Vivek Menon

Creating awareness
Through his latest book, Indian Mammals: A Field Guide, Menon attempts to spread awareness about the 400-plus species that call India home. “Awareness is the first stage. Only after this comes participation and active involvement in conservation. If the book can encourage even a margin of its readers to participate, I’ll be thrilled,” he says.

The book cover features a feline beauty, but it is not the tiger. “It is a clouded leopard, which is so elusive it is almost mythical! Eight years ago, while working on my previous book, no Indian had managed to photograph it. We had rescued, hand-raised and released this one in the Manas National Park in Assam,” the conservationist says, adding that it was a conscious decision to keep the tiger off the cover.

Menon, who has founded five NGOs — the latest being Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) — began his journey as a conservationist more than two decades ago. The book, he says, is a result of his life-long affinity to animals. “While naturalists have written about birds and so on, no such book existed on India’s mammals. In fact, curiously enough, there aren’t that many studies conducted on these animals and rarely so by Indians,” the author adds.

A learning experience
“Young professionals, guides at national parks, lay person interested to know more, tourists who want to learn about the country’s mammals — the book has a large audience,” says Menon. Though it is not aimed at specialists in particular, the author claims even “super-specialists” would learn a thing or two from the book. “Those specialising in elephants could learn a thing or two about bats, or vice versa,” he laughs.

At the moment, the country has an official count of 427 mammal species. “There is always a chance that we’ll discover more. Even in the last eight years, we’ve identified five more species. This happens largely at the borders — we think a particular animal is Burmese or Chinese but no one has really conducted serious studies on them,” reveals the naturalist.

One of the most interesting finds during his research was the presence of the Pakistani sub-species of the red fox at Kargil. “I received a letter with a photograph from a researcher stating they’d spotted a red fox. When I saw it, I knew it was the Pakistani fox, not the red fox, which is found in the rest of Ladakh. Most people associate Kargil with the war, but I hope this fascinating find will change that,” says Menon optimistically.