost secret: a fleeting glimpse of the Asiatic Caracal, the Siyahgosh, captured through the lens of grassroots determination. Led by Sumer Singh Bhati, village Sanwata, Devikot, Jaisalmer and Pankaj Bishnoi, Community Engagement Officer, BNHS, this rediscovery wasn’t born of machines or maps, but of memory, trust, and relentless fieldwork. For months, herders, youth, and conservationists walked barefoot across dunes, followed pugmarks, and listened to stories whispered under khejri trees.
The caracal, once abundant across India’s grasslands, had faded from sight but not from spirit. Its return is more than a scientific milestone; it’s a reminder that conservation thrives where community leads. Yet this joy is fragile. Looming solar projects threaten to erase the very habitat that cradled this rediscovery. If we lose Ramgarh’s wilderness, we risk losing the caracal again; perhaps forever. Let this moment be our call to act. To protect not just a species, but a way of life. To honour the herders who never stopped believing. The Siyahgosh has returned. May it never fade into silence again.
Stay tuned for more details in the upcoming issue of Hornbill Magazine.
We are grateful to Sumer Singh Bhati and Pankaj Bishnoi for leading the expedition to search for the Caracal in Jaisalmer, Thar Desert.
Feature image credit – Sumer Singh Bhati and Pankaj Bishnoi
