Neha Sinha

Conservation Biologist | Author | Head, Policy and Conservation, Bombay Natural History Society

About: Neha Sinha is an award-winning wildlife conservationist and biologist with a photojournalist’s knack of capturing life. She has studied biodiversity conservation at Oxford University, after winning an INLAKS scholarship, and works with the Bombay Natural History Society at present. She is also a noted columnist and has taught environmental politics at Delhi University. Her book Wild and Wilful is among the top ten non fiction books of 2021.

BOOK

Name: Wild And Wilful : Tales Of 15 Iconic Indian Species

Description:

The truth of the world at large is that we are a part of it, not the owners of it.

Is there any animal we love and hate as much as the Royal Bengal Tiger? Tigers are feared and poached, but they also endure, becoming pin-ups for candlelight marches. Indian elephants are trapped by railway lines and fences but are reclaiming their bodies and colonizing new areas in central India. And in our dirty cities, the sparkling Plain Tiger Butterfly flourishes as one of our last links to wildlife.

Wild animals exist beyond our control. They are harmless, only occasionally dangerous. They live with us, or in spite of us. Those who know them understand that wild animals require acceptance for what they are, not enslavement for what we want them to be.

In this book, we meet fifteen iconic Indian species in need of conservation and heart. The author explores what these creatures need, and how they exert agency and decision-making. With an equal emphasis on human and animal, science, and skilled prose, Wild and Wilful reveals the magic of the wild in our daily lives. It will take you from fear to wonder.