Today, on the second day of fieldwork in the high-altitude mountains, I awoke before my alarm, feeling acclimatized to the altitude. Gone was the sleep inertia; all I needed to kick-start the day was a steaming cup of black coffee. The scent of kerosene wafting from the bhukari (a traditional Himalayan room heater) in the […]
The temperature was freezing, but the view was spectacular. The snow-clad lofty peaks of Mount Kanchenjungha spread across the horizon in the distance. However, neither the cold nor the jaw-dropping views distracted the team of researchers from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS). They had gathered in a small shack at the Thambi View Point […]
In nature, everything has a meaning, including the colours adorned by various species. For example, the stripes of tigers act as camouflage to help them hunt prey. The stick insects’ colour and appearance, blending them with the surrounding vegetation, make them less noticeable to predators. The vibrant colours of resplendent peacocks help them attract females […]
It was a beautiful, calm spring morning in February. Lush tea gardens carpeted the landscape on either side of the road through which the car was passing. I was travelling from Jorhat town towards the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in the Jorhat District of Assam to set my eyes on a highly threatened species – the […]
Housed in the historic Hornbill House, the headquarters of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) at Fort, Mumbai, is a natural heritage of immense significance – the BNHS Natural History Collections. It is an invaluable treasure trove of natural history specimens collected from across the Indian subcontinent and beyond. Over 1,50,000 specimens of fauna across […]
As the car swerved into a narrow, unmetalled road leading into the wilderness, a large signboard with a tiger featured on it along the barricaded entrance to the road glared at me, warning me that it was a tiger roaming zone. Another smaller signboard a short distance away repeated the warning along with two messages […]
अनेक वर्षांपूर्वी डॉ. सालीम अलिंचे नाव ऐकले होते तेव्हा हे सुद्धा कळले की ते मुंबईच्या बॉम्बे नॅचरल हिस्ट्री सोसायटी (बी. एन. एच. एस.) ह्या नामांकित संस्थेत पक्षीशास्त्रज्ञ म्हणून काम करीत होते. ह्या संस्थेबद्दलचे कुतूहल तेव्हापासूनच लागून होते. नंतर इथेच नोकरी लागली आणि बी. एन. एच. एस. ला जाणून घेण्याची संधी मिळाली. स्वातंत्र्य पूर्व भारतात इंग्रजांचे […]
भल्या पहाटेच बंटी आणि चिकू जंगलात आले होते. निमित्तही तसेच होते. मुंबईचे प्रसिद्ध पक्षीतज्ञ डॉ. सालीम अली त्यांच्या गावाला आले होते. सालीम अंकल (खरे तर आजोबा) त्यांच्या बाबांच्या परिचयातले होते. त्यामुळे सकाळी फिरायला त्यांनी ह्या दोन चुणचुणीत मुलांना सोबत न्यायचे कबुल केले होते. मुलांना थोडी भीती वाटत होती. कारण ते खूप म्हणजे खूपच मोठे शास्त्रज्ञ […]
