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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Housed in the historic Hornbill House, the headquarters of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) at Fort, Mumbai, is a natural heritage of immense significance – the BNHS Natural History Collections. It is an invaluable treasure trove of natural history specimens collected from across the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Over 1,50,000 specimens of fauna across […]
As the car swerved into a narrow, unmetalled road leading into the wilderness, a large signboard with a tiger featured on it along the barricaded entrance to the road glared at me, warning me that it was a tiger roaming zone. Another smaller signboard a short distance away repeated the warning along with two messages […]
There before my eyes were the sprawling salt pans of Mankhurd. The sun was setting on this raw, unkempt, yet beautiful landscape, and it all appeared very magical. A very secluded, almost forgotten part of Mumbai, these salt pans serve as a vital wetland habitat, one of the last refuges of migratory birds arriving in […]
चंबलचा परिसर कोण्या एके काळी डाकू व दरोडेखोरांसाठी कुप्रसिद्ध होता. अश्या भागात उन्हाळ्यातील मुंबईची एक उच्च शिक्षित महिला स्कीमर आणि नदी सुरय पक्ष्यांना वाचविण्याचे काम करते. तिच्या धाडसीपणामुळे तिला येथे मॅडम “सर” म्हणून ओळखले जाते. भारतीय स्कीमर म्हणजे नद्यांना आपल्या अस्तित्वाने जिवंतपणा देणारा पक्षी! तो थव्याने राहतो. मासे पकडण्यासाठी लागणारी लाल जर्द रंगाची टोकदार मोठी […]
