Rohan Chakravarty's Blog, page 24

The Wildlife Map of South Africa

Diamond and gold may well be South Africa's most valued reserves, but this beautiful country's most invaluable treasure is its wildlife! True to its title of 'Rainbow Nation', South Africa boasts of a biogeography as diverse and complex as its multicultural ethnicity: from the savanna forests of Kruger National Park at one end, home to the Big Five; to the unique Cape Floral Kingdom at the other extreme, home to some of the country's rarest endemics. The topographically diverse nation has been designed to harbour a staggering amount of biodiversity by a few crucial factors: oceanic currents from two oceans that meet at its southern tip, and the Great Escarpment that divides the country into the various biomes that we see on the map: the Karoo scrubs of the northwest, the Kalahari desert in the north, the fynbos coastal ecosystem of the southwest, mountain forests of the south, the Drakensberg highlands shared by SA and Lesotho in the east, and the bushveld and savanna forests of the northeast. 
The map brings together more than a hundred of the country's wild animals in one massive illustration, with a special focus on endemic species. Prints are available on my webstore here, shipped worldwide. The map will soon be available for orders within India as well.
(A big thanks to friends and mentors who have hosted me in South Africa: Swati Thiyagarajan and Craig Foster of Seachange with whom I am working on a very exciting illustrated compilation; and Karishma Pais and Brajesh Bajpai!)
Click on the images below for some close-up snippets:

Tanzania Maasai Eviction

On Tanzania's forceful eviction of the Maasai people from their ancestral lands for the creation of a game reserve for the UAE royal family, from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine.

Tiger Urine

A 'corny' cartoon on tiger urine from my column with Roundglass Sustain!

Perils of Unplanned Tree Plantation

News of a massive tree plantation drive in Ladakh backed and lauded by the government, is being celebrated across the country, in ignorance of the fact that Ladakh is not supposed to have trees. Here's a comic I created for ATREE's World Environment Day outreach campaign about the perils of unplanned tree plantation drives, a worrying trend across India. The Indian Courser, one of my favourite grassland birds, is just one of the many victims of habitat loss that unscientific aforestation programmes have caused in Central India.  

Mermaid's Purses

I've just returned from a field visit to Cape Town, where I was shown my first 'Mermaid's Purse' (among many other fascinating marine things, by Craig Foster, the human protagonist of the Oscar winning documentary My Octopus Teacher! Here's a comic from my column with The Hindu Sunday Magazine, about this fascinating phenomenon of nature, an egg capsule that viviparous sharks, rays and skates produce to ensure a safe future for their offsprings! 
I'm also sharing a picture of the mermaid's purse I stumbled upon, which I was told belonged to a Dark Shyshark!

Fynbos

A cartoon on the Fynbos: a shrub biome endemic to the Cape region of South Africa, featuring a Fynbos endemic bird species: the Protea Canary. I am off to South Africa over an exciting assignment, and of course for some wildlife-watching (and my maiden visit to the African continent!). I will see you soon with more cartoons and comics in mid-June.

Schengen Itinerary for Migratory Birds visiting the Mediterranean

Comic on mass bird hunting in the Mediterranean, from my column with The Hindu Weekend.

Himalayan Heatwave Haircut

Would you also like the Himalayan heatwave cut from Goral and Sons Hairdressers? Cartoon from my column with Roundglass Sustain.

World Binturong Day

Get acquainted with the Binturong on World Binturong Day! These bizarre bear-like civets are found across North-east India and South-east Asia. Comic from my column with Roundglass Sustain.

India's Exotic Pet Problem

On India's exotic pet problem from my column with The Hindu. Read Purva Variyar's detailed coverage on how an organized crime nexus operates behind the coveted turtles, pythons and macaws, in her blog series for Wildlife Conservation Trust.