Multipolis Mumbai: Wildlife and the City

Bittu Sahgal is an environmental activist and writer. He is the founding editor of Sanctuary Asia, a wildlife and ecology magazine based in India. He is a member of the National Board for Wildlife of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. He has been associated with Project Tiger from its inception and was greatly influenced by Dr Salim Ali the famous "Birdman of India", Kailash Sankhala, the first Director of Project Tiger and Fateh Singh Rathore, Field Director, Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, to propagate the concept of tiger protection in India. He founded Kids for Tigers, the Sanctuary Tiger Programme in the year 2000. A mass contact campaign, this reaches out to over 650 schools in 15 Indian cities and covers one million children. He has authored numerous book on wildlife including, most recently: India Naturally, The Bandhavgarh Inheritance, The Sundarbans Inheritance, The Bharatpur Inheritance, The Kaziranga Inheritance, The Corbett Inheritance and The Periyar Inheritance. He writes for both English and local language newspapers and magazines in India and has produced over 30 conservation-related documentaries.

Kartick Satyanarayan and Geeta Seshamani founded Wildlife SOS in 1995, dedicating their non-profit organization to protecting India’s environmental and wildlife resources from unsustainable exploitation. They brought to an end the centuries old barbaric practice by rescuing over 600 ‘dancing bears’ and providing alternative livelihoods to the Kalandar communities previously depending on bears. With a degree in business, Kartick manages Wildlife SOS as CEO and oversees 11 wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facilities for Tigers, bears, leopards, reptiles, birds and elephants. Kartick is a member of the IUCN Bear Specialist Group (Sloth Bear Team Expert), the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, former member of the State Wildlife Advisory Board of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and Government of Uttar Pradesh, and the Executive Board of Friendicoes – SECA in New Delhi, India. He is a former Member of the Government of India’s Central Zoo Authority (2007–2013) and an Honorary Wildlife Warden of the Government of NCT Delhi.He is a TED International Fellow and recipient of the Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar Award (2010). He has also received the First Planman Media Award for Environmental Activism (2009), The Elisabeth Lewyt Award for Disaster Management and Planning, and the Karamveer Puraskar of the Congo Civil Society (2009). Kartick’s current focus is the mitigation of human-wildlife conflict in India through a series of workshops in bear habitat communities. Educating people about how to avoid animal conflict while fostering an appreciation for wildlife will save human and animal lives and enhance conservation of India’s natural resources.

Dr. Anish Andheria is the President of the Wildlife Conservation Trust (WCT), a not-for-profit, set up to preserve, protect and conserve wildlife and fight climate change. Currently, WCT works in and around 160 national parks and wildlife sanctuaries spread across 23 states of India and catalyses path-breaking conservation action. He is a member of the Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh State Boards of Wildlife, and of the Steering Committee of Madhya Pradesh Tiger Foundation Society. He is on the Executive Committee of the 'Village Social Transformation Programme' of the Government of Maharashtra. He has been awarded the prestigious Carl Zeiss Conservation Award in 2008 and UAA-ICT Distinguished Alumnus Award’ in 2017. He is a large carnivore specialist with immense knowledge on predator-prey relationships and has contributed to several carnivore conservation projects across India. A professional wildlife photographer of repute, his collection of over 300,000 images serves as a veritable archival record of wildernesses of India. He is a Trustee of the 'Conservation Wildlands Trust' and 'The Climate Reality Project India'.

Hans Dalal discovered his love for wildlife and the jungle when he saw his first tiger in the wild in 2007.He was a sound engineer by profession, working in the music industry with artists like Trilok Gurtu and Vishal-Shekhar, and also with Discovery Channel for nature shows. After successfully completing a conservation course with Tiger Watch (TW) in Ranthambore and volunteering with NGOs, Hans travelled extensively, studying wildlife and developing his skills in photography. To provide an alternate source of income for local communities in Ranthambhore Hans made a documentary on the Moghiya poaching tribe, titled 'With a little help’. Hans's efforts in this field have been considered even more noteworthy because of his battle with cerebral palsy and has been covered by the media with write-ups in Mumbai Mirror, Rediff.com and nh7.in. He was also felicitated at the 2013 Sanctuary Asia Awards for his conservation work. In 2013 he started PROWL an NGO registered under the Bombay Trust Act for conservation of wildlife and habitat. He has spoken at TEDxGateway and Nature in Focus and Josh Talks.

Karanjeet Kaur is the Creative Editor at Arré, a digital media platform. She was formerly the Deputy Editor of National Geographic Magazine (India) and has written for publications like Mint Lounge, The Hindu, Time Out, and Caravan Magazine. Last year, she published a book for children, titled A Cloud of Trash, for Pratham Books.