Kartik Chandramouli

Mumbai

Senior Digital Editor at Mongabay

senior digital editor @mongabayindia

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Articles

Sexing by sound: How deconstructed sarus crane duets could help scientists

3 weeks ago | india.mongabay.com | Kartik Chandramouli

Scientists can now tell nearly identical male and female sarus cranes apart, by decoding their duet, a coordinated performance of movements and calls. A recent study found that the duet’s main notes are reliable indicators of sex, offering a non-invasive tool for studying and conserving the bird across India’s farmlands.
A changing world is taking a big toll on the tiny birds of the Himalayas

3 weeks ago | scroll.in | Kartik Chandramouli

A tiny, dull-coloured, restless-looking leaf warbler flies from a garden in Europe to a forest patch in the Indian Himalayas, carrying hidden stories of environmental change and evolution. “I love this genus,” says Tushar Parab, a PhD scholar at the Wildlife Institute of India. His recent research explores what drives the distribution of Phylloscopus or leaf warblers – a widespread group of around 80 species – across Eurasia.
Decoding the lives of tiny birds in a changing world

1 month ago | india.mongabay.com | Kartik Chandramouli

Leaf warblers are tiny, difficult-to-identify birds in the genus Phylloscopus, which literally means leaf-seekers in Greek. A study used open-database records of the birds and an emerging method, Zeta diversity, to find where leaf warbler species are present across Europe and Asia and how snow, artificial lights, and even gravity influence their distribution. The migratory birds are not just indicators of environmental change but also a window into the past, holding clues to avian evolution.
A Coimbatore nursery is reviving rare native flora, one seedling at a time

Feb 19, 2025 | india.mongabay.com | Kartik Chandramouli

Poonthalir nursery in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, has been collecting and nurturing saplings of native plants for the past two decades. Kavitha and Bharathidasan, who manage the nursery, are motivated by the pressing need to bring back the abundance of native vegetation that once flourished in our cities, and the pivotal role of seed conservation in achieving this.
[Interview] Climate scientist Steven Hamburg on measuring, rather than estimating, methane from space

Feb 5, 2025 | india.mongabay.com | Kartik Chandramouli

Steven Hamburg spent over six years building MethaneSAT, a satellite that provides free worldwide methane emission data, starting wtih a global database of oil and gas infrastructure. India is the fourth largest contributor of methane, a potent greenhouse gas and the second-largest contributor to climate warming after carbon dioxide. Once emitted, methane stays in the atmosphere for a shorter lifetime than carbon dioxide, but is 28 times as potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
A wildlife sanctuary in the crossfire

Jan 17, 2025 | india.mongabay.com | Kartik Chandramouli

Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary in Assam is imperilled by several threats. Railway lines that already fragment the forest and claim the lives of elephants and other wildlife through collisions are now set to be electrified. The tracks also confine groups of gibbons within fragments, as the ape is completely arboreal, and thus unable to cross over. Mitigation measures attempted by the forest department are often planned without due expert consultation, and tend to fail.
Can invisible solar fences prevent elephant-human conflicts in Valparai?

Dec 26, 2024 | india.mongabay.com | Kartik Chandramouli

Frequent interactions between humans and wildlife define life in Valparai, Tamil Nadu, where the surrounding dense forests of the Western Ghats are fragmented and scattered amidst its sprawling tea estates. These forests are home to elephants, bison, bears and leopards, which frequently traverse the area. The relationship between animals and the local community is difficult, with the latter often suffering property damage, injuries, and even loss of life.
Must-watch videos from 2024: Mongabay India staff picks

Dec 23, 2024 | india.mongabay.com | Kartik Chandramouli

We asked the Mongabay India team to select their top two videos from 2024, each with their reasoning. Watch these selections to explore our diverse and compelling environmental films. Subscribe to Mongabay India’s YouTube channel for more environmental news documentaries in 2025. With over a week left in the year and our January videos in production, the end of the year naturally invites reflection. We’ve published an Editor’s Review of 2024, and more roundups will follow this week.
Rooftop solar on the slow lane in Tamil Nadu

Dec 12, 2024 | india.mongabay.com | Kartik Chandramouli

Tamil Nadu ranks third in the installed solar capacity in India as of September 2024. It has 8,462.92 MW of ground-mounted solar; however, only a fraction–792.17 MW–is rooftop solar. Experts told Mongabay India that despite its abundant potential in sunny states like Tamil Nadu, the uptake of rooftop solar has been very slow. This year, the central government launched the Prime Minister’s Surya Ghar scheme, which offers subsidies for installing rooftop solar of up to 3KW.
Inside Kashmir's human-bear conflict

Oct 15, 2024 | india.mongabay.com | Kartik Chandramouli

Kashmir’s wildlife wing recorded over 2,300 bear attacks in two decades since 2000, some of which were fatal. While the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) is native to the region, its appearance in farms, orchards, and villages, is making residents anxious. These recurring interactions between humans and bears have kept wildlife managers on edge, trying to capture a wild animal while managing agitated people.