Small Cat Poaching in North East India

A new study by Amit Kumar Bal et al. reveals that poaching of small cats is on the rise along the Indo-Myanmar border. A Marbled Cat gives you a quick summary, from in column with Roundglass Sustain. 

Read more about the study on Mongabay India here.

USA and Exotic Wild Pets

The exotic pet industry, which the USA simply cannot do without, has not just been driving poaching and illegal wildlife trade. Wild pets are also known to carry diseases like Herpes, Monkey Pox and Salmonellosis, all communicable to their human owners. Comic from my column with The Hindu.

Coronavirus and Governance

A bat and a pangolin discuss Coronavirus and governance, in my column with Sunday Mid-Day.

Covid and the Earth

As Coronavirus spreads its arms across the globe, it seems to be just what the doctor ordered for the planet! Read the WHO advisory for tips to beat COVID19 here.  

The Cheetah's Race with Extinction

Cheetahs already face a lot of conservation threats, and now there's social media to add to that. Comic from my column with The Hindu.

Online Wildlife Trade

Welcome to the internet, the world's one stop shop for illegal wildlife trade. Comic from my column with The Hindu.

Poaching of Monitor Lizards

Monitor lizards are poached rampantly in India, for everything from meat, to body fat, to genitals! A recent raid by WTI led by my friend Jose Louis revealed that even online retailers like Amazon peddle monitor lizard penises, sold as a religious artefact called 'Hatha Jodi'! The raid resulted in a mass seizure of this contraband, and led to Amazon pulling the item off their website.

The comic appears in my column with Mid-Day today.

The Illegal Bird Trade in India

A comic on India's illegal pet trade that resulted from a visit to Hyderabad's 'Murgi Chowk', that appears in my column with Mid-Day. Thanks to Chemudupati Samyukta and Shreya Paropkari of The Humane Society International, India, for their inputs and for accompanying me on the visit.

(Readers may note that there is no communal angle intended in the comic. The comic resulted from a sting visit to Murgi Chowk, where most pet traders are dressed like the character depicted here).

Thailand's Tiger Temple

The ugly truth behind Thailand's Tiger Temple is finally out as a hoard of frozen animals including tiger cubs and a bear were seized from the place. The monks have long been accused of smuggling wildlife (news here). One step, albeit very late, in the right direction, Thailand!

The Pygmy Marmoset Trade

The world's smallest monkey, the Pygmy Marmoset is under serious threat because of the exotic pet trade. Here's a message from the 'finger monkey' to exotic pet owners.

The comic appears on my Gocomics page today.

China's Ivory Ban

Well. China agrees to end the ivory market- Yayyyy!

China agrees to end the ivory market AFTER a mass elephant massacre- Boooooo!

While China's new vow to phase out the domestic ivory industry is being hailed, it is hoped that the implementation will happen soon enough to stop more elephants from getting poached. This was marked by the destruction of 662 kg of seized ivory at a recent event, where Zhao Shucong, Head of China's State Forestry Administration further asserted the claim. Read the news here.

The Bear Bile Rhyme

Farming of bears for bile is one of the most ruthless malpractices against wild animals, practised (not surprisingly) in China, Korea, Laos and Vietnam. The bears (usually Black bears or Moon Bears) are kept in 'crush cages' that are so small that the captive bear is rendered completely immobile. The process of extraction of bile itself is excruciating- an open wound or a fistula is created in the bear's gall, from which the bile drips out and is collected. Researchers have reported seeing bears moan and chew their own paws in pain during bile extraction. The wound is vulnerable to lethal infections, increasing their mortality rate. Even though science has proven bear bile to be of no medicinal use, its consumption continues as an ingredient of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

The comic appeared in my fortnightly with The Hindu's BLink.

Kopi Luwak- Civet Coffee

Kopi Luwak or Civet Coffee refers to the coffee processed from coffee beans that have been eaten and defecated by palm civets. At five times the price of Arabica coffee, Kopi Luwak is the world's most expensive coffee, without any particular attribute for being so. The coffee has been widely found to simply taste bad, and it appears that it is purchased for novelty rather than quality. But the real damage that civet coffee does, is to civets themselves. The trade has given way to an entire racket in which civets are captured, caged in deplorable conditions, starved and force-fed with coffee beans resulting in a high mortality of these animals. Kopi Luwak seems to be yet another Oriental gimmick crafted solely to defy logic and harass wildlife.

This comic appeared in my fortnightly column in The Hindu's BLink here.

Satao the Tusker

A cartoonist's homage to Satao the tusker, who was shot with a poisoned arrow by poachers for his tusks, that were so large that they almost touched the ground. Because of his size, Satao was an icon and a favourite among conservationists and wildlife lovers, and his death was mourned across the world. Satao lived in the Tsavo East National Park in Kenya and was estimated to be one of the largest elephants in the world. He was declared dead on 13th June, 2014.

Indonesian Fatwa against Wildlife Crime

The Indonesian Council of Ulama recently issued an edict against poaching and trade of endangered wildlife in the country, making it the first such religious edict. This comes at a time when wildlife trafficking has reached unprecedented levels all over South-East Asia.

Shark Week 2013

Shark Week begins tomorrow. More shark cartoons will be coming up shortly.

And for some glamour on my blog, here's a picture of the beautiful Chemudupati Samyukta of the Humane Society International, India with a print of my Whale Shark poster :) Samyukta is campaigning actively against shark-finning in Indian coasts.

IUCN 'Status Updates'

Africa is facing an acute conservation crisis. Poaching of elephants for ivory backed shamelessly by China, has decimated the populations of the Forest Elephant. Poachers continue to gun down herds of elephants together, not sparing even the calves. Political instability in the range of these elephants only makes the situation a lot more grim.

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

CITES' Ivory Convention

Recently, African poachers massacred nearly 90 elephants in Chad. No prizes for guessing who's responsible for the hike in the unscrupulous demand for ivory. These recent events of poaching are not only ruthless but utterly unsustainable and alarming. If this goes on unchecked, elephant populations will vanish from the face of the continent before we know it.

Read The Guardian's report here- http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/19/86-elephants-chad-poaching-massacre

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

The Amur Falcon Massacre in Nagaland

Amur Falcons (a species known for its long distance migration) pass through India every year on their way from Siberia to Africa. Everyday, these beautiful birds of prey are being hunted in tens of thousands in Nagaland, India. The birds are trapped in nets and are later skinned and smoked, and sold locally for consumption. 

Conservation India has not only documented this shocking event, but has also ensured immediate action by the state authorities. Watch this alarming coverage by Shashank Dalvi and Ramki Sreenivasan here- http://www.conservationindia.org/campaigns/amur-massacre

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

It's World Rhino Day!

Rhino horns find felonious uses in a variety of objectionable commodities- as aphrodisiacs and ingreditens of Traditional Chinese Medicine used to treat fever, rheumatism, gout and other disorders.  In the Middle East, it is carved into ornamental dagger handles known as 'jambiya', considered a sign of manhood that is presented to adolescent boys. These have led to indiscriminate killings and populations have plummeted to shocking numbers over the years.

Here's one for the rhinos on World Rhino Day!

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