Brutal Invasions of India

If you've had a chance to visit any major national park in India in the last few years, you might agree that the most brutal invasion of India is underway: that by Lantana and several other introduced invasives! Several factors have led to this unchecked proliferation of these weeds, including deforestation and climate change. While many methods to manage the issue (periodic manual removal, burning, rotation and promoting alternative uses of lantana by forest dwelling communities) are underway, it remains to be ascertained which of them will be viable.

Cartoon for The Hindu Sunday Magazine. 

Wolf Lineages Meet in Pakistan

We all know that Pakistan's mountains have been a melting pot of various cultures across history, but not just for humans, even for wolves! New research by Lauren M Hennelly et al, published in Oxford Academic's Journal of Heredity pin-points the point of convergence of three wolf lineages in Pakistan's north-west mountains. What food / drink are you bringing to this party?

Cartoon for DW Environment. 

Who Wore It Better

Amitabh Bachhan's legendary light-bulb fitter costume from Yaarana has close competition- the bright polka dotted Starry Dwarf Frog, endemic to the Western Ghats!

Cartoon for Roundglass Sustain.

Kashmir and Climate Change

Gulmarg’s ski businesses suffering from the lack of snow, is barely the surface of a larger crisis unfolding in Kashmir. A Himalayan Black Bear takes you through it, in my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

The Crocodile Bark Tree

The crocodile bark tree (Terminalia elliptica) has a little secret- crocodile tears! Comic for Roundglass Sustain.

Lakshadweep versus Maldives

Lakshadweep versus Maldives. Cartoon for The Hindu.

Here's hoping that the tourism make-over of Lakshadweep, which is already grappling from mass coral bleaching and crashing fisheries, will have sustainability at its core. 

Bonus marks to each one of you who identifies the bird in the cartoon correctly!

Rice's Whales versus the USA

The Rice's Whale, earlier considered a sub-species of the Bryde's Whale, was discovered to be a new species only in 2021! Just when it was the whale's time to 'rice and shine', USA decided to lease its habitat for oil.

Cartoon for DW Environment. 

The Secret Superpower of the Softshell Turtle

Softshell turtles are softies for a reason! Cartoon for Roundglass Sustain.

The Snowy Sheathbill

There are only two species of Sheathbills, the other being the Black-faced Sheathbill. That is, until we all become sheathbills eventually!

I first came to know of this unconventional, disgusting and remarkable species while illustrating a habitat panorama of the Antarctic Peninsula for the Save Our Seas Foundation. The illustration is now at the Penguin Research Centre in Antacrtica, and has also been auctioned as prints at cruise ships visiting Antarctica to raise funds for penguin research! Read more about Save Our Seas work in Antarctica here.

Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Sea Skate

Meet the sea skate, a cartilaginous fish closely related to the better known stingrays! Cartoon from my column with Roundglass Sustain.

The cartoon also ran as a caption contest last month on Roundglass's social media platforms. Check out the winning entries here.

A New Restaurant in the Hood

A familiar sight across the forests of peninsular India, Rufous Treepies are opportunistic foragers and very dependable earbuds for Sambar deer!

Comic from my Roundglass Sustain column.