Cartoons for the PACON Project- Birdlife Montenegro

I had the opportunity to team up with Birdlife Montenegro once again over a short but delightful collaboration. Project PACON aims to promote sustainable ecotourism and popularize biodiversity in Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro. I created these cartoon illustrations on three iconic bird species in three ecotourism sites in the three countries respectively- the Rock Partridge at Lovcen (Montenegro), the Green Woodpecker at Tuzla (Bosnia) and the Common Kingfisher at Sopotac (Croatia). The cartoons will be seen on displays and merchandise at the respective sites.

Thanks to Zoran Popovic and the Birdlife Montenegro team for choosing to team up with me again!

Emperor Penguin deaths in Antarctica

Thousands of Emperor Penguin chicks have perished in the last breeding season, owing to unprecedentedly low levels of sea ice in Antarctica's Bellingshausen Sea. Clearly, we've got the monarchy abolishment memo wrong!

Green Humour for DW Environment.

State of Indian Birds Report

An Indian Roller reads out the key findings of the recently published 'State of Indian Birds' report. Comic from my column in The Hindu Sunday Magazine. 

Dim Your Lights for Birds

A comic I created for the East Asian Australasian Flyway Programme's World Migratory Bird Day campaign 'Dim your lights for birds'. 

Thanks, Vivian Fu, for throwing opportunities for both meaningful and exciting collaborations at me! Here's hoping a safe journey for migration champions on this flyway this year!

A Great Indian Bustard Protests against Mega Solar Plants

A Great Indian Bustard protests against mega solar power plants in my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine. Some essential reading on this issue: 'Coal, Glasgow and the future of the Bustard' by Neha Sinha in the Hindustan Times, and 'India's rooftop solar sector ignored' by Aathira Perinchery in Mongabay India. 

Korea DMZ and endangered birds

Growing peace between North and South Korea could ironically pose a threat to threatened wetland birds such as the White-naped Crane, if the demilitarized zone between the two countries loses its status. Wildlife conservation works in funny ways! Comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday magazine.

Birds Recently Uplisted on IUCN

Meet 5 Indian birds recenty uplisted on the IUCN red list. Comic from my column with Roundglass Sustain. 

Adani and Black-throated Finch

Adani's Carmichael Coal Mine (renamed 'Bravus' because the company mistakenly thought the word means 'brave' when it quite appropriately means 'crooked') launched a conservation plan for the endangered Black-throated Finch to cover up their act. The finch is threatened by mining and resulting habitat loss. The conservation plan was found to be hogwash by a Queensland government scientific panel. The report was eventually buried by the Queensland government. Cartoon from my column with The Hindu.

Adelie Penguins protest Australia Antarctica Airport

Australia is planning Antarctica's biggest infrastructure project, a new airport and runway in Antarctica, which already has over 50 air bases. Being done in the guise of science, the plan is already being condemned by scientists worldwide. The project will threaten the populations of petrels, Adelie Penguins and seals among others.

The cartoon will be available in my stock cartoon gallery on Cartoon Collections on toons.to/rohanchakravarty

Bird Flu 2021

On the H5N1 avian influenza outbreak from my column with Roundglass Sustain. Sadly, numerous migratory birds like the Bar-headed Geese have already succumbed to the disease.

Bird Caricatures for WWF Hong Kong

Some wetland birds I illustrated for a project on wetland management and conservation for WWF Hong Kong last year. 

Red breasted Goose

The Red-breasted Goose is the perfect example of how wildlife conservation is linked with geopolitics. The IUCN 'Vulnerable' species travels from Siberia to Europe, facing several different threats in different countries, making a global collaboration between organizations imperative for its conservation. In one of my most exciting assignments, Birdlife Bulgaria and the Bulgarian Society for Protection of Birds commissioned me to create a set of cartoons that explain the species' migratory journey, the threats it faces, and the ongoing efforts to understand and conserve it.

A huge thanks to Mr. Nicky Petkov of the BSPB for commissioning the project. The 12 cartoons and two caricatures will soon be used in calendars, posters and multimedia for the BSPB's project 'LIFE for Safe Flight'.

Pakistan's MacQueen's Bustards in Trouble

Like every winter, Pakistan's Macqueen's Bustards (also called the Asian Houbara) are in trouble this year. While Pakistan's conservationists and ornithologists are hard at work trying to revive bustard populations, their government chooses to use these birds as political pawns to appease their sugar-daddies in Saudi Arabia. Cartoon from my column with The Hindu.

Chilka's new Ambassador Fishing Cat

Chilka, India's largest lagoon has been fraught with conservation issues. Chilka's official ambassador, the Fishing Cat, takes you on a quick boat ride in my column with Roundglass Sustain. The comic has been created with inputs from my friend Tiasa Adhya, co-founder of The Fishing Cat Project, who has been working to save Fishing Cats in Chilka. 

Maguri Burning

Maguri Bheel has been the wintering ground for hundreds of migratory waterbirds , including the critically endangered Baer's Pochard, which visits India all the way from Siberian latitudes. What will these birds do when they return to a burned Maguri Bheel, courtesy of Oil India's oil blow out? Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day. 

Satellite Tagged Lesser Floricans

Here's some good news this Wildlife Week: a hope that the recent satellite tagging of Lesser Floricans in Gujarat enhances the endangered species' conservation efforts. Congratulations to the Gujarat Forest Department for the move, accomplished last month. Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day.

Wildlife Photography or Trophy Hunting

Are you a wildlife photographer or a trophy hunter? Happy World Photography Day! From my column with Roundglass Sustain.

IUCN Red List and the Black necked Crane

The Black-necked Crane, a bird of immense cultural importance in Himalayan mythology and religion, is being considered for downlisting from 'Vulnerable' to 'Least Concern' on the IUCN Red List. Conservationists across the crane's range countries (India, Nepal, Bhutan, China, Pakistan) fear that this move may take the gravity of conservation threats to the bird (climate change, habitat loss, dams, melting glaciers, feral dogs and tourism pressures) away, and could make it easier for governments to allow linear intrusions along the crane's habitat. 

An article by Narendra Patil contesting the downlisting proposition can be read here. Birdlife and the IUCN are accepting comments on the matter until tomorrow, on this forum. 

Cartoon from my column with Roundglass Sustain. 

Tips to save the Tuturuatu

Any conservationists / ornithologists / birders from New Zeaand here? I recently learned that the Tuturuatu or the Shore Plover is not just among the world's most endangered waders, but it also a very difficult bird to conserve, because it refuses to cooperate with conservationists! To save this species threatened from introduced predators and habitat loss, scientists have been trying to establish Tuturuatu populations on predator-free islands like Waikawa, Chatham, Mana. But in a recent conservation setback, an entire colony of Tuturuatus (not known to be long-distance flyers) disappeared from Mana, presumably flying off to a different island! Meanwhile, populations in Waikawa have been on the path to recovery, with the island now boasting of 24 breeding pairs.

Here are some tips to make Tuturuatus potentially cooperate with conservation measures better! Comic from my Gocomics page.

World Albatross Day

On albatrosses and longline fishing from my column with Roundglass Sustain. Hundreds of albatrosses and other sea birds get caught as longline bycatch every year. In recent years, better cooperation between conservation organizations and fishermen has resulted in reduced mortality, by the application of simple measures like streamer lines.

The cartoon is also a small tribute to my favourite poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, which I have always interpreted as an exploration of the relationship between man and the forces of nature.