Cartoons for the Mediterranean Monk Seal Project

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to draw cartoons on one of the most desired mammals on my wildlife wishlist- the Mediterranean Monk Seal. The cartoons are meant as commuication resources for SPA/RAC's Mediterranean Monk Seal Project, to unite biologists, conservationists, funders, governments, fishers and citizens in the conservation of the Mediterranean Monk Seal. 

Thanks to Julie Belmont and SPA/RAC for this fun commission!

Perils of Unplanned Tree Plantation

News of a massive tree plantation drive in Ladakh backed and lauded by the government, is being celebrated across the country, in ignorance of the fact that Ladakh is not supposed to have trees. Here's a comic I created for ATREE's World Environment Day outreach campaign about the perils of unplanned tree plantation drives, a worrying trend across India. The Indian Courser, one of my favourite grassland birds, is just one of the many victims of habitat loss that unscientific aforestation programmes have caused in Central India.  

The Antarctic Peninsula : Illustration for Save Our Seas Foundation

(click on the image for a larger view)

Commonly perceived as uninhabitable and desolate, the Antarctic Peninsula is actually teeming with south polar wildlife, most of which is threatened by climate change today. A unique ecosystem where all food is derived from the sea, the biome harbours creatures as tiny as krill (that form the core of the food web) and as large as the Blue Whale! The terrestrial wildlife of the Antarctic Peninsula is no less splendorous, with five species of penguin, and seal diversity that ranges from the penguin-hunting Leopard Seals, to the gigantic Southern Elephant Seals that can dive upto 1550m to hunt squids! The illustration focuses on how life in Antarctica revolves around krill: Humpback Whales bubble net them, Blue Whales lunge-feed on them, Crabeater Seals have evolved specialized dentitions to hunt them, penguins dive after them, and storm petrels skim the sea surface with their feet in search of them! And if you're wondering why the ice at the penguin colonies looks pink, that too is from the colour that a krill based diet imparts to their poop!

A huge thanks to Save Our Seas Foundation for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to illustrate Antarctica in conjunction with scientists from Penguin Watch working in the region. The illustration will soon be auctioned to Antarctic tour ships to raise money for conservation efforts by SOSF and Penguin Watch. Read the article on the Antarctic Peninsula on their website here. 

Galapagos Marine Reserve Habitat Illustration

(Click on the image for a larger preview)

Easily one of the top 10 in my list of places to see before I die, the Galapagos Archipelago, besides being the very cradle of the evolution of evolutionary science, houses a magical range of biodiversity! And thanks to the Save Our Seas Foundation, I got an opportunity to illustrate what a typical panorama at the Galapagos Marine Reserve looks like. From blood-sucking Vampire Finches to diving Boobies, from the algae-munching Marine Iguana to the cactus-loving Land Iguana, from tiny endemic catsharks to massive Humpback Whales; you'll find them all this gigantic illustration that appears along side a piece on Galapagos in the SOSF magazine. Find the magazine online here. 

Special thanks to Jade Schulz, Pelayo Salinas and James Lea from the Save our Seas Foundation for commissioning the piece and for guiding me through it. 

Galathea Bay Shipment Project

On the National Wildlife Board's plan to denotify Galathea Bay National Park in the Great Nicobar Island for a shipment project, from my column with Sunday Mid-Day, featuring a Giant Robber Crab.

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

China's Superdam on Brahmaputra

China's upcoming 'superdam' on the Brahmaputra will have severe environmental consequences downstream. Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day. 

Grizzled Giant Squirrel and Kaveri Dam

A dam proposal at Mekedatu in the Kaveri Wildlife Sanctuary threatens one of the last strongholds and populations of the near-threatened Grizzled Giant Squirrel. Comic from my column with The Hindu. Read Bhanu Prakash Chandra 's article on the issue in The Week here. 

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.

Maharashtra's State Mangrove Tree

Last week, the CM of Maharashtra made a historic announcement: the declaration of the mangrove Sonneratia alba, or White Chippi, as the state mangrove tree, making Maharashtra the first state in India to have a state mangrove symbol. Mangrove conservation however, continues to suffer from ill-conceived linear development not just in Maharashtra but all other states they are found in. In Mumbai itself, the Coastal Road and the expansion of the Mumbai Metro are taking a toll on the city's existing mangrove cover.

Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day. 

Railway Line through Meghat

A proposal by the Central Government t expand the Akola-Khandwa Railway Line through Melghat Tiger Reserve could pose a threat to endangered wildlife like tigers and Melghat's flagship icon, the Forest Owlet, which was rediscovered from this forest. Fortunately, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra seems firm in his resolve to push for alternatives instead of expanding the line through the reserve and fragmenting wildlife habitat.

Comic from my column with The Hindu.

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. 

Damselflies and Us

Damselflies and us. Comic from my column with The Hindu.

MoEFCC on Social Media vs Real Life

As the Environment Ministry continues greenwashing its environmental crimes using its social media accounts, opposition to the ministry as well as the Draft EIA is gaining momentum. 50 student organizations across India led by Ashoka University have written to the MoEFCC to either strengthen the EIA or scrap the new draft notification.

Have you registered your comments on the draft EIA yet? Visit this link  or this petition to get started. The clock is ticking, with only 5 more days to go for the deadline. Thanks to organizations like Let India Breathe and Fridays for Future for putting these resources together online.

Cartoon from my Gocomics page. 

Here's a bonus cartoon on the recent coal auctions:

Great Bear Rainforest Habitat Illustration

One of the most unique landscapes on earth where temperate rainforests meet the sea, Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, Canada, is a mystical forest.  And this mystique transcends boundaries between land, water and air, and those between wildlife and native communities. The First Nations People of Canada that call the rainforest their home, have been fiercely safeguarding the forests from industrial logging and oil and gas companies. The rainforest is inhabited by many animals sacred to the First Nations People, such as the Spirit Bear (a rare sub-species of the American Black Bear in which some individuals are coloured white!), the Raven, the Bald Eagle, many species of Salmon, and of course, cetaceans like the Humpback and Fin Whales, and Orcas. As a result of rainforest meeting the sea, various interactions that are usually unheard of are witnessed here, such as enormous tracts of cedar and spruce meeting waters ruled by kelp forests, bears and wolves preying on spawning salmon, seals and sea otters bumping into wolverines and minks!

Other than its myriad flora and fauna, the illustration also depicts a First Nations couple in ethnic attire that celebrates the spirit of the animals they worship, veteran whale biologists Janie Wray and Hermann Meuter, who run the Cetacea Lab at Great Bear. Thanks to the Save Our Seas Foundation for commissioning the illustration.