The Think Wildlife Podcast
Episodes
Episode 43: Protecting Asia's Rhinos with Markus Hofmeyr, Director of the Rhino Recovery Fund
03 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this episode of The Think Wildlife Podcast, I interview Markus Hofmeyr, who is the Director of the Rhino Recovery Fund (RRF). Launched in 2020 by t...
Episode 42: Conserving Arctic's Polar Bear with Krista Wright, Executive Director, Polar Bears International
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One species of megafauna particularly impacted by climate change, is the polar bear. Considered “Vulnerable” by the IUCN Red List, less than 31,00...
Episode 41: Painting a Bright Future for Africa's Wild Dogs with Gregory Rasmussen, Founder of Painted Dog Research Trust
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The African Wild Dog, more aptly known as the Painted Dog, is the largest wild canid species found in the entire African continent. The species is on...
Episode 40: How do we restore the world's forests?
17 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Deforestation is one of the leading threats to biodiversity globally. The world is losing over 10 billion trees annually. Over half the three trillion...
Episode 39: Creating a future for the Iranian Cheetah with Morteza Pourmirzai, CEO at Iranian Cheetah Society
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The cheetah is symbolic of the African wilderness. However, once upon a time, the world’s fastest mammal, used to roam the plains of Asia, with thei...
Episode 38: Conserving Sri Lanka's Fishing Cats with Anjallee Prabhakaran from Small Cat Advocacy and Research
07 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Fishing Cat is a medium sized cat, discontinuously distributed across South and Southeast Asia. Currently, their range extends from India to Bang...
Episode 37: Conserving the Satpuda Tiger Landscape with Kishor Rithe, Founder of the Satpuda Foundation
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The story of the Bengal Tiger is probably the pinnacle of India’s conservation miracles over the last few decades, especially following the enactm...
Episode 36: Conserving India's Sacred Groves with Archana Godbole, Founder, Applied Environmental Research Foundation
27 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sacred Groves are amongst the finest examples of in-situ conservation. Often as large as 500 hectares, Sacred Groves are undisturbed and communall...
Episode 35: Conserving India's Tropical Forests with Dr. Kamaljit Bawa, Founder of ATREE
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
India is amongst the most biodiverse countries in the world, with a plethora of habitats, including tropical forests, grasslands, arid deserts, mangr...
Episode 34: Protecting the India's Elephant Corridors with Upasana Ganguly from the Wildlife Trust of India
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ecosystems around India are becoming increasingly fragmented. This is particularly concerning for megafauna species, such as tigers and elephants. Lan...
Episode 33: Creating a Nature Positive Future with Marco Lambertini
12 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Over the last decade, carbon neutrality and net zero have become the focus across governments, industries, corporations, scientists, and environment...
Episodes 32: Farmers for Forests, with Krutika Ravishankar, Co-Founder
07 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
One of the leading causes of biodiversity loss is habitat degradation. In terrestrial landscapes, this is primarily through rampant deforestation. Un...
Episode 31: Saving India's Grasslands with The Grasslands Trust
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
India’s grasslands are amongst the most biodiverse in the world. From wolves and hyenas to blackbucks and gazelle and from the Great Indian Bustard ...
Interview 15: The History of the WILD Foundation with Vance Martin
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On Episode 15, I interview Vance Martin, looking back on his 40 years as president of The Wild Foundation. We cover a wide breadth of conservation top...
Episode 30: The History and Future of Tiger Conservation in India with Dr. Ullas Karanth - Founder, Centre for Wildlife Studies
27 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 2023, India celebrated a major milestone in conservation. The 2022 tiger census yielded an estimated population of around 3,600 tigers, more than ...
Episode 29: Conserving India's Wildlife from Corbett to Satpuda with Kedar Gore, Director of The Corbett Foundation
23 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Corbett Foundation (TCF) is amongst India’s largest and oldest wildlife conservation organizations. It was established by the late Mr. Dilip D. ...
Episode 28: Understanding the Illegal Wildlife Trade with Alice Pasqualato
18 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With an annual turnover of USD 199 million, the illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest illicit market in the world, after drugs, arms, and human...
Episode 27: Rewilding Europe with Frans Schepers
13 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With a growing consensus on the importance of nature-based solutions in tackling the climate crisis, one particular ecological concept has become high...
Interview 16: Saving the Elusive Pygmy Hog with Dhritiman Das
08 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr. Dhritiman Das is a scientisit at the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust studying the world's smallest pig - the Pygmy Hog. This highly endangered...
Interview 10: Using AI for Sacred Groves with Monisha Krishna
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Sacred Groves provides a platform for environmentally sensitive individuals to support the conservation of indigenous natural forests and biodiv...
Interview 9: Creating India’s First Private Wildlife Sanctuary with Pamel Malhotra
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Only 3% of India's land surface is classified as a Protected Area. It is no surprise, therefore, that large populations of megafauna, including wolves...
Interview 7: Freeing Shankar, India’s Only African Elephant with Nikita Dhawan
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In Episode 7, join hosts Anish, as he speaks to Nikita Dhawan on her very ambitious Free Shankar Campaign. Shankar is India's only African Elephant, w...
Interview 6: Upskilling for Conservation with Adam Barlow
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Our guest for Episode 6 of Think Wildlife Podcast is Adam Barlow, founder and Executive Director of WildTeam Conservation, one of the leading conserva...
Interview 5: Caring for Pari, Saving India’s Captive Elephants, with Kartick Satyanarayan
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There are between 3,000 and 4,000 elephants in captivity in India. Despite their cultural reverence as Lord Ganesha, these elephants are exploited to ...
Interview 4: The Pressing Problem of Wildlife Diseases with Bindhu Raghavan
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the late 20th Century, India's vulture population collapsed. Over 90% of the vulture population across South Asia was decimated. This led to an ec...
Interview 3 - Creating Sanctuary Asia with Bittu Singhal
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In India, one of the most established and renowned voices in the field of conservation is none other than Bittu Saghal. Despite begining his career as...
Interview 2: Environmeental Journalism to the Rescue with Rhett Ayer Butler
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mongabay is by far one of the most prominent and larger conservation news outlets in the world. Founded, in 1999 by Rhett Ayer Butler, the non profit ...
Interview 1: In Search of the World’s Wild Cats with Stuart Chapman
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to The Think Wildlife Podcast. In our first episode, join our hosts, Anish Banerjee, as he speaks to Stuart Chapman about his passion for the ...
Interview 26: Protecting Mountain Gorilla Health with Dr. Ricky Okwir Okello from Gorilla Doctors
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Listed as “Critically Endangered” by the IUCN Red List, the Eastern Gorilla is under severe threat. Deforestation for both, agricultural and comm...
Interview 25: Dissecting the Asian Songbird Crisis with David Jeggo
16 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The tropics of South East Asia are amongst the most biodiverse regions worldwide. The area also hosts a wide diversity of songbirds! Unfortunately, th...
Interview 24 - The Dangers of Shark Fin Soup
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
An estimated 100 million sharks are lost annually to human activities. Much of this catastrophic phenomenon is caused by the excessive demand for shar...
Interview 23: How is deforestation impacting bird communities? Umesh Srinivasan, CES IISc
30 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Climate change and the loss and degradation of natural habitats are major drivers of species extinction globally. This is especially the case for spec...
Interview 21: Communiciating Conservation with Art with Devathi Parashuram, Current Conservation
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A prominent challenge faced not only by conservationists, but most scientists, is the communicating their research without much jargon. Fortunately, t...
Interview 22: Conserving India’s Marine Turtles with Kartik Shanker, Founder of Dakshin Foundation
24 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
While India is well known for her tigers, elephants and rhinos, the country also boasts amongst the richest marine biodiversity. One of the most uniqu...
Interview 20: Celebrating Field Studies Council with Mark Castle
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Launched in 1943 at the Natural History Museum in London, the Field Studies Council has expanded immensely, involving thousands of children in conserv...
Interview 19: Rescuing Borneon’s Sunbears with Wong Siew Te
11 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Malaysian Sunbears are one of the rarest species in the world. Their range extends from north-east India across South East Asia. Unfortunately, th...
Interview 18: Saving the Bumblebess of the United Kingdom with Gill Perkins
09 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bumblebess are amongst the most important taxa for the global economy. Agricultural systems around the world rely immensely on bumblebess and other in...
Interview 17: Restoring Seagrass Meadows around the World with Richard Lilley, Co-Founder of Project Seagrass
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With increasing understanding of the interlinkage of biodiversity and climate change, nature based solutions are increasingly being adopted to tackle ...
Interview 16: How are mammals faring in the United Kingdom? Stephanie Wray
19 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On this Episode, I interview Stephanie Wray on how United Kingdom's mammals are faring and her experiences as an ecological consultant. We talk about ...
Interview 15: Bringing back India’s Vultures with Chris Bowden, RSPB
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Towards the end of the 20th Century, vulture populations across South Asia plummeted, with few species loosing up to 99% of their population. The lo...
Interview 14: Saving the World’s Elephants with Sarah Conley
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With less than 500,000 individuals remaining in the wild, elephants are in trouble around the world. The illegal wildlife trade has decimated elephant...
Interview 13: Tackling Africa’s Poaching Crisis with Dan Bucknell
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Across most regions of the world, habitat loss and the illegal wildlife trade are leading causes of biodiversity loss. This is particularly the case w...
Interview 12 - Saving the Amazonian Rainforest with Jana Bell
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Amazon Rainforest is one of the most crucial ecosystems in the world. Not only is it home to 10% of all the known species in the world, the rainfo...
Interview 11: A Million Snakebites with Gnaneswar Ch
11 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Between 2000 and 2020, over 1 million people lost their lives to snakebites in India. Snakebite is the most extensive neglected tropical disease and h...
Interview 10: The Search for Otters in Central India with Vinni Jain
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Otters are small carnivorous mammals found predominantly in freshwater and coastal habitats. They are considered keystone species and play a crucial r...
Interview 9: Decoding Human Elephant Conflict with Prachi Mehta
03 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Over 100 elephants and 350 people lose their lives to human elephant conflict in India. This is not surprising given that only 22% of elephant habitat...
Interview 8: Understanding the Himalayan Wolves with Geraldine Werhahn
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Prowling the plains of the high Tibetan Platue is the Himalayan Wolf. Though considered a subspecies of the Gray Wolf, recent genetic studies have sug...
Interview 7: Saving the Elusive Snow Leopard with Koustubh Sharma
22 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Also known as the "Ghosts of the Mountains", the Snow Leopard is probably one of the most elusive cat in the world. They, however, are the apex predat...
Interview 6: Creating a Future For Nature with Rascha Nuijten
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of the largest challenges for any conservation project around the world is recieving suffecient funding. Projects aim to raise funds through vario...
Interview 5: The Story of The Wildlife Society with Ed Arnett
07 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Wildlife Society is amongst the oldest and most renowned wildlife conservation organizations around the world. Launched in 1936, the organization ...
Interview 4: Understanding Nature Credits, Elephants and the Great Apes with Ian Redmond
01 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
There is growing consensus that the biodiversity and climate crisis are intricately interlinked. In fact, a report found that just reintroducing n...
Interview 3: Save the Rhinos with Jimmy Rutherford and Emma Pereira
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of the primary targets of poachers around the world are rhinos. Their keratin horns form amongst the most lucrative products in the illegal wildli...
Interview 2: The Future of India’s Tigers with Anish Andheria, CEO of Wildlife Conservation Trust
16 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The revival of tiger populations across India is one of India's most successful conservation stories. India has more than doubled her tiger populati...
Interview 1: Tackling the Illegal Wildlife Trade with Azzedine Downes, President of IFAW
10 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The illegal wildlife trade is the fourth largest illict industry in the world, after the trafficking of drugs, arms and humans. Unfortunately, various...
Interview 20: Challenges of being a Wildlife Vetenerian in India with Dr. Aditi Sharma
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Join us on the final Episode of Season 1, where we speak to Dr. Aditi Sharma regarding the challenges of being a wildlife vetenerian in India, the cha...
Interview 19: Ranthambore’s Tigerwalah with Anurag Sharma
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Wildlife tourism has a crucial role in India's conservation success. With nearly 300 million people living in and around forests, tourism has a crucia...
Interview 18: Investing in Our Oceans with Harry Wright
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The climate and biodiversity crisis are highly interlinked. One particular ecosystem which has a critical role to play in tackling the climate crisis,...
Interview 17: Understanding Ecological Economics with Nandan Nawn
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Resuming after a short break, The Think WIldlife Podcast returns with a new episode discussing the role of ecological economics with Nandan Nawn. We...
Interview 14: Forestering with Human-Wildlife Coexistence with Vidya Venkatesh
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
India has more than doubled her tiger population since 2010. While this is certainly great news, it is still too early to celebrate. Unfortunately, a...
Interview 13: Saving the Majestic Lion with Peter Lindsey
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
While many are celebrating the majestic recovery of the Asiatic Lion from the brink of extinction, it is still too early to celebrate. Politics is c...
Interview 12: Untangling our Tangled Seas - Akansha Tiwari
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Oceans are the forerunners in our fight against climate change. Unfortunately, we are destroying our marine ecosystems. Overfishing, pollution and...
Episode 11: 10 Billion Strong with Patrick Arnold
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In just over 30 years, the United Nations predicts that the world population will reach 10 billion. While the current biodiversity and climate crisis ...
Interview 8: ATREE Turns 25 with Vamsidhar Pothula
26 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment is one of India's leading research institutes in conservation biology and ecology. In 2...