Dear First name / friend,

 

This August, we celebrated World Elephant Day. We shared a glimpse into the lives of elephants, including a video of a mother and calf sharing a beautiful moment at a waterhole. It is a small window into the work our teams are doing across the Western and Eastern Ghats to better understand and protect this iconic species.

 

Beyond this, August was a month of learning, sharing, and connecting beyond the field. Our team participated in conferences on species extinctions and on the many ways science helps us understand a rapidly changing natural world. In this edition of Into the Wild, we bring you our latest scientific paper, welcome new affiliate scientists to our team, and much more. We hope you enjoy reading!

 

“I have always been inspired by Dr. K. Ullas Karanth, whose pioneering field work—especially the breakthrough use of camera-trap technology to map tiger populations—showed us that the survival of the tiger is inseparable from our own. 

 

Today his daughter Dr. Krithi K. Karanth, who walked the trails alongside him as a young girl, has shaped this legacy to address the critical challenges of human-wildlife conflict. Spearheading ground-level solutions like Wild Seve and Wild Shaale with extraordinary passion, she and her team are safeguarding both rural communities and India's biodiversity at a time when our planet's balance has never been more fragile.  

 

CWS gives me hope…that four decades of pioneering research, commitment and empathy will show us how to restore our relationship with nature. The hope that there will come a time when the sparrows reappear on our window sill.”

 

We asked some of the children in our Wild Shaale program about their favorite animals. Growing up around wildlife reserves, they often encounter wildlife as part of everyday life. Our aim is to ensure that these encounters are positive, and can foster curiosity, empathy and learning. In 2026, we aim to raise ₹25,00,000 to expand the program to the Eastern Ghats.

We are excited to share our latest publication in Biological Conservation on 15th August 2026, titled “Estimating the occurrence and detection of human-elephant conflict in India through a Bayesian occupancy modeling framework.” The study was led by Anubhav Vanamamalai (Columbia University) and co-authored by Dr. Krithi K. Karanth (Chief Executive Officer, Centre for Wildlife Studies; Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University), Dr. Jeffrey W. Doser (North Carolina State University) and Dr. Ruth DeFries (Columbia University). It explores how cropland and harvest seasons shape patterns of human-elephant conflict in India, and the need for stronger monitoring, community reporting and evaluation of existing deterrents. To view the paper, visit the link here.

We are pleased to share that Dr. Vikram Aditya (Principal Scientist & Faculty) has been appointed South Asia Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Pangolin Specialist Group (PSG) alongside Dr. Sunita Pradhan, (Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment). The PSG is a global, voluntary network of experts including field biologists, geneticists, criminal investigators, and other professionals working collectively to advance pangolin conservation and address the threats facing these remarkable species. Dr. Aditya will work to identify and address conservation challenges unique to pangolins in South Asia. He will use his expertise from the region to contribute to and benefit the global pangolin conservation community.

 

We are delighted to welcome Dr. Laurie Goodrich, Dr. Jared D. Margulies and Dr. Kaylin Clements to the Centre for Wildlife Studies as Affiliate Scientists. All three of them also form a part of our Doctoral Advisory Committee at CWS.

 

Dr. Laurie Goodrich is Sarkis Acopian Director of Conservation Science at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary Association, USA. She earned her PhD in ecology from Penn State University and became the first full-time research biologist at Hawk Mountain in 1984. She has overseen Hawk Mountain’s long-term migration counts, directed its education program, conducted scientific research, and published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers. She also helped to raise millions of dollars for conservation science, education, and land conservation. She co-founded the million-raptor conservation site at the River of Raptors in Veracruz, Mexico and helped develop the Raptor Population Index Project.

 

Dr. Jared D. Margulies is a lecturer in Environmental Governance at the Department of Geography, University College London. During his PhD at University of Maryland Baltimore County, he was an international student in collaboration with CWS, where he was mentored by Dr. Krithi K. Karanth. After his PhD, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield. His research focus since 2017 has been on wildlife trade in ornamental plant life, and he was also a recipient of a National Geographic Explorer Grant (2024).

 

Dr. Kaylin Clements is Adjunct Instructor at Human Dimensions of Natural Resources, Colorado State University (CSU), USA. She has a PhD in human dimensions of natural resources from CSU, and was a social scientist at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. She has been associated with CWS since her Fulbright-Nehru project, where she used investigated the networks of healthcare professionals, community leaders, and health information in communities from the Western Ghats.

 

We are honored to have three accomplished scientists join CWS as Affiliate Scientists. We look forward to their innovation and guidance to strengthen our research and impact.

Our CEO, Dr. Krithi K. Karanth, has been named in India Today's "She List: 50 Under 50". The list published in the magazine's Independence Day special issue, August 2026, marks 50 years of India Today. The list honors fifty self-made women across five categories, entrepreneurs, innovators, professionals, artists and sportswomen, who have all built their path through their own effort and ingenuity. As the feature puts it, these women are "the visible edge of a much larger shift happening across India."

 

Dr. Karanth's inclusion celebrates almost three decades of work in conservation. It was a research project in Karnataka's Western Ghats, undertaken during her time at Yale, that set her firmly on this path. A 2011 National Geographic Society grant followed, giving her work the visibility to grow bolder in scope and ambition. Since taking over as CEO at CWS in 2018, she has led CWS' expansion to 100 parks across 8 states. To read the feature, visit this link.

 

In a wide-ranging conversation with Vilasini Subramaniam of The V-Women Project (VWP), Dr. Krithi K. Karanth reflects on the people, experiences, and choices that shaped her journey across almost three decades of science, conservation, and institution building. The conversation begins with her own story, but quickly expands into a larger reflection on conservation in India: what scientists and conservationists actually do, the challenge of making space for wildlife, the realities of human-wildlife interactions, the role of science in decision-making, and how conservation organizations like CWS translate research into action on the ground. Watch here.

 

"Amongst the floating vegetation of a wetland, a Bronze-winged Jacana’s nest is an uncomplicated affair: a small platform usually carrying four beautifully scribbled chocolate eggs. So when we recently found a bigger Moorhen egg sitting amongst a clutch of Bronze-winged Jacana eggs, it was difficult not to wonder what it was doing there. And, perhaps more intriguingly, why the jacanas had allowed it to remain?

 

The behavior has a name — nest parasitism. Rather than incubating an egg herself, a female lays it in another bird’s nest leaving the unsuspecting owner with the task. Common Moorhens are no strangers to such reproductive opportunism. They regularly lay eggs in the nests of other Moorhens. In one well-studied population in Panama, at least one fifth of nests were parasitized by other Moorhens. Laying in the nest of an entirely different species, however, is a much rarer business. Such records do exist from an extraordinary assortment of hosts like Common Coots, Little Grebes, Grey Partridges etc., yet a review of the published cases reveals no such instances featuring a jacana. But why did the jacana not simply throw the odd egg out?

 

Recognizing a foreign egg is not an ability that every bird possesses. Where brood parasitism happens frequently and is costly, natural selection can favor birds capable of recognizing and rejecting impostors. Where it is exceedingly rare, there may be little advantage in maintaining such a finely tuned system — particularly if a mistake means throwing out one of your own eggs. There is another twist. Bronze-winged Jacanas reverse the conventional avian division of labor. Females are larger and may mate with several males, whilst the male undertakes all incubation and chick care. Both sexes defend territories, but it is essentially the father who receives the clutch and raises it. The Moorhen may nevertheless have chosen a rather unsuitable foster family. Its egg, incubated alongside the jacana clutch, could actually hatch first: Moorhen eggs take roughly three weeks, compared with about four weeks for Bronze-winged Jacanas. But hatching is only half the battle. Jacana chicks emerge ready to follow their father and find much of their own food. Moorhen chicks, although equally capable of leaving the nest, are actively fed by their parents for their first weeks of life. 

 

A jacana father would have no reason to offer those meals. So the little foreign egg presents us with a wonderful evolutionary mismatch: a parasite that may fool the incubator, only to find that it has chosen the wrong parent, sadly!"

 

- Tiasa Adhya, Doctoral Fellow

On 22nd July 2026 at Z. P. School Mahalunge, Maharashtra, Wild Shaale Educator Jidnyasa was leading a “Curiosity Kick-off” activity where she handed out illustrated cards with different species to students to promote a discussion. When sixth-grader Vivek saw a scorpion on one of the animal cards, he said, "It has bitten me before. I killed it, and you should also kill it whenever you see one because it is dangerous."

 

Rather than immediately correcting him, Jidnyasa first acknowledged his fear and experience. She explained that while a scorpion sting can be painful, scorpions generally sting as a defense when they feel threatened, stepped on, or touched. She then asked the class what the scorpion might have been doing before it stung. This sparked a discussion about the animal’s life cycle and encouraged students to look at the situation from the scorpion’s perspective. The students eventually recognized that scorpions, like other living beings, are trying to survive and protect themselves. Jidnyasa also explained that the safest response to encountering a scorpion is to keep a safe distance and inform an adult.

 

The conversation soon grew as students shared experiences with snakes, spiders, and other animals near their homes. What began with fear became an opportunity to build empathy, curiosity, and a deeper understanding of wildlife. For Jidnyasa, the experience highlighted an important lesson: meaningful learning often begins by listening to children, understanding their fears, and helping them see the natural world differently. To know more about Wild Shaale or support our work, visit the link here.

 

What happens when changing forests brings people and elephants closer together? A new study from the southern Western Ghats combines ecological modelling with the experiences of communities living alongside elephants to understand how environmental and human factors shape elephant occurrence and what the future could look like by 2030. Read our latest CWS blog to explore how science and local knowledge can come together to better understand the changing relationship between people and elephants. Read our blog here.

When forests meet farmlands, every encounter matters. A new study from Karnataka reveals that human–elephant conflict is most common in cropland-rich areas and during the post-monsoon harvest season. By strengthening community monitoring and focusing action where and when it matters most, we can protect livelihoods, reduce conflict, and create a safer future for both people and elephants. Together, coexistence can move from an idea to a shared reality. Read our blog here.

 If you've seen bats at any location in Delhi-NCR, please take 2–3 minutes to share your observation through this Google Form. Your observation could contribute to important scientific research. Dr. Rohit Chakravarty, Principal Scientist and Faculty, and Nakul Shokeen, Research Fellow at CWS, are conducting a Delhi Bat Roost Survey to document bat roosting sites across the city and better understand their distribution for conservation and research.

Thank you for joining us for another month of Into the Wild. We are grateful to have you with us as we continue learning, listening, and working towards a future where wildlife and people can thrive together. We look forward to bringing you more stories from the field, new research, and updates from our team next month.

 

Until then, thank you for being part of our journey.

 

Warm Regards,

Dr. Krithi K. Karanth

Chief Executive Officer

Centre for Wildlife Studies