A View from the Machan

by K. UllasaKaranth

Is natural history a science? Are there scientific ways in which we can give wild animals a better chance of survival? How does conservation actually work? Ullas Karanth has been evolving practical, science-based conservation solutions for over a quarter of a century. He has developed camera-trap sampling techniques that are now employed to monitor predators such as tigers, jaguars, cheetahs, and leopards across the world. His book provides a unique insight into wildlife conservation from the perspective of an internationally renowned tiger biologist. Karanth opens up the secret world of predators—from wild dogs and leopards to tigers—in Nagarahole. He talks about hours of walking trails in the jungle, setting up camera traps, collecting big cat faeces and examining he evokes both the drudgery and the thrill of being a scientist in the wild. His writing is marked by a passionate, yet rational, commitment to saving the animals he works amongst. With his special interest in tigers, Karanth explains with rare clarity the evolutionary and ecological forces that shape predation, and the reasons why predators inevitably come into conflict with humans. He makes a compelling case for effectively protected nature reserves, which he terms 'sacred groves for the new century'. This provocative collection, a tour de force of science-driven conservation advocacy, goes beyond the usual platitudes and political correctness that permeate official and academic conservation today. Karanth's vivid style communicates the excitement of the forest, while his lucidity disentangles complex scientific ideas for general readers.

Genres: Wildlife, Nature

150 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 4, 2006

Reviews

[Saudes · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author is cent percent right in his assessment that "wildlife conservation" and "Community based conservation" are mutually exclusive. Local communities or any other form of homo sapiens should be eliminated from "Reserved forests", except forest guards. In my opinion, poachers/hunters when caught should be hanged till death, no exceptions there.

Wildlife conservation should be kept away from the cancers like social activist & human right activist. They often team up with local communities whose hunger for land and biomass locked up in wildlife reserves grow exponentially because of population growth.

I am writing this at the time of Covid-19 quarantine period, I would like the world to take notice of ever growing Chinese demand for wildlife & their associated products. Covid-19 is more the reason for separating wildlife & human civilization. Chinese people really need to stop eating anything which moves.

[Suhasini Srihari · Rating 4 out of 5]

A must read for those who are interested in spending their time constructively in relation to 'wildlife conservation'. Karanth's narration tells the readers about how he got into this whole web of conservation, and how different models of conservation and tracking wild animals (particularly the tigers) has helped in understanding the language and methods of the forest areas. There is a comment on how the prey densities affect the predator numbers, and together they balance the ecology. However, interference of man for various reasons has hampered the wildlife population. Karanth still believes that if strict measures are taken, tigers can survive through the 21st century as well.