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.

NCF is happy to be an official partner in the 30th Annual Symposium on Sea Turtle Biology and Conservation, which will be held in Goa, India, between the 27th and 29th of April 2010.

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.

Seagrasses are marine angiosperms which serve as good bioindicatots of environmental change. In this study, we propose to formulate an integrated monitoring protocol, both to monitor environmental health, as well as manage seagrass ecosystems in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay.

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.

Tibetan argali (Ovis ammon hodgsoni), locally known as nyan, is the rarest among the wild sheep. This argali subspecies inhabits the widest distribution, covering c. 2.5 million km² across the Tibetan Plateau and its margins and is one among the two argali subspecies categorised as endangered by the IUCN.

We have recently developed a research programme to investigate the demography, behavioural ecology and conservation status of a highly-endangered primate community, consisting of four macaque species in Assam. 

We have recently described a primate from Arunachal Pradesh, the Arunachal macaque (with the scientific name Macaca munzala), which is a species new to science.

One of our long-term interests has been to investigate the social and mechanical cognitive abilities of wild bonnet macaques.

Wildlife population monitoring is an important component of a conservation program. In the Namdapha National Park, a major threat is hunting: therefore we have focused on establishing its impacts on wildlife populations. The species most affected by hunting –terrestrial mammals– were the target groups for monitoring. We aim to use this research to evaluate the progress of our community-based conservation initiatives: we expect that reduction in hunting will result in recovery of animal populations.

 Namdapha National Park located in the Indo-Myamar biodiversity hotspot encompasses a wide altitudinal range with habitats ranging from lowland evergreen forests to alpine meadows. It harbours unparalled floral and faunal diversity. We acquired satellite imageries of Namdapha and its surrounding landscape to assess changes in forest cover between 1999 and 2005 to establish baselines and understand human impacts on the park.

This long-term project, begun in 2000 and proposed to continue for twenty years, is investigating the demographic structure and ecology of a population of wild bonnet macaques in the Bandipur National Park – Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary.

In continuation of our long-term research project on bonnet macaques, which has been investigating social relationships and social cognition in wild groups of this species, we have made significant progress in our exploration of two further problems in its social behaviour: (1) the temporal persistence of social relationships within troops and (2) the developmental patterns of infant-mother relationships.

Why do some areas have more wild species than others? In this project, we are examining the causes of variation in species richness of Trans-Himalayan mountain ungulates. We are attempting to understand how species live together and interact with each other, and what factors govern their distribution.

The five hornbill species that occur in Arunachal are greatly dependent on threatened primary forests. Hornbills are also important in local tribal heritage, however the market/ritual value of their feathers, beaks, and flesh renders them vulnerable to hunting. 

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.

Quantifying the response of the reef ecosystem to the 1998 bleaching event at local and regional scales is an important component of this project. The first component of the project aims to draw a broad picture of the variability in reef responses to mass bleaching. To this end, we are using rapid techniques to examine the current status of the benthic (coral, algae, and the diverse sessile fauna that thrive on reefs) and fish communities across the Lakshadweep Islands. A patchy picture emerges from the initial analysis, with some reefs recovering well after the bleaching, with thriving coral and fish communities, and others moribund and not showing many signs of recovery.

Coral reefs are highly effective canaries of global change. Thriving in the warm waters of the tropics, hard corals respond rapidly to unusual fluctuations in oceanic temperature by bleaching white. In recent times, extensive mass bleaching and coral mortality has been reported from reefs in all tropical oceans, apparently triggered by severe El Niño events. Our work in in understand this phenomenon as focused on the Lakshdweep island reefs.

Markhor, an impressive wild goat, was thought to have been lost from India until recent surveys discovered a few surviving populations in Kashmir along the border with Pakistan. This politically sensitive area is also subject to insurgency. Can the markhor survive into the future? We are trying to understand the basic ecology of this enigmatic species in order to assist in its long-term conservation planning.

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.

Research results are sometimes perturbing, as was the case when we discovered that the Tibetan gazelle is nearly extinct in Ladakh. Did we find out too late? Perhaps, but perhaps not. We have since conducted rapid research to assess the causes of its decline, and to understand its habitat requirements. We are now working with local communities and the government to avert the imminent extinction of this fascinatng species in eastern Ladakh.

Domestic livestock graze alongside the wild ibex in the Trans-Himalayan high altitudes. We conducted scientific studies to understand their relationships with each other. We examined whether they share their food, or they compete with each other. Our results are relevant for conservation management of the ibex.

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.

Can a complex and biologically diverse forest, once destroyed by human action, ever be brought back to its original state? When forests are in a relatively undisturbed state, it is best to leave them as they are rather than disturb them in the belief that they can be brought back or restored. Nevertheless, there are forests already degraded or destroyed where there is a strong case for restoration efforts, like here in the Anamalai hills.