WILDERNESS DAYS - WILD WONDER OF ASSAM

In this episode you know about Kaziranga National Park – a world heritage site, One of the most sought after wildlife holiday destinations in India, Kaziranga National park's 430 square kilometer area sprinkled with elephant-grass meadows, swampy lagoons, and dense forests is home to more than 2200 Indian one-horned rhinoceros, approximately 2/3rd of their total world population.. Kaziranga also boasts the highest density of tigers among the protected areas in the world and was declared a Tiger Reserve in 2006. Though sighting of tigers are difficult because of the tall grasses that provide excellent camouflage, their presence can be felt everywhere by way of pug marks, kills and territorial markings. The park is home to large breeding populations of elephants, wild water buffalo and swamp deer.

Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve - The Vulture's Land

Dominant flora and fauna of  Mukundra Hills National Park. How to reach Mukundra Hills National Park. Darrah was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1955. The forest of the sanctuary is very thick and dense.

The park is situated between two parallel mountains viz. Mukundra and Gagrola which run across a length of about 80 km from Murlipura to Rawatbhata. The four rivers which form the boundary of this valley are Ramzan, Ahu, Kali and Chambal.

IT was declared as a National park (Mukundra Hills National Park) in 2004. Total area of the National park is about 200 km2. The park got the nod from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in 2013, and the state (Rajasthan) bagged its third tiger reserve in the form of the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve. The densely wooded Darrah Sanctuary is spread all over the hilly terrain.

National park is an area which is strictly reserved for the betterment of the wildlife & biodiversity, and where activities like developmental, forestry, poaching, hunting and grazing on cultivation are not permitted. Their boundaries are well marked and circumscribed.

Dominant flora and fauna of  Mukundra Hills National Park. How to reach Mukundra Hills National Park. Darrah was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1955. The forest of the sanctuary is very thick and dense.



The park is situated between two parallel mountains viz. Mukundra and Gagrola which run across a length of about 80 km from Murlipura to Rawatbhata. The four rivers which form the boundary of this valley are Ramzan, Ahu, Kali and Chambal.

IT was declared as a National park (Mukundra Hills National Park) in 2004. Total area of the National park is about 200 km2. The park got the nod from National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) in 2013, and the state (Rajasthan) bagged its third tiger reserve in the form of the Mukundra Hills Tiger Reserve. The densely wooded Darrah Sanctuary is spread all over the hilly terrain.

National park is an area which is strictly reserved for the betterment of the wildlife & biodiversity, and where activities like developmental, forestry, poaching, hunting and grazing on cultivation are not permitted. Their boundaries are well marked and circumscribed.ed.

The Rebirth of Rajaji

The national park had a close brush with death but it chose to live. Now, it holds a promising future.

It was summer of 1985, May 12 to be exact, our entire family was in Mussourie for a summer holiday. On May 16, we had a late start back home and after crossing Dehradun while we were about to be crossing Mohund, we saw herd of elephants on the left flank from an elevated hill road. It was already past 5 pm and we stopped at the Mohund Forest Chowki, and that is when a fanciful thought struck me.

Making a necessary telephone call to the forest authorities in Dehradun from range office (there were no cell-phones those days), I veered my car to the left — and entered Rajaji National Park for a night halt at Dhaulkhand with my family. Negotiating several dry river-beds and a rather long meandering forest stretch, we finally reached our destination. The heart of Rajaji Park,
Dhaulkhand is now out of bounds for a common man being the core area of the national park. Nowadays, thanks to the stringent tourism policy in Indian forests, it’s easier to gain entry in Rashtrapati Bhavan than in Dhaulkhand! We were, of course, lucky as entries were easy and there were hardly any such families like us who were mad for wildlife to the extent to spend a night in the forest without electricity and other facilities. (I also spent enchanting two days at Dhaulkhand during the last Holi, but more about that in a future article).
The sun had already set as we entered the forest res
A morning drive through the forest at sunrise, is always enchanting, and it was more so in Dhaulkhand that particular summer. Within minutes, the whole jungle was busy in unison to lap up food and water — as if to prepare for a long day. Several herds of spotted dear hurtled in front of our car, occasional jungle fowl scanned the loose earth foraging for food and an occasional sambhar would break cover from the bushes to take a close look at our vehicle. The sunlight coming through the occasional thin tall Sal, Dhak, Rohini and Ber trees gave an almost magical appearance to the setting. A forest guard had given us a little description about fresh roads nearby the earlier evening and where there was maximum probability of finding wildlife.

While imbibing the indescribable beauty of the forest, we noticed a small group of vultures atop a tree. Maybe a kill was nearby, or even the killer! Could it be a tiger or a leopard, I wondered.
As any wildlife enthusiast will tell you, the very hint of a big cat’s presence in a jungle impacts the body, mind and spirit — all at once! For the next 25 minutes or so, all of us sat motionless in the car; straining our ears to catch any sound near the prey or an alarm call, a typical jungle phenomenon through which a tiger’s or a leopard’s presence is advertised in the forest.
We heard nothing, absolutely nothing. The vultures too did not make any noticeable movement.
Maybe the tiger was lying close to the kill, and the vultures were waiting patiently for him to move away, I told myself. Minutes dragged by, and still nothing happened. I then decided to do a little investigation. I moved out and had hardly walked 50 m through the grass and bush patch in the direction the vultures pointed, when a sight stopped me in my tracks. It was a tiger which I saw lying out of the grass — no more than 10 m from me! I froze instantly, for any sudden movement on my part could make the tiger head straight for my jugular… but the tiger did not make any movement. Slowly and stealthily I started retracting my steps. Disturbing a tiger on its kill is to surely invite death.

Having reentered the car, I regained my composure and started assessing. The tiger’s strange behaviour got me thinking. Gathering courage, I gave out a coughing sound. The tiger still did not move. We all made a lot of noise…yet it remained unresponsive. It did not even move from the point it was lying. Keeping ourselves safe, we tried every method to attract its attention. We decided to take another close look and making sounds with every step, we started moving closer to the point where the tiger was lying. This time, having reached within quite close, in a flash, excitement gave way to pangs of sadness. Instinctively, I knew what had happened. All along we had been watching a dead tiger! It was a beautiful tigress, in the prime of her youth. Not a single injury mark was visible on her body. I concluded that she had been poisoned and decided, then and there, to do something about it. To investigate, I visited the locals nearby. My knowledge of the ways of the forest told me that locals would often poison predators that threatened their cattle. Was it the same situation here as well?

We returned to the rest house and debated whether we should inform the forest department with the entire family, including ladies and children being part of the investigation, or move out. We finally decided that the entire family would move back to Delhi and then we would take up the
matter with the authorities and media. By afternoon, we packed up and went to take a last look at the carcass. It was strange that the vultures and jackals had almost cleared the carcass within hours after we had earlier left the scene.

The same evening, I attended to my pressing engagements but I wrote a piece for two of the leading national dailies. As expected, all hell broke loose after my report about the dead tiger with the photographs was published on the front page with the fact that it had possibly been poisoned.
Rajaji Park’s Warden, VK Verma, was quick to deny my newsreport. He claimed there was no carcass in the park and refuted the death due to rising man-animal conflicts, which I had mentioned in my article. Within days, after having conducted his own inquiry and on not locating the carcass, I was called to show the location. Fortunately, I succeeded and came across the carcass of tigress and he concluded that it had, indeed, been poisoned. I stood vindicated.

Thereafter, I developed a cordial relation with Verma, and found him to be a dedicated and involved forest officer.
The next few years were the hardest on Rajaji’s tigers. Most, if not all, vanished without a trace… I wondered, then, whether the beautiful park would be deprived of its tigers, victims of human’s greed which was taking a toll on the wildlife in other parts of India as well.
A series of developments made me realise that things were not as bad as they looked initially. The relocation of a large number of families living inside Rajaji Park to Pathri and other blocks near Hardwar brought the winds of change to the beleaguered park. The forests of Rajaji, I am proud to report, are springing back to its original glory. The tiger, too, has returned and their sightings are getting common in Dhaulkhand, near the Chilla ranges. During my last visit to Rajaji, I came across a beautiful huge male tiger near the now renovated Khara forest bungalow.
The recovery of a patient whom I had given up for dead… but kept our fight on. 

t house of Dhaulkhand and the ladies became busy cooking our dinner on the firewood with the local ration picked up at Mohund. The muted chirping of the birds indicated that darkness had engulfed the forest. We took a jungle round and came across a beautiful male leopard on the stretch between Dhaulkhand and Beribarha as also a few cheetal and sambhar herds. After the round we had dinner which was ready by then. We slept early, to wake up next morning at the break of dawn.

Rajaji has better potential than even Corbett. It is said that Rajaji was the most favoured hunting ground pf the Raj and Britishers. They could kill over 5 tigers in a night in Dhaulkhand stretch of the park

The true achievement will come when we are able to restore the forest corridor which has been ursurped by the so called development of homo sapiens in the form of mindless construction permissions, cutting up forest patch for Ashrams and agriculture and mindless jungle encroachment of Raiwala Ammunition Dump

Navin M Raheja, is a wildlife enthusiast and a passionate photographer. In the past 35 years, he has made several contributions in the field of conservation at various levels. A former member of Project Tiger’s Steering Committee, under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, he worked persistently to ensure that the big cats survive in India. He is also Chairman, Wildlife Conservation Society of India. One with a holistic vision, Raheja believes that development and protection of environment can happen simultaneously.
Raheja is a popular producer of films and documentaries based on varied subjects pertaining to today's Wildlife & Environmental Conservation. Raheja Productions, the division of Raheja, has produced more than 140 documentaries and films on wildlife and environment, which have been aired on National Geographic Channel, DD National and worldwide, ABP News etc. Over 37 first hand wildlife encounter stories have been published in various newspapers and magazines.
“I started going to Forests at a very young age where you could walk, cycle or even go on
a scooter Tiger Reserves, National Parks into Corbett/Rajaji National Park etc.
Have been visiting almost all the Tiger Reserves in India almost on a weekly/fortnightly  basis. This kept me in close interaction with wild animals, understanding the intricate relationship with and between the various species at the planet.
This also helped me to contribute into Tiger rehabilitation experiments and also dealing with man eaters as well as rogue elephants. Hope you will enjoy reading stories and watching wildlife films.” - Navin M Raheja

(For already published stories/articles and films on wildlife which have been aired on National Geographic channel, Doordarshan National channel, DD International and ABP News, please log on to www.raheja.com/wildlife.asp or www.rahejaproductions.com)

Tranquilization of a sick Tiger for treatment by forest officer

A TRIBUTE TO T36

Even when the sweat started clouding the lenses, I refused to put the binocular down. The September Sun in Ranthambore National Park can be quite unforgiving. But to lose sight of T36, that too after four days of intense search outside the periphery of Ranthambore, was an unacceptable proposition. So I let the sweat-bath continue.

I remember the day vividly- September 20, 2008. I also remember October 18, 2010 equally well, but with lot more sadness. This was the day T36 completed his circle of life and returned to the happy hunting grounds of his forefathers. 

To me, T36 would always remain an unsung hero. One of the most graceful tigers to straddle the hills and grasslands of Ranthambore, he was- however- never a photographer's delight. No television channel ever made a documentary on him, nor was his pictorial laid out in any magazine or newspaper. He simply wasn't considered hot enough. 

But all this inattention will not take away from the immense, almost immeasurable, charm of T36. For three years, right from his birth to death and the turbulence he suffered in-between, T36 would hold me spell-bound...And therefore, I feel his life-story deserves a few words. It is not a happy life-story, but it's a story which T36 scripted and lived out in the spirit of a true tiger.


T36 in happier times, with sister T37in the Guda area of Ranthambore

For starters, T36 was an extremely shy tiger (one reason why he could never become a celebrity tiger). Difficult to spot, he would bolt at the slightest hint of human presence. There was a reason for this odd behavior, a striking contrast from the normally camera-friendly tigers of Ranthambore.

Born to Guda female sometime in January 2008, T 36 and his sister opened their eyes to the chilly but friendly forest of Ranthambore. The Guda area of the park - after which the mother was named - harboured sufficient shelter and prey animals for a family of three tigers to live happily.

For eight months, Ranthambore granted peaceful existence to the family. It was during this period that T36 imbibed some of the hunting skills from his mother- skills which would save his life in the dreadful years ahead.

But as any tiger would tell you, peace in the forest is often temporary. Meant to be savoured as long as it last, peace is an unsecured loan granted to the denizens of a forest, and is usually taken back as swiftly. 

On September 1, 2008, T36 got the shock of his young life. In one stroke of bad luck, the gods snatched away peace and comfort from T36, and hurled him down the path of almost daily battle for survival. 

On the fateful day, T36's mother died. Rather, she was killed by another tigress while defending her territory and her cubs. The forest authorities of Ranthambore, aware that the mother-less cubs were hiding somewhere in the rocky terrain, launched a massive search-and-rescue operation.

Three days later, T36 and his sister were found in a dense undergrowth. They had probably not eaten anything for 10 days, and might not have survived the ordeal for long.

``Now what''?, asked the authorities to themselves. Faced with two grown-up cubs who had not yet carved out their territories or had established hunting techniques, it was a tough question to answer. Such were the state of affairs that an ad-hoc forest control-room and headquarter was set up in the area by Forest Ranger Sh. Daulat Singh Shekhawat so that he along with his staff can keep a constant watch on the cubs. Finally, after enough deliberation, the senior officials of Ranthambore decided to let mother nature decide the fate of the duo.

At around September 10, Forest Ranger Sh. Daulat Singh Shekhawat took upon himself the task to radio collar T36 and he was radio-collared and taken to Sawai Mansingh sanctuary, bordering Ranthambore. The fact that the sanctuary had few resident tigers and males of Ranthambore used it mainly as a passage-way would make it suitable for T-36 to establish his domain there.

T36 being released in Sawai Mansingh sanctuary 

For months thereafter, I, along with my trusted friend M D Parashar, would scout Sawai Mansingh sanctuary, always on the lookout for T 36. He crossed our paths several times, and each encounter is deeply etched in my memory.

From day one of his forced freedom, T36 started displaying reckless behavior. Within weeks he aqcuired the reputation of a cattle-lifter. This trait gained him immediate dislike of a large number of villages dotted alongside the boundary of Ranthambore. Naturally, it also made the authorities jumpy, for now they had to keep a sharper eye on the young tiger.

On March 21, 2009 matters came to a head. A few days before, T36 had taken shelter in a field behind Oberai Hotel. He had not made a kill for several days. A desperate and foolish step it was, but hungry T36 took it anyway by attacking a human being. It happened at Karvoda village, and the woman T36 thought would be a nice meal was bleeding profusely when we reached Karvoda.

Two days later, T36 attacked and injured a forest official, Mohan Lal. The same day, the forest authorities, now really in a panic-mode, tranquilised the errant tiger and took him to Falaudi forest range near Ghazipur, some 40 kilometres away from Ranthambore National Park.


T42 who killed T36 in a territorial fight

It was at Falaudi that I had some of the most memorable encounters with T36. It was clear he was coming out on his own, and had started pursuing natural prey like chital, sambhar and wild boar.

I would often meet T 36 on narrow jungle bylanes in early mornings. Initially, as was his habit, he would take cover the moment he spotted Parashar's Gypsy. At times, we spotted him quenching his thirst at a water-hole. Over time, he started accepting my presence- or this is what I thought. Had I managed to connect with T36 in some unkown manner? who knows. But his behaviour was showing far less hostility to me than before. I found myself privileged.

By June 2010, I had managed to establish what may be called a rough connect with T36. One afternoon, with temperature soaring to 45 degree celcius, I saw T36 approaching a water-hole. We were some 50 feet away, but he took no note of us and jumpled headlong into the pool. 

For next 30 minutes, as T36 continued his battle with the mercury, I found myself engrossed in gazing at his superb form. Time lost all sense of meaning. Suddenly, the unforgettable words of American curator John Seidensticker came to mind:

``The tiger lives in a world of sunlight and shadow
Always secretive, never devious
Always a killer, never a murderer
Solitary, never alone
For it is an irreplaceable link
In the process and the wholeness of life''

Seidensticker might well have been speaking for T36. 

Things were going along rather fine for T36 at this stage, I must say. Now approaching his third birthday, he had effectively made Falaudi his home-turf. The skirmishes with villagers and cattle-lifting had become a thing of the past. T36, it seemed, had finally learnt to balance freedom with responsibility. ``He is now ready for a mate,'' a beaming Parashar told me in the first week of October, 2010.
When Parashar called me up on the afternoon of October 22, I picked the cell-phone with a smile. So finally, T36 has emerged on his own...he must have had a successful mating, I told myself. But within seconds, my hope lay shattered. T36, I was informed, had been killed by another male tiger in a territorial fight....Parashar gave me the details of the deadly fight, but I was not hearing the words. I was elsewhere, in a secluded patch of Falaudi, watching T36 as he ambled majestically towards me....



T36 died on October 18, 2010

(With inputs from Shri M D Prashar)

Navin M Raheja, is a wildlife enthusiast and a passionate photographer. In the past 35 years, he has made several contributions in the field of conservation at various levels. A former member of Project Tiger’s Steering Committee, under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, he worked persistently to ensure that the big cats survive in India. He is also Chairman, Wildlife Conservation Society of India. One with a holistic vision, Raheja believes that development and protection of environment can happen simultaneously.
Raheja is a popular producer of films and documentaries based on varied subjects pertaining to today's Wildlife & Environmental Conservation. Raheja Productions, the division of Raheja, has produced more than 140 documentaries and films on wildlife and environment, which have been aired on National Geographic Channel, DD National and worldwide, ABP News etc. Over 37 first hand wildlife encounter stories have been published in various newspapers and magazines.

“I started going to Forests at a very young age where you could walk, cycle or even go on
a scooter Tiger Reserves, National Parks into Corbett/Rajaji National Park etc.
Have been visiting almost all the Tiger Reserves in India almost on a weekly/fortnightly  basis. This kept me in close interaction with wild animals, understanding the intricate relationship with and between the various species at the planet.
This also helped me to contribute into Tiger rehabilitation experiments and also dealing with man eaters as well as rogue elephants. Hope you will enjoy reading stories and watching wildlife films.” - Navin M Raheja

(For already published stories/articles and films on wildlife which have been aired on National Geographic channel, Doordarshan National channel, DD International and ABP News, please log on to www.raheja.com/wildlife.asp or www.rahejaproductions.com)

BABY LEOPARDS

Leopards are in the cat family. Leopards live mostly in Africa with some living in India, Malaysia and China. Leopards are solitary animals meaning they like to live alone. A male leopard is called a leopard. A female leopard is called a leopardess. A baby is called a cub. Leopards can be 4.5 ft. – 6ft long with a tail that is 3.5-4.5 long. Leopards are between 2-3 ft tall. They weigh between 80-200 pounds.  Females are slightly smaller than males.Leopards range in color from a pale yellow to a deep gold.  Melanistic leopards are black and often referred to as black panthers. Leopards have rosettes (rose-like markings) patterns on their fur. Leopard’s color and rosettes patterns go with their habitat. Leopards with paler coats live in desert habitats. Leopards with more rounder rosettes live in East Africa and leopards with squarer rosettes live in South Africa. Leopards are great climbers and great swimmers.They can leap up to 20ft. Leopards are agile meaning they are able to move quickly and easily.  They are fast runners and can run 36 miles per hour. Leopards like to spend a lot of time in trees. Leopards are carnivores meaning they eat meat.

In search of man-eating leopards

Gradual degradation of forest cover in the Paudi-Garhwal region has led to the animal losing its fear of humans

It was a chilly December afternoon — December 17, 1997, to be exact — when my car broke down no sooner than I left the non-descript hamlet of Duggada for Haldupurao, my destination which also happens to be one of the most beautiful and undisturbed spots in Uttarakhand’s Jim Corbett National Park. Little did I know then that the forced halt would open an altogether new chapter in my life.
That one incident would bring me closer to one of the least understood phenomenon of Uttarakhand: that of the man-eating leopards!
Well, to come back to the story which sparked my interest in man-eating leopards,  I somehow located a dilapidated Government rest house in Duggada while a local mechanic towed away my car for repairs. As I entered the rest house, the sun was rolling down on a hill to my left. A closer look at the surrounds revealed that the premises was actually quite strategically located on the edge of a valley. A huge lawn in front of the room beckoned me and this is where I decided to have my cup of tea — in the dying evening light, under the shadow of an old Sal tree.
But as I sat down on a protruding rock on the edge of the forest, the caretaker’s scream from the kitchen made me jump in shock. “Sahib,” the caretaker, now rushing towards me, said, “what are you doing? Don’t you know this is the time when Poojari ventures out? Please come inside immediately and don’t forget to bolt the door.”

 A leopard relaxes on a tree branch

Within next 10 minutes, with stories from caretaker and other staff within closed doors of the bungalow, I had become an expert on Poojari. A man-eating leopard,  which went by the name of Poojari, had killed over 30 humans in and around Duggada during past two years. All efforts to bag him alive or dead had failed. I left Duggada for Haldupurao next morning, but a few questions refused to leave my mind: how come the man-eater has not been captured or killed even after 30 human deaths? What must be the reasons which made it a man-eater and what traits might have kept it alive despite best efforts of forest authorities and local shikaris?  Has the leopard started killing humans, not its normal diet, because we have ravaged its natural habitat? Who is at fault here — the animal or we?

The questions remained unanswered, for I learnt that Poojari was shot dead few months later by a local hunter. Strangely, even though I had not ever come face to face with Poojari, this particular leopard refused to leave my consciousness!
My further visits to Paudi district made me realise that the terror of a man-eating leopard was not confined to Duggada alone. They exist and operate in large areas of Uttarakhand, afflicting damage to humans at regular intervals. (Please note: The Poojari of Duggada who could not make me his dinner is not to be confused with the man-eating leopard by the same name which stalked and killed humans areas around Kotdwar, not far from Duggada, in the early 70s. The  ‘original’ Poojari, which killed over 40 people, was captured and sent to Lucknow zoo in 1972. It was named Poojari as it lived in a cave near a ‘Sidhbali’ temple.)
The cries of men, women and children who fall victims to man-eating leopards of  Uttarakhand hardly reach the cities down in the plains. The man-line media is perhaps too busy with politicians and celebrities to take note of these tragedies which, over the years, have grown to Himalayan proportions.
If you think I am overstating the facts, please read on. More than 70 people in Uttarakhand get killed by man-eating leopards every year. Compared to this, only handful of people die in a tiger or an elephant attack all over the country!

Leopard-spotting near Pauri

More than anything else, I have been trying to find out why the phenomenon of man-eating leopards continues unabated in Uttarakhand for over past eight decades? Jim Corbett shot his famous Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag in 1926, but since then many more man-eaters have appeared on the scene. And also, why do people living in certain belts of Kumaon and Garhwal regions of Uttarakhand are more prone to leopard attacks than people living along the same mountainous stretch, but outside these belts?
In my quest to make a film on man-eating leopards of Paudi-Garhwal, I made numerous subsequent visits to Paudi town and found people continue to live in perpetual fear of man-eating leopards. These are the areas from where I came across several horror stories: of a school-going girl getting snatched from her mother’s hand by a leopard, a man seeing a leopard drag and disappear with his wife in a thicket, a drunk becoming a leopard’s victim.
A comment made eight decades ago stands relevant even today. In the concluding chapter of his classic bestseller The Man-Eating Leopard of Rudraprayag, the legendary hunter-turned-conservationist Jim Corbett makes this observation: “Here was an old leopard, the best-hated and the most-feared animal in all of India, whose only crime — not against the laws of nature, but against the laws of man — was he had shed human blood, with no objective of terrorising man, but only in order that he might live…”

The terrain around Pauri where man-eating leopards prey.

Corbett is long gone from the scene. Leopard, the handsome prince of Indian jungles, is holding on to dear life in Uttarakhand. That it has turned into man-eater should not come as a surprise to us. Fact is, all of us have contributed in some way to this unfortunate phenomenon.

Fight for survival
The search for reasons which cause an otherwise healthy leopard to turn into a man-eater has brought me to several known and unknown places in Uttarakhand. For over past two decades, I have focused on the areas around Paudi, since most
incidents of human killings take place here. Very little scientific research has been done to pin-point the causes. I will, of course, delve on these issues in a future article. However, among other factors, it’s the gradual degradation of forest cover over the decades in the Paudi-Garhwal region which has led to a leopard losing its fear of humans.

Navin M Raheja, is a wildlife enthusiast and a passionate photographer. In the past 35 years, he has made several contributions in the field of conservation at various levels. A former member of Project Tiger’s Steering Committee, under the

Ministry of Environment and Forests, he worked persistently to ensure that the big cats survive in India. He is also Chairman, Wildlife Conservation Society of India. One with a holistic vision, Raheja believes that development and protection of environment can happen simultaneously. 

Raheja is a popular producer of films and documentaries based on varied subjects pertaining to today's Wildlife & Environmental Conservation. Raheja Productions, the division of Raheja, has produced more than 140 documentaries and films on wildlife and environment, which have been aired on National Geographic Channel, DD National and worldwide, ABP News etc. Over 37 first hand wildlife encounter stories have been published in various newspapers and magazines. 

“I started going to Forests at a very young age where you could walk, cycle or even go on a scooter Tiger Reserves, National Parks into Corbett/Rajaji National Park etc.

Have been visiting almost all the Tiger Reserves in India almost on a weekly/fortnightly basis. This kept me in close interaction with wild animals, understanding the intricate relationship with and between the various species at the planet.

This also helped me to contribute into Tiger rehabilitation experiments and also dealing with man eaters as well as rogue elephants. Hope you will enjoy reading stories and watching wildlife films.”  - Navin M Raheja

(For already published stories/articles and films on wildlife which have been aired on National Geographic channel, Doordarshan National channel, DD International and ABP News, please log on to www.raheja.com/wildlife.asp or www.rahejaproductions.com)