Jul 14, 2008 Posted by daktre

Healthy forests and healthy people – A problem of First among equals

Aphu was a young man in his twenties when he passed away. In the hinterland of India’s largest tiger reserve, few people keep track of their age, for nobody here registers them for social welfare, nor do they have a doctor who asks them their age to fill up a column on a case sheet. Aphu’s home was in Gandhigram, a remote tribal village in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in North-east India,... read more

Mar 31, 2008 Posted by daktre

Bird flu – Birds edition

It’s an interesting puzzle, this bird flu. On one side, while birdwatchers are all disturbed about even the suggestion of wild bird culling as a control measure to prevent spread of bird flu by migratory birds, on the other hand, for the public health professionals, it is just among various available ‘vector-control’ measure…..kinda like control mosquitoes to prevent malaria. Who... read more

Jan 14, 2008 Posted by daktre

BR Hills – My home away from home….

My friend Sunil, once remarked that nostalgia is a sign of old age, and if that is what I am suffering from, may it be so……As I sit in my ill-lit room in Antwerp, eating microwave heated, yesterday cooked, lemon rice, I think about those wonderful days in the hills…..and my heard dances with BR Hills (No Daffodils there… As you enter the sanctuary, you start with scrub jungle with... read more

Nov 24, 2007 Posted by daktre

Diclofenac and Vulture deaths – From naivity to reality

Diclofenac is one of the most commonly used Non-steroidal anti-inflammatories. Just to give you an idea of the magnitude, I take the human example. Although, I really dont know to what extend ‘human diclo cycle’ touches birds, as an example, it would be good. There are about 1600 odd government health centres in Karnataka – just one state. A govt. PHC on an average dispenses 30 tablets of... read more

Mar 9, 2006 Posted by daktre

Less ramble, some birds

I have just returned to Itanagar from Jenging, Upper Siang dt. I camped here for 2 days and visited one of the sub-centres of the PHC at Jenging. Most of the journey by vehicle and on foot to the sub-centre were spent birding. Heavy rains have already begun in Arunachal and the skies were overcast even as I drove through N Lakhimpur and Dhemaji dts of Assam. Meanwhile, the higher peaks have seen some good... read more