As part of the National Wildlife Week celebrations, you can check out exhibitions, attend lectures and watch films dedicated to nature and wildlife conservation
The first week of October is celebrated as National Wildlife Week. It was initiated by the Indian Board of Wildlife (IBWL) to create awareness about protection of wildlife. Across the country, officials, environmentalists, activists and educators organise various activities to accelerate the awareness of wildlife conservation. As part of the Wildlife Week celebrations, two of the city’s upcoming ecological and wildlife travel companies, The Western Routes and Wild Quest, have organised a range of activities in the city.
A tiger, one of the world's most powerful predators, snarls to show its displeasure
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Kickstarting the events on October 3 will be Sanctuary Asia’s Wildlife Photography exhibition. “The exhibition will include some of the best entries for Sanctuary’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year award. Apart from exhibiting stunning wildlife images, texts covering both natural history and conservation issues will be on display, thus adding value to the communication,” said Ishan Potbhare from Wild Quest.
An image on display showing a herd of Indian elephants blocking the track
There will be lectures and workshops as well. Jayesh Paranjape, director of The Western Routes, says that researcher Prerna Agarwal will speak on preserving the Kaas Plateau and herpetologist Vikram Hoshing on reptiles and amphibians of Maharashtra. “We will also have a workshop on how to make bird-feeders from plastic waste by Blueiwss Environment Enrichers, a film screening of The Truth About Tigers, a film by Shekhar Dattatri, tree walk at Empress Garden, bird-watching trail at Kavdi and poster-making competition in schools.” Around 50 wildlife photos will be displayed at the event.
An image showing a herd of deer, which will be on display at the exhibition
There will be certain activities at the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park as well. Ashwini Shitole, Educational Officer at Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park and Wildlife Research Center explains that the line-up will include photography exhibitions, elocution competition, cultural events, debates on wildlife, etc. The exhibition at the Park will be open from 10 am to 6 pm. The Maharashtra Forest Department (Pune) will be conducting various events on the occasion of Wildlife Week.
A tiger jumping into the water at Sunderbans. Once locals used to trap and kill any tiger that strayed into their villages, they now alert the forest staff who are able to tranquillise and subsequently release the cat into the core area, away from human habitation.
“There will be movies on wildlife, debates, nature trails, etc as well as a photography exhibition on wildlife photographs at Yashwantrao Chavan auditorium,” says RS Kadam, Deputy Conservator of Forests.
Dholes or Asiatic wild dogs are sometimes called the Whistling Hunters on account of their high-pitched calls, used to communicate with pack members when hunting. Until the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 came into force, these animals were killed as vermin.
Snake rescuer and environmentalist
Ram Bhutkar will give a lecture on how to preserve snakes, conserve the environment and whether catching snakes will help or not. It will be held at Itihas Sanshodhak Mandal, Sadashiv Peth, today (6.30 pm to 8 pm).
From: October 3 to 6
At: Dr Diwakar Dengle Art Gallery, Gurukrupa, Alkapuri Society, Paud Road, Kothrud; Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, Kartaj.
Call: 9011040773
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