Cat Compromise

As the Indian population continues to grow, the pressure increases on all three big cats. All three species have problems of their own, such as the threat from inbreeding and disease for the Asiatic Lions of Gir, poaching and habitat loss for the tiger, and man-animal conflict and poaching for the leopard. Development and conservation have to be planned simultaneously if these cats are to be given a chance of survival.

This work by Rohan Chakravarty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

'Sea Lions'!

Asiatic Lions once roamed all of Asia Minor and even Eastern Europe. Today, Gir National park, Gujarat, is the only place in the world where they are found. Once numerous, their numbers had gone down to just 13 in India (this figure has been a subject of controversy), thanks to hunting by the royal families in the 18th and the 19th centuries. Although the species is safe from the royal guns today, it faces grave peril from inbreeding (owing to its limited range), habitat loss and conflicts with humans. A lot has been talked about the relocation of a part of the 400+ population of Gir National Park to Kuno wildlife sanctuary, Madhya Pradesh, but the campaign remains suspended as Gujarat does not want to lose its status as the only state with Asiatic Lions. This majestic animal still remains torn between conservation efforts and political conflicts.

This work by Rohan Chakravarty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Stripes vs Stripes

This work by Rohan Chakravarty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Dreadful Dragons...

This does not cover even half of China's atrocities towards wildlife across the world.

Right from poaching Arctic Foxes to decimating the populations of Africa Elephants to less than half, the Chinese have done every kind of damage possible. It is now up to conservationists and international policy-makers to attempt to reverse this and give the remainder of wildlife a chance to bounce back. 

This work by Rohan Chakravarty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Traditional Chinese Torture!

Traditional Chinese Medicine is based on erroneous facts such as tiger bones having cancer curing properties, rhino horns being aphrodisiacs, and several others. While tigers and rhinos have suffered the most, recent victims have been lesser animals such as pangolins and tokay geckos. There have even been reports of lions being killed in Africa to supply bones to TCM makers, in the dearth of tigers. It is high time that international bans are imposed on TCMs, which will be a significant and positive step to the protection of several endangered animals across the world.

This work by Rohan Chakravarty is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.