In the mighty jungle: These young Indians are championing wildlife conservation

Chances that you’ve heard of the depleting and dismal wildlife are plenty. That the once sprawling jungles, replete with predators, are now small enough to count on fingertips, and our oceans make for only rare sightings of numerous species is true in India as it is across the globe. Lucky for us, there are some young champions who are passionately working to rectify the degrading wild. From award-winning documentarists to creators of pertinent comic-stripes, here are six young Indian wildlife conservationists who are diligently fighting for the rights of our wildlife. 

Krithi Karanth

Young and wide-eyed, Krithi was introduced to the jungle when she was only two, courtesy her father, renowned wildlife biologist Dr K. Ullas Karanth. Yet, it was not her father’s excellence in the field that made Krithi commit to the wild but her own childhood love for nature that was cultivated in the many years she spent in jungles and national parks growing up. Today, she is a conservation scientist who serves as the adjunct associate professor at Duke University, as well as a senior fellow at the Centre for Wildlife Studies, India and Affiliate Faculty, National Centre for Biological Studies, India. Her passion for wildlife flourished into academia as she went on-ground to study migratory patterns, track, and document wildlife, their habitats, relationship, and interaction with human habitats. When she’s not out there saving the wildlife, Krithi stands as a powerful role model for all those who wish to contribute to the wild. 

Malaika Vaz

How much can you achieve when you’re only 25—an athlete, award-winning wildlife documentary filmmaker, the country’s youngest certified pilot, the youngest explorer to go on an expedition to the Arctic and the Antarctic, a competitive windsurfer, sailor, social worker, and recipient of the National Youth Award by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in January 2018. Having developed a strong connection with the oceans while she was learning how to dive, she noticed the effect of unsustainable tourism on the marine ecosystem and was inspired to work on conserving India's natural resources through initiatives such as the Leave No Trace campaign, that reduced plastic waste drastically, at Asia's largest music festival, Sunburn held in Candolim, Goa. Malaika is also a preacher for saving the big cats. Currently, she is working on an investigative documentary on the illegal trafficking of Manta Rays across Southeast Asia.

Rohan Chakravarty

Rohan’s wildlife journey has been a serendipitous one. It was when he was meant to be studying dentistry in Nagpur that he was introduced to the world of wildlife through a nature-based outreach program conducted by Sanctuary Asia. And, it was this program that facilitated a momentous encounter with a majestic tigress bathing in a Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary waterhole that led him to give up a career in dentistry and take up drawing for wildlife and conservation. An illustrator and cartoonist, Rohan’s originally created comic series ‘Green Humor’ has not only conquered hearts in India—where it appears weekly in The Hindu— but is also recognised worldwide as being the largest collection of cartoons on wildlife and environment on the web. 

Nirmal Ulhas Kulkarni

While the rest of Goa was jamming at night-clubs and beaches, Nirmal was engrossed in the tapestry of the wild in Konkan. Channelising his curiosity that budded during morning walks with his grandfather near their home in Mapusa, where they discovered wildlife in their own backyard, Nirmal became Goa’s Youngest Honorary Warden at the age of 18. Today, he is a renowned herpetologist, field ecologist, conservationist, and wildlife photographer. He’s also director of ecology at the Wildernest Nature Resort, an eco-tel in the Chorla Ghats (Goa), chairman of the Mhadei Research Centre, team lead of Hypnale Research Station, and promoter of HERPACTIVE, a study initiative on Herpetofauna. In his 16 years of work in collaboration with communities, field staff, researchers, and students, Nirmal has experimented with the various combinations of science, photography, and activism to successfully link field conservation, communities, livelihoods, natural resource management, and environment protection into a practical working model.

Atul Sinai Borker

A great example of following your heart, Atul shocked many when he made a career shift in 2013, from a multinational software company to wildlife conservation research. Since then, his journey in wildlife conservation has only burgeoned. In September 2014, he brought together a team of like-minded people as the founder and director of Wild Otters—a team of otter researchers working on Chorao island in Goa. Today, he is the continental coordinator for South Asia and species coordinator for Lutrogale perspicillata for IUCN/SSC Otter Specialist Group, and recipient of the Future Conservationist Award by Conservation Leadership Programme for his work on otters. An avid wildlife photographer, Atul is also the founder of a wildlife documentation website, Wildlabs, which was created with a vision of documenting wildlife and sharing it with the masses. Currently, he has been working on photo documenting small mammals of Goa, a project undertaken by the Mhadei Research Centre— so if you find a guy meticulously following young animals around and insisting on photographing them, it’s probably him!

Tasneem Khan

Tasneem is a woman who’s donned many hats: marine zoologist, diver, educator, photographer, sailor, and explorer. Professionally trained in marine zoology, she has spent the last decade facilitating interdisciplinary initiatives in the fields of ecology, conservation, education, and science communication. As director of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands Environmental Team, Centre for Island Ecology, Tasneem has translated her eight years of practice into the development of experiential learning pedagogies and marine zoology. Today, she is assiduously working on her co-founded initiative ‘EARTH CoLab’ that aims to provide access to hundreds of marine enthusiasts to various facets of our rich oceans. A haven for students, researchers, institutions, and expeditions, EARTH CoLab is quite literally a floating laboratory with the goal of expanding our waters into oceans of knowledge.  

Lead Image: Moving Waters Film Festival
Story Images: Instagram/Facebook