Fishing Cat Photo courtesy of WCN
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Thanks to your support of Triple T Studios, The Tiniest Tiger Community is proudly supporting the Wildlife Conservation Network Scholarship Program. We invite you to read our updates all week as we celebrate and support the good works of great people.
The Wildlife Conservation Network Scholarship Program
“The Wildlife Conservation Network (WCN) Scholarship program was founded in 2006 to discover and nurture emerging young conservationists so they can one day take up the fight for wildlife.
WCN scholars are the future of conservation. Investing in the next generation brings hope that true progress will continue. Students from Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America are committed to working on wildlife conservation in their home countries. They are forward thinkers and out-of-the-box problem solvers, able to navigate the labyrinth of challenges they face protecting endangered wildlife with courage, optimism, stamina, and a nimbleness to adapt to constantly fluctuating political and cultural landscapes-always keeping an eye on the bigger picture.”
Meet 2018 WCN Scholar Giridhar Malla
Giridhar Malla- 2018 WCN Scholarship Recipient
Excerpt from, Kristen Garabedian’s article Meet 2018 WCN Scholar Giridhar Malla
“Because fishing cats are so hard to find, conservationists can only guess at their numbers. As Giridhar studies their behavior in the wild, working for the conservation of these cats and their mangrove habitats in Godavari, he hopes to also develop a technique for using his recordings of their vocal calls to assess population statistics. This wetland-associated cat species is now listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List and is included under Schedule I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
With help from WCN’s 2018 scholarship, he will continue earning his PhD at the Wildlife Institute of India, studying the ecology of these beautiful cats and monitoring their population in Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary. He also plans to extend his research area to the mangrove forests outside the sanctuary, allowing him to study any movement of the cats between different mangrove patches in the region. In the future, he plans to expand fishing cat conservation efforts in the up-streams of Godavari River Valley, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which will also ensure support to the rich cultural aspects of fishing communities and tribal communities in those areas.”
To read more about Giridhar and his work to save fishing cats pounce here: Meet Giridhar Malla
You can learn more about the WCN Scholars Here: SUPPORT OUR SCHOLARS