Dear First name / friend,

 

February at CWS brings new beginnings and pressing challenges. We are working tirelessly to safeguard the future of our Elephant Program, which faces an urgent funding crisis. With your support, we are making progress—but there is still a long way to go. 

 

In this edition of Into the Wild, our researchers and doctoral fellows continue to push the boundaries of wildlife science, with a new publication shedding light on critical conservation issues. We share updates from the field, celebrate our team’s contributions at global conferences, and highlight recent media coverage amplifying our work.

The future of our CWS Elephant Program is at risk. For over three years, this program has been tracking elephant movements, identifying human-elephant interaction hotspots, and informing solutions to reduce conflict. But due to a recent stop work order, two of our major elephant conservation grants—totaling ₹1,37,00,000—have been frozen. We refuse to let this halt decades of research and impact.

 

Thanks to an incredible outpouring of support, we have raised 47% of our goal—but we need your help to keep going. Your impact will be doubled! A generous donor is matching all contributions up to ₹25,00,000 until March 3rd (World Wildlife Day). Join us in securing a future for elephants and the communities that live alongside them. To support us today, click here.

We are excited to share our latest publication, 'Delineating the environmental justice implications of an experimental cheetah introduction project in India’, published in Frontiers in Conservation Science on 6th February 2025, authored by Yashendu Joshi, Doctoral Fellow at CWS, Stephanie E. Klarmann, Blood Lions Non Profit Company (NPC), South Africa and Department of Psychology, University of Johannesburg, South Africa; and Louise C. de Waal, Blood Lions Non Profit Company (NPC), Gansbaai, South Africa.

This study sheds light on the ethical and ecological challenges surrounding the translocation of African cheetahs to India, highlighting significant welfare risks, justice implications, ecological discrepancies, and the implications for both cheetah survival and human-wildlife conflict. To read, click here.

We are excited to announce that admissions to the 2025 PhD Program in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) is now open! We are looking for highly motivated and academically driven candidates, with a demonstrated interest in field-based research in wildlife ecology and conservation in India and Asia. For more information and to apply, click here.

An article published in The Hindu on 20th February 2025, talks about a new study by lead author, Yashendu Joshi, Doctoral fellow at CWS, highlighting the ethical and ecological concerns of translocating African cheetahs to India. The article discusses how high mortality rates and welfare issues raise questions about the project’s sustainability. To read the full article, click here.

An article published in Tehelka on 17th February 2025, talks about our latest study, highlighting the mental health impact of human-leopard conflict in Himachal Pradesh. Shweta Shivakumar, lead author and doctoral fellow at CWS, discusses how losing family members to leopard attacks is a life-altering experience for affected communities, often leading to grief, fear, and shifts in livelihoods. The study emphasizes the need for site-specific conflict management strategies to mitigate risks. To read the full article, click here.

An article published in Down To Earth on 8th February 2025, highlights a paper by Yashendu C Joshi, Doctoral Fellow at CWS, that talks about Project Cheetah, which aims to establish African cheetahs in India. The authors highlight challenges such as climate differences, prey availability, and the need for more research on animal welfare in wildlife translocation. To read the full article, click here.

An article published in The Wire on 22nd February 2025, highlights the ethical and ecological concerns of translocating African cheetahs to India, drawing from our latest publication by Yashendu C Joshi, Doctoral fellow at CWS. The article talks about challenges like high mortality rates, prey availability, and the need for more research on animal welfare in wildlife translocation. To read the full article, click here.

From 16th to 21st February 2025, Dr. Krithi K. Karanth was invited to attend the Young Global Leaders' exclusive educational module, in partnership with the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. The immersive 5 day program saw 30 Young Global Leaders and 10 Schwab Foundation Social Innovators come together and attend expert-led semianrs, hands-on workshops and site visits. To know more about the Young Global Leaders, click here.

CWS organized its first ever Naturalist Training Program from 27th January to 5th February 2025, with support from Amadeus Software Labs India and The Naturalist School. Muthanna PM, Associate Director, Field Conservation, provided hands-on training to 21 enthusiastic participants at the Kali Tiger Reserve, to empower them with knowledge about the region’s biodiversity and sustainable tourism opportunities. The program not only trained individuals but also fostered a deeper connection between local communities and conservation efforts.

Simran Prasad, Doctoral Fellow at CWS, presented her research at the Indian Council of Social Sciences Research (ICSSR) National Seminar in Kochi, Kerala, on 14th February 2025. The seminar, Human–Wildlife Conflicts: Effects on South India’s Tribes, brought together experts to discuss how communities in South India navigate coexistence with wildlife.

Simran’s presentation focused on the economic consequences of human-elephant conflict in the Nilgiris, examining its impact on household wealth and community perceptions of elephants. Thought-provoking discussions on conservation, livelihoods, and sustainable solutions made this a vital platform for understanding human-wildlife relationships.

"It was a hot summer afternoon, and I stood at the edge of a drying village pond, scanning for crocodiles. The water had long vanished, yet just months earlier, I’d seen crocodiles here. Where had they gone? “They’re still around,” a local shepherd told me. “Just not where you’d expect them to be.”

 

I was in northeastern Kutch, collecting pilot data for my PhD on marsh crocodiles thriving in an arid, salt-covered landscape. We found them in large, perennial water bodies—but also in small village ponds that dry up completely for months. I assumed they migrated to bigger water sources during the summer, but the villagers told a different story. Some crocodiles stayed, dispersing into scattered farm irrigation ponds, each sheltering in a different one until the monsoon brought them back to the village pond.

 

What fascinated me most was how humans adapted to this. Farmers avoided ponds occupied by crocodiles, taking their livestock elsewhere. Shepherds shared real-time updates on crocodile movements through WhatsApp, helping each other avoid danger. Without any intervention from researchers or conservationists, the community had developed its own system of coexistence.

 

This quiet, locally-driven adaptation rarely makes its way into conservation discussions, yet it holds some of the most remarkable examples of coexistence. As I prepare to return for my PhD research, I wonder how many other stories like this remain undocumented—and how much we can learn when we focus on the invisible threads of understanding between humans and wildlife."

                                        

- Yashendu Chinmayee Joshi, Doctoral Fellow

"It's truly heartwarming to share this story, and I feel an immense sense of pride as an animal lover when I reflect on what I heard from a student in the 6th grade. During the last module of our Wild Shaale program, Module 9, at AUPS Vardoor, we conducted an activity called the Wildlife Hero Certificate. One of the students, Amarnath A R, gave a response that touched me deeply when I asked him what he would like to do to make the environment a better place for all living creatures.

 

Amarnath shared that his dream was to become a "wildlife hero" by cleaning up the environment and making it free of plastic, so that animals wouldn't have to live in constant fear of dangerous plastic waste. While this was already a thoughtful and impactful answer, what truly surprised me was the reason behind his decision. Amarnath told me that he had seen a dog near his home eating plastic from the streets. As someone who loves dogs deeply, he felt a strong sense of sadness and concern. This experience, coupled with what he had learned in our classes, helped him realize that wild animals, too, face similar dangers from plastic pollution. His newfound understanding led him to make a commitment: to ensure that animals, both domestic and wild, have a safe environment to live in, free from the threats of plastic.

 

This moment, for me, is one of the greatest successes of the Wild Shaale program. It shows how these young minds are not only developing empathy for the animals they love, but also expanding their concern to include all wildlife. A child who initially felt a deep love for dogs has now decided to become a wildlife hero and help protect the broader animal kingdom. Amarnath's dream is a beautiful example of how small actions and lessons can inspire big changes in the way children think about the world around them. I'm incredibly proud of him and all the students who have embraced this mission."

 

- Abhinand Krishna, Wild Shaale Educator

Shivakumar, S., Athreya, V., Yardi, N., Odden, M., Dhiman, S. P., & Karanth, K. K. (2025). Charting risk pathways of leopard attacks on people: A decision tree approach. Human Dimensions of Wildlife, 1-18.

 

Sharing space and resources with predators, especially big cats like leopards, comes with many challenges and risks. The researchers show that most attacks were non-predatory, but some were tragically fatal. Moreover, adolescents were at a higher risk than adults, and fear lingers with them long after attacks. Understanding changing perceptions of these risks is key to sustained coexistence. To read more, click here.

Kshettry A, Vaidyanathan S, Athreya V (2017). Leopard in a tea-cup: A study of leopard habitat-use and human-leopard interactions in north-eastern India. PLOS ONE 12(5): e0177013.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0177013

 

A study in Jalpaiguri, India, found that 83 out of 89 leopard attacks happened in tea gardens, mostly between 10 AM and 2 PM during peak farm work. Despite leopards using 68% of the landscape, attacks weren’t linked to their presence but to dense tea bushes, possibly used for denning. With 95% of victims aged 20-40, the study calls for better conflict mitigation in shared spaces. To read more, click here.

As March begins, we remain focused on both new opportunities and urgent challenges. While we celebrate academic milestones and global recognition for our work, we also face the reality that without immediate support, the Elephant Program—a cornerstone of our conservation efforts—remains at risk.

 

This edition of Into the Wild highlights the critical research, outreach, and conservation work that your support makes possible. Every contribution brings us closer to securing the future of India’s wildlife and the communities that share their landscapes. Thank you for standing with us.