We are working with the Make a Difference (MaD) initiative to organise a cycling fund-raiser for our work around ‘elephants in the matrix’. The ‘conflict vs coexistence’ (and larger sharing vs sparing) debate is of course vibrant, but most our work is in human dominated/matrix habitats in the Nilgiris. Elephants and people have always been here, and will continue to … Read more
In Gudalur, a plantation landscape in South India, about 150 elephants share space with a quarter of a million people. Using a quantified survey coupled with ethnographic fieldwork, we aim to better understand human diversity and tolerance of elephants that allows for coexistence. We find a marked difference between communities, with ethnicity being a better predictor of tolerance than … Read more
The Supreme Court order [2012] to ban tourism in core tiger reserves, and decisions to shoot poachers at sight find favour with some conservationists, the middle class and media. But what will their impact be on the people who live in and around the tiger reserves, asks Tarsh ThekaekaraTiger numbers are on the rise. Not … Read more
Elephant conservation: Can elephants and humans live together? Berserk beasts, trashed crops, vengeful villagers: tales of ‘conflict’ come thick and fast as humans and elephants are forced into closer contact. But does it have to be war? Across Asia and Africa, there are hints of how we might live in peace | To view more photos … Read more
Tarsh Thekaekara, New Delhi, Sun Jul 15 2012 I grew up in a small town on the border of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, cradled in the Nilgiri hills. I now work as a conservationist in the same area. Gudalur sits at the start of the mountains, at the edge of the Mudumalai Reserve. Till about … Read more