World Tapir Day!

27th April is celebrated as World Tapir Day. All 4 species of tapir are classified as endangered or vulnerable, owing primarily to habitat loss. The Malayan Tapir is the largest of the four, and has contrasting black and white patches which aids camouflage, particularly when the animal is asleep; causing other animals viewing it from a distance to mistake it for a rock! Visit http://www.tapirday.org/ for more.

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

What's leading California Condors to extinction?

The California Condor, North America's largest land bird is critically endangered. One of the many causes of this is lead poisoning. Condors feed on carrion, and often ingest lead particles from the carcasses of deer and other game shot with lead bullets. Conservationists and organizations are working towards implementing a ban on lead ammunition to remove this threat. Being extremely slow breeders, the condors are left without a chance to make their populations recover and there are just about 400 + condors in the wild today, making this species one of the world's rarest birds.

Read more about this issue here- http://magblog.audubon.org/lead-poisoning-continues-hinder-california-condor-population-recovery-and-harm-other-bird-species

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

IUCN 'Status Updates'

Africa is facing an acute conservation crisis. Poaching of elephants for ivory backed shamelessly by China, has decimated the populations of the Forest Elephant. Poachers continue to gun down herds of elephants together, not sparing even the calves. Political instability in the range of these elephants only makes the situation a lot more grim.

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

Orangutans and Palm Oil

Palm oil companies have already destroyed 90 % of the Orangutan's habitat in Borneo and Sumatra. Orangutans that lose their homes and stray into the plantations are exterminated in brutal manners and the babies are sold in the illegal pet trade. Manufacturing palm oil is not only veritably unsustainable, but is also the biggest threat to the survival of Orangutans. Read more about this issue on http://www.saynotopalmoil.com/ 

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

The 11 Types of Wildlife Photographers

Wildlife photography has emerged to be both a blessing and a bane for conservation. There are several examples of how phtography has aided conservation efforts, a recent one being that initiated by Conservation India to help the Nagaland Forest Department stop the massacre of Amur Falcons. However, there has been a grave misuse of this medium, largely following the boost of its popularity on social media. Bird nests have been plundered, snakes and reptiles have been starved, habitats have been trampled in the pursuit of a good picture. 

The more Type 11's and the less Types 4 & 5 we have, the better. 

So which type are you? (Although, I'm not much into photography, I'm more of Type 3 and yes, a proud Type 11). 

And like always, the compilation is available as A3 poster prints. Click here to buy the poster online, or send me an email with the number of copies you want and your postal address, to order your prints.

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

Bear Bile Farming

Farming of bears for bile is one of the most ruthless malpractices against wild animals, practised (not surprisingly) in China, Korea, Laos and Vietnam. The bears (usually Black or Moon Bears) are kept in 'crush cages' that are so small that the captive bear is rendered completely immobile. The process of extraction of bile itself is excruciating- an open wound or a fistula is created in the bear's gall, from which the bile drips out and is collected. Researchers have reported seeing bears moan and chew their own paws in pain during bile extraction. The wound is vulnerable to lethal infections, increasing their mortality rate. Even though science has proven bear bile to be of no medicinal use, its consumption continues as an ingredient of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The Hong Kong based 'Animals Asia Foundation' is doing significant work to curb this.

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