Oscars, Climate Change and the News

Oscars, climate change and the news. Cartoon available royalty free on my Cartoonstock gallery here. 

Polar Bear Yoga

Happy World Polar Bear Day! Cartoon from my column with Roundglass Sustain.

Arctic Wildfires

On the Arctic wildfires from my Gocomics page

Russian Oil Spill

Russia's gift to the world on World Environment Day this year: An oil spill of 20000 tons in the Arctic city of Norilsk in Russia that has turned water bodies in its path red. Nornickel, a Russian Diesel company responsible for the spill has been sacked by the government and the city of Norilsk is under an emergency. Cartoon from my Gocomics page.

COP 25

A Puffin and a Polar Bear discuss the ongoing COP 25.

How some Creatures Cope with Climate Change

How some creatures cope with climate change. From my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Polar Bear Climate Protest

A Polar Bear stages a climate change protest in my column with The Hindu. 

Netflix and Krill

On Netflix, 'Our Planet' and overpopulation, from my column with Sunday Mid-day.

Styrofoam Poles

We all know that marine debris is a growing environmental threat, but do you know that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is now three times the size of France? 

The comic apears in my column with RoundGlass Samsara.

The Fantastic Arctic Fox

Meet the fantastic Arctic Fox! The comic appears in my column with Saevus magazine this month.

Prints available on my webstore here. For orders within India, mail me on rohanchakcartoonist@gmail.com

Take That Trump

On US President Donald Trump's war on climate science from my column with Mid-Day.

The Life of a Harp Seal

Life's tough being a Harp Seal! Here's a comic from my page with Arastirmaci Cocuk Merkezi, a Turkish children's magazine, that takes you through the life cycle of a Harp Seal. The Harp Seal is a earless seal native to the northern Atlantic and the Arctic Oceans.

The comic originally appears in Turkish in the January issue of Arastirmaci Cocuk Merkezi, brought out from Ankara. Prints on my webstore here. 

Polard Prump

Polard Prump- our only hope for the Arctic!

The comic appears in my column with Mid-Day today. This is also my tribute to Alec Baldwin, whose contribution to satire, particularly recently, has been tremendous!

Thanks Leonardo DiCaprio!

Just a little "thank you" from Arctic animals to Leonardo Dicaprio for speaking about climate change in his Oscar acceptance speech!

Bears of the World- Caricatures

Bears- unanimously the world's favourite mammals! Not surprisingly, their closes relatives in evolution are the Pinnipeds (the Seal family), and that explains the close contest in cuteness between the two families! There are 8 species of bears in the worldand are are threatened by hunting for their meat, fur and parts; capture for bear bile (more on this here), habitat loss and climate change. Here's a rendezvous with these 8 cuddlemuffins (click on the images for a larger view)-

Brown Bear

The most widely distributed bear species in the world, the Brown Bear also ranks as the largest land predator on earth, along with the Polar Bear. The species splits into several sub-species in its vast geographical distribution, some of the well-known ones being the Grizzly and the Kodiak of North America, the Eurasian Brown Bear of Europe, the Tibetan Blue Bear, the Himalaya Brown Bear, the Mongolian Gobi Bear (the most endangered bear in the world), and the Kamchatka Brown Bear. The Brown Bear is an omnivore with the widest variety of diet for any bear, ranging from deer, fish and rodents to acorns, pine cones and berries.

American Black Bear

America's most common bear, the American Black Bear is the only bear species that is not threatened on IUCN's Red List. It is smaller than the Brown Bear and is split into several sub-species across its range. The black bear's diet is omnivorous, varying widely with seasonal changes. It is an efficient hibernator, hibernating for well over 3 months.

Polar Bear

The Polar Bear is the largest land carnivore and lives in the Arctic Circle. They are christened "Ursus maritimus" in Latin, which means maritime bear, referring to the fact that they spend most of their time in the sea. Polar Bears are threatened by climate change and disappearing sea ice.

Asiatic Black Bear

The crescent-shaped marking on the Asiatic Black Bear's chest gives it the nickname "Moon Bear". It is widely distributed, occurring as several sub-species across its range. The black bear is exploited heavily for its parts and for bear bile in Chinese medicine.

Sloth Bear

India's most common bear, the Sloth Bear is the most insectivorous of all bears and has in fact, evolved features similar to other insectivorous animals such as ant-eaters (e.g. missing upper incisors, a long snout and tongue, and powerful foreclaws to rip termite mounds apart) through convergent evolution. Sloth Bears are also fond consumers of honey. The cubs can often be seen piggybacking on the mother.

Spectacled Bear

The Spectacled or the Andean Bear is the only extant 'Short-faced Bear' (a sub-family that includes now extinct members from the Americas. Although it is the largest carnivore in South America, much of its diet is comprised of vegetable and fruit. It is also among the most arboreal of bears. Its name refers to the specs-shaped marking around the eyes. Hunting and habitat loss have pushed the bear to a 'Vulnerable' ranking on IUCN.

Sun Bear

The Malayan Sun Bear is the world's smallest bear species. Owing to its prodigious appetite for honey, it is also referred to as the honey bear. A peculiar feature is the incredibly long tongue, that is used to extract honey from hives. The name 'Sun Bear' refers to the bright patch on their chests, which according to folklore resembles the rising sun. Sun bears are threatened by poaching and habitat loss.

Giant Panda

One of the world's favourite mammals and a metaphor for wildlife conservation across the world, the Giant Panda lives in small pockets in China's mountains and is a conservation-reliant endangered species. It has evolved distinct features such as a round face and a large size, to be a specialized bamboo-feeder. The Panda is threatened by habitat loss.

Prints and merchandise are available as a whole range of goodies. For orders outside of India, please visit my Redbubble store here.

For orders within India, the prices for the goodies are listed here. 

A2 Posters (loose)- Rs. 1200 each
Mounted Posters (A3- Individual species and compilation)- Rs. 2000

Loose Posters (A3- Individual species and compilation)- Rs. 500 for the first copy and Rs. 200 for the second copy onwards

Fridge Magnets (65 x 65 mm, Printed in sets of 4)- Any 4 bears for Rs. 1200

Coasters (3.5" x 3.5", Printed in sets of 6)- 6 bears for Rs. 800

Coffee Mug (Compilations)- Rs. 850

Personal Diary (Hard Cover, A5, 150 pages)- Any animal caricature in a vertical orientation on the cover- Rs. 800

Horror Stories from the Arctic

One on oil drilling in the Arctic that appeared on my Gocomics page last month, here.

Coincidentally, today also happens to be Polar Bear Day!

Pole meets pole

Another one on climate change that appeared in Saevus magazine's January issue, in which I had compiled a page with cartoons on climate change. 

The Polar Bear Cartoon Cliche

Bye-bye, Man on an Island. Here's the newest cartoon cliche, thanks to global warming! Published in Saevus magazine last month.

Polar bears and Climate Change

Polar Bear International recently released this  picture and a report of a polar bear corpse found in such a malnourished state that it resembled a rug. 

This is not only a sign that bears are in serious trouble, but also a climate change alarm. Polar bears depend on sea ice for making successful seal hunts, and the loss of sea ice obviously means that they have to starve until conditions are conducive for hunting. Read the report here- http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/news-room/scientists-and-explorers-blog/viewing-polar-bears-svalbard-2013

Copyrights for the picture- Dr. Ian Stirling (http://www.polarbearsinternational.org/science/polar-bear-scientists/dr-ian-stirling)

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

International Polar Bear Day

27th February is celebrated as International Polar Bear Day. Here's a little fact for those of you who didn't know this- The skin of the polar bear is actually black, not white; and has a thick layer of fat underneath, all of which serve as insulators. Its white appearance is due to the scattering and reflection of visible light by its fur, which is made of transparent hair shafts.

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