Rohan Chakravarty's Blog, page 48

Bubble Nest Frogs

The tadpole of a bubble-nesting bush frog from the Western Ghats has a message for you. Comic from my column with The Hindu.

New Damselflies from Southern India

While primetime TV was bellowing about Bollywod drug busts, four new Damselflies were discovered from Southern India: Protosticta myristicaensis, Protosticta sholaei, Protosticta cyanofemora, and Platylestes kirani (named in honour of the late odonatologist CG Kiran). A big congratulations to the researchers behind the discoveries: Shantanu Joshi, KA Subramanian, R Babu, Dattaprasad Sawant, Krushnamegh Kunte, KG Emiliyamma, Muhammed Jafar Palot, and C Charesh. Why should these discoveries matter to us more than Bollywood? Because damselflies kill mosquitoes.
Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-day. 

Green Antarctica

Green Antarctica. Cartoon from my column with The Hindu.

Satellite Tagged Lesser Floricans

Here's some good news this Wildlife Week: a hope that the recent satellite tagging of Lesser Floricans in Gujarat enhances the endangered species' conservation efforts. Congratulations to the Gujarat Forest Department for the move, accomplished last month. Comic from my column with Sunday Mid-Day.

Lantana and Tiger Reserves

On the invasion of India's green cover by Lantana, from my column with Sunday Mid-Day. Read more about the issue in Rajat Rastogi's article for Mongabay here.

Sharks, Squalene and COVID

Sharks, squalene and COVID. Comic from my @rgsustain column. Can we afford to inflict mass slaughter upon an apex predator and make coral reefs and marine ecosystems collapse to have a Covid vaccine, in the presence of alternatives?

Hawaiian Monk Seal and Climate Change

A cartoon I drew live as a demonstration for my cartooning session with the East-West Center Hawaii. Thanks to the institute and to Ms. Vaibhavi Dwiwedi for having me as a speaker!

Biodiversity Map of Mumbai

The first images that one's mind conjures upon hearing the name Mumbai, are either a city full of skyscrapers and slums, or the promenades along Marine Lines and Bandra. But Mumbai is also replete with a unique blend of biodiversity. From a forest ruled by leopards in the heart of the city to beaches full of bizarre shore wildlife, from wetlands dotted pink with flamingos to mangroves splashing red with fiddler crabs, Mumbai has them all! Here is an illustration done for Purpose's campaign 'Mumbai's Ministry of Magic', with the motive to empower Mumbai's youth with a visual resource of the city's biodiversity, and a reminder to the government of the natural heritage we must conserve and coexist with. The map also pays tribute to the Warli and Koli communities, and the very spirit of Mumbai.
My thanks to Ms. Suma Balaram, Ms. Arpita Bhagat and their team for commissioning this once-in-a-lifetime project! My gratitude to friends at Marine Life of Mumbai, Ms. Madhushri Mudke and my brother Rohit Chakravarty for their inputs. A hat tip to the maverick herpetologists Zeeshan Mirza and Rajesh Sanap for discovering the invertebrates and reptiles from Aarey Colony that feature in the map. Click on the images to view details from the map: 

Char Dham Road and the Himalayas

The Char Dham Pariyojana has been dedicated by our Prime Minister to the Uttarakhand flood victims of 2013. Ironically, its construction has been exacerbating the same destruction of the Himalayas that caused the 2013 mishap. Uttarakhand's State Animal, the Musk Deer shares some concerns from my column with The Hindu.

Merchandise for Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park

Some merchandise designed for Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park in the Andaman Islands. I had the great fortune of visiting the place last year, while in the Andamans for the Andaman Literature Festival. My sincere thanks to the forest department for hosting me at MGMNP and for commissioning this project, and to my dear friend, researcher and writer Krishna Anujan for making this happen!