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. 

Miss Kerala Fish

This beauty pageant winner from the Western Ghats is an endangered species, thanks to the aquarium trade, invasive species and habitat loss. Meet the Miss Kerala Fish in my column with The Hindu Weekend.

Feeding Feral Pigeons

Feral pigeons are not only a threat to wild birds, but are also an emerging cause of lung disease in humans— just like your favourite politicians! Cartoon from my column with The Hindu.

Red-eared Slider

This World Turtle Day, meet an invasive species that is wreaking havoc on Indian turtles and their habitats, thanks to the pet trade. You can help by discouraging the trade in the species (and any other turtle/tortoise), and by NOT releasing a Red-eared Slider into a natural space. You can also help by reporting wild sightings of this species on the India Biodiversity Portal, which researchers from the group 'Freshwater Turtles and Tortoises of India are keeping a track of. Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day.

Lantana and Tiger Reserves

On the invasion of India's green cover by Lantana, from my column with Sunday Mid-Day. Read more about the issue in Rajat Rastogi's article for Mongabay here.

Desert Locust Plague

The Desert Locust Plague of 2020, now swarming across India and poised to cause famine in its path, is a perfect example of how the impacts of climate change in one part of the world could affect an altogether different region. Experts believe that the bumper breeding of these crop-raiding locusts this year traces back to unforeseen imbalances in the Indian Ocean Dipole (yes, the same phenomenon linked with the bushfires of Australia) and two cyclonic events in East Africa that created ephemeral lakes in the desert and facilitated locust breeding.

George the Hawaiian Tree Snail

George, a Hawaiian tree snail, the last member of the species Achatinella apexfulva, died in captivity last week. Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-day.

A Conservation Biologist Goes for Therapy

Wildlife conservation is almost always a losing battle, specially with the kind of governments we have around the world today. I often wonder how the many dedicated conservationists I know, go out and fight this losing battle day after day! 

A comic from my column with Sunday Mid-day.