'My childhood passion is now a lifetime commitment': Wildlife conservationist Krithi Karanth

Now, it's time for Perspective, and my guest on the programme today is quite simply one of the world's leading, multi-award winning environmentalists. Krithi Karanth is a conservation biologist and CEO at the Centre for Wildlife Studies in India. Now, she was born and grew up in India, leaving to study in the US, but returned to her home country in her early 30s to continue the fight.

That fight, of course, long and hard, but also deeply rewarding, I'm sure. Well, Krithi Karanth joins us now from New Delhi. Great to have you with us on the programme today.

Thanks for joining us. Tell us about some of the projects. I mean, that's obviously the best way to talk about this, isn't it?

I mean, one of your latest research projects to do with Asian elephants. Hi, thank you for having me. I think the biggest challenge we have with wildlife conservation globally, not just in India, but all parts of the world, there's large animals, whether they're elephants, tigers, leopards, wolves and bears, are coming across people.

And this results in losses of crops and livestock and occasionally injury to both people and the animals. And so the vision we have at Centre for Wildlife Studies is how do you keep people safe? How do you keep animals safe?

What are a bunch of research and conservation projects that can help you reconcile human needs with animal needs? So part of it, I suppose, is going out there and actually trying to do that yourself. And part of it is about research as well, yes?

I think the research plays in in terms of understanding what the problem is, what are the animals involved, what are the financial extent of losses, what is the emotional trauma that people face? And the other piece, of course, is then we have now designed six award winning conservation programs that work in 100 parks in India, where you're trying to solve these problems, whether it's conflict, whether it's poaching, whether it's getting Indian kids to fall in love with Indian animals and making sure that you have short to long term ways to balance this huge challenge we have. So tell us about the details of some of those projects.

I mentioned one about Indian elephants. There's also another one about Indian tigers as well and catching them on camera. So I think the work we do is very much about studying the animals, where the elephants found, where tigers found, what puts pressure on these populations.

And more importantly, I think in India, we've actually succeeded in bringing these animals back in many of our wildlife parks, which means the parks are filled to capacity. Animals are going to step outside and run into people. So a lot of the work is actually looking at how do you mitigate human tiger conflict, human elephant conflict, human leopard conflict.

And one simple program we have is called Wild Save. It's a toll free number that you can call and our staff arrive on the scene and look at the loss that has resulted from a large animal like elephants, whether it's losing your crops or losing your house. and then we get file a claim with the government on their behalf and then they get compensation back for some of these losses.

And that goes a long way in, you know, mitigating conflict, preventing retaliation against elephants and tigers and leopards. And where did this come from in you? Where does the passion come from?

I mean, I read as an example that even at a very young age, you used to track tigers yourself. So my father is also a very well-known tiger biologist and conservationist himself. So he started taking me to the jungle when I was a year old and I had this magical childhood where for the first 17 years, I just went out and watched animals.

So he gamified it for me saying, can you spot something before I do? So I do. And that life that, you know, childhood passion is now a lifelong commitment to figuring out ways we we can protect wildlife and wild places in India.

I mean, it's a beautiful story, isn't it? You know, you sort of what I suppose was maybe not a hobby, but, you know, something that your dad introduced to you when you were younger and has flourished within you and became your career, I suppose. As a kid, I didn't want to be a wildlife scientist or conservationist.

It's I think, you know, when you spend time in nature, all of us, it does something to our brain and has a calming effect, has a adrenaline kick when you see an animal, a rare animal, an animal that you love. And so it's really, really exciting for for me, even today, when I go into a park, if I get to see an elephant, get to see a gaur or a lion tailed macaque, all of this brings me joy. Right.

The fundamental thing is being out in nature and watching animals. We saw just a second ago some pictures of Asian honeybees there as well. I mean, it's not just about those big creatures, is it like the elephant, like the tiger is also really important to protect other species, too.

Absolutely. We work on amphibians, on birds, on reptiles and the whole range of it. And I think, yes, the big, cuddly, furry animals do get a lot of public attention and support.

But, you know, people think the age of exploration is done. It's not done. People are still scientists are still discovering new species.

And this is very much the case in India. There are so many bad species unknown to us. There are so many amphibians yet unknown to us.

So I think if you're a kid growing up today, there's a lot of excitement still left and being a scientist and a biologist and, you know, seeking nature out and discovering new things. Great to talk to you on the programme today. Lovely to hear some positivity from you as well.

Thanks very much, Krithi Karenth, joining us there live from New Delhi.