Lack of adequate conservation training and robust monitoring are important challenges for the conservation of the endangered snow leopard across its range in Central Asia.

Leopard in India, unlike other big cats, has been very adaptive of landscape changes. This looks relieving at first sight but comes with a price.

The Nicobar Islands are biologically unique as they encompass a variety of ecosystems. Indigenous islanders extract natural resources using traditional systems of ownership and management. The overall aim of this project is to understand the influence of post-tsunami change on cooperative behaviour and sharing of natural resources amongst these indigenous communities, from the perspective of conservation and management of natural resources.

The Irrawaddy dolphin restricts itself to narrow ecological niches, often competing with humans for space and resources. This is reflected by the fact that throughout its range of occurrence, the most significant direct threats to the dolphin are due to fishing. The aim of this study is therefore to analyse human-Irrawaddy dolphin interactions, with a special focus on how foraging behaviour is affected by fishing at Chilika lagoon.

In this program, we are attempting to address conservation needs in the biodiversity hotspot of Arunachal Pradesh by focusing on ways of integrating indigenous people into a range of activities to monitor, value, and conserve wildlife and their habitats. We are presently working in the forests of Namdapha, and have also been monitoring hornbill populations in the Pakke Tiger Reserve.

When a snow leopard kills a domestic yak, the affected family loses money, time, and the numerous goods and services for which it depends on livestock. It is difficult for wildlife to survive when its most important custodians, the local people, bear such high costs of conservation. We are working with several Trans-Himalayan communities to assist in off-setting these costs and promoting the conservation of snow leopards and wolves.

When people and wildlife share resources, there can be conflicts. As cashmere or pashmina production gets commercialized in Ladakh, the traditional tolerance of local people for the kiang has eroded. The species is believed to compete for scarce forage with the cashmere-producing changra goats. We have assessed the causes and consequences of this conflict in an effort to harmonize livestock production with kiang conservation.

In addition to feeding on wild prey, snow leopards are believed to extensively kill livestock, which results in conflicts with pastoral people. Are snow leopards really dependent on livestock? We studied the diet of the snow leopard, and also attempted to understand local people's attitudes towards the endangered species, with the aim of promoting better conflict management.

Robust conservation planning requires robust science. In a pioneering scientific initiative, we conducted extensive studies on wildlife ecology and human societies of the Trans-Himalaya, which set a new direction for conservation research in the region, as well as laid the foundations for our own conservation and policy initiatives.

Wild herbivores appear to avoid areas where grazing is intense. While this could be an avoidance of the livestock themselves, it could also be an effect mediated through plants which both livestock and wild herbivores depend on for food. This study is aimed at determining whether the latter is true and to what extent.

In the 19th century, human activity impacted less than a fifth of the planet’s land area; a mere two hundred years later, we have brought more than 95% of earth’s landmass under our dominion. Trapped between shrunken, degraded habitats and human-occupied landscapes, wide-ranging animals like the Asian elephant have been pushed into conflict with people. Persecution by affected people and the decline of suitable habitats threaten the long-term survival of elephants. Understanding the ecological and behavioural adaptations of elephants to altered landscapes and the relationships between elephant activity, spatial configuration of human settlements along movement routes, and the effects of people on elephant behaviour are crucial for resolving conflicts and fostering coexistence.