Reviving rainforest

Anand

Known famously as the father of the Anamalais, he is the elephant-man, the eternal-optimist, the ever-resourceful. An expert on primates, elephants, animal behaviour, and human psychology, he is a good chap, by any reckoning, to walk the forests or to hit a pub with.

Anand showing us where he gets his tea and his pots of gold from.

Ganesh

The ‘spammer’ of Valparai, Ganesh works with Anand to send ‘bulk SMS’ alert messages on elephants to local people and helps operate elephant alert indicator lights. When not working, Ganesh is busy with his photography or keeping the local poultry population in check through predation.

Ganesh showing the cool dude look transported from Bangalore to Valparai

Jegan

Known well for his studies not just of individual species, but of individual individuals, Jegan is the local heart-throb, the man with a mission. Nature education, natural history, and all manner of wildlife, are his thing.

Jegan on a field survey for silverfish species.

Swati

When she is not in her secret hiding place, she may be seen stalking stalkers (leopards, in case you are wondering), scanning scats, digging another hole, or making certain moves. Her work: birds in altered landscapes, and now, leopards.

Swati illustrating what a leopard does before the killing leap.

Elf

Eleni Foui, to tell you straight off the bat, is the elf. Not one to bat an eyelid about working at night, she is trying to see (and hear) what the bats have to say in the rainforests.

Eleni preparing for a bout with the bats

Deen

Dina, you may find roaming the roads for road-kills or carting the kids on nature walks. She comes as a small package with a keen eye and a wistful enthusiasm.

Dina on one of her off-road hikes

Divya

In rainforest by day, and in any forest at night, Divya is in her element. From fungi, impatiens, and trees to hornbills, civets, and elephants, there are few things that fail to interest or delight her.

Ganesan and Divya on home turf (Karian Shola, Top Slip)

Sridhar

The local jester and errant spokesperson, Sridhar gets his kicks from birds, trees, and sundry beasts. The fact that he looks exactly like a guy called Shankar Raman is a source of confused merriment.

Sridhar smiling, in solo probably, at another bad pun.

Kalyan

If ever there was a man whose life could be said to depend on silica, here he is. From silicon valley to the polished lenses of his cameras, Kalyan is a kryptic mix of wildlife photographer, film maker, and web guru. And, of course, as you already know, he is the world-famous.

Kalyan discovers a packet of chicken biryani in the rainforest.

Kamolika

Just in case you were wondering where the better part of Jegan was. Jungle-lore and Japanese, Bengali songs and a boisterous enthusiasm for nature, you get it all with Kamolika.

Out to seize the opportunity, is Kamolika.