In the plantation-dominated landscape of Valparai, which is surrounded by Protected Areas on all sides, herds of wild elephants have to traverse through tea fields & coffee estates to access the fragments of forests scattered across the landscape. Here is a herd with a young calf on
their journey to the nearest forest fragment.
| Photo Credit: GANESH RAGHUNATHAN
A tiger sits languidly below a culvert, even as a group of men walk above; an owl perches on the window of a house; a bear stands next to the statue of a tiger in what is obviously a human habitation.
An Indian Tiger sleeps in the shade underneath a bridge at Zone 6 of Ranthambore National Park. Pilgrims returning from the Soleshwar Mahadev Temple pass over the bridge, unaware of the big cat beneath their feet.
| Photo Credit:
SOUMABRATA MOULICK
These are some of the images on show at the ongoing exhibition, “Common Ground: Stories of Human-Wildlife Coexistence”, which is part of Collective Coexistence Consortium’s month-long programmes in Bengaluru under the title “Coexistence: The Great Elephant Migration.” The exhibition is among various programmes including talks, demonstrations and shows around the theme of human-animal interface.
A Lion-tailed Macaque peeks out of a cracked window pane of a home in Valparai. Humans and macaques living in close quarters may often face competition for food resources; improper disposal of garbage often attracts macaques to human habitation, which may lead to raiding for
food; and non-monkey-proofed housing conditions create easy access for the macaques.
| Photo Credit:
KALYAN VARMA
Overlapping realms
“People often think about human-dominated and wild spaces as two entirely different worlds. However, with increasing anthropogenic pressures including climate change and shrinking natural cover on our planet, these realms overlap more often than we realise. In an attempt to highlight the many facets of human-wildlife interactions, this curated set of images by Nature inFocus showcases how human and wildlife activities and geographies overlap,” said a release from the organisers on the theme of the photo exhibition.
The camera trap image portrays the peaceful coexistence of leopards with humans in Mumbai’s Aarey Colony. The felids reside in the adjacent Sanjay Gandhi National Park and often visit the neighbouring areas in search of prey. Here, a lactating leopardess seeks refuge from the rains in an abandoned house located within a village of the Warli community.
| Photo Credit:
Kapil Sharma
“The exhibition raises awareness about the fact that even large-bodied species coexist with people and how such reciprocations extend to urban spaces and other human-dominated and human-used habitats. Birds, spiders, dolphins, leopards, elephants and tigers — the staggering number of species that humans commonly encounter and interact with — warrants a wider public discourse, which the exhibition endeavours to facilitate,” the release said.
The Chandi Mata temple is visited by hundreds of devotees every day. Curiously, also by a set of wild Sloth Bears, who scavenge for food from the daytime devotee crowd. It has almost been a decade since Sloth Bears started visiting the temple, and till date, there has not been a single
recorded incident of human-bear conflict.
| Photo Credit:
RAJARSHI BANERJI
The contributing photographers are passionate about wildlife and conservation storytelling and the images represent species large and small, from across diverse habitats in India, the organisers said.
The most widespread land bird species in the world, the Barn Owl, can often be spotted in abandoned buildings, chimneys and tree holes. Urban landscapes provide refuge to a wide variety of animals and birds and also aid in habitat connectivity.
| Photo Credit:
SUHAS HEBBAR
Venues of show
The exhibition is at Science Gallery Bengaluru (https://maps.app.goo.gl/Ba54eNynUG9qg1vt6) till Sunday, February 11, between 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
It moves to Infosys Science Foundation (https://maps.app.goo.gl/KHmtdbuvkgiX5xDa8) from Monday, February 19, to Sunday, February 25. It is on from 9.30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays, and from 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
Get full details on events through the month at https://www.coexistenceconsortium.com/.
