Elephant in the Room: Wildlife Trust of India’s Rapid Response to Grounded Humans & Uprooted Wanderers

About this episode

This episode discusses the Wildlife Trust of India's efforts in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation, focusing on human-elephant coexistence in Madhya Pradesh.

Following on from the conversation with Dr Bhaskar Choudhury in the previous episode... Recorded further south, near Bandhavgarh National Park in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, this bonus episode is with Amrit Menon , department head of the Wildlife Trust of India’s (WTI) Wild Aid division. This conversation looks not solely at rescue and rehabilitation, but at coexistence. What happens when wild animals are forced from their traditional habitats into states that have never before had to co-exist with them? For example, how do local farming communities adapt to life when their new neighbours are forty-five elephants strong? This conversation details the WTI’s Rapid Action Projects - RAPS — funded in part by David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation. Think of RAPS as conservation’s Thunderbirds: small, nimble teams that drop into crisis zones, offer immediate help, and try to stop future problems before they grow. We’ll then head into the field — to meet with some of the farmers facing the daily reality of elephantine visits, and the RAP project manager there on the floor, Meghna Bandyopadhyay . With thanks to David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation for making this episode possible…

People in this episode

Host: David Oakes

Guest: Amrit Menon

Topics covered

• wildlife conservation
• human-wildlife coexistence
• elephant behavior
• agriculture
• crisis response

Keywords

• wildlife
• elephants
• conservation
• coexistence
• farming communities
• India
• rescue
• rehabilitation
• crisis response

Sponsors

David Shepherd Wildlife Foundation

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Wildlife Trust of India

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