Green Oscar

An Indian wildlife biologist has won the Whitley award, considered the Green Oscar in recognition of his work to reduce human-wildlife conflict in Karnataka.

An Indian wildlife biologist has won the Whitley award, considered the Green Oscar in recognition of his work to reduce human-wildlife conflict in Karnataka. MD Madhusudan, director of Mysore-based Nature Conservation Foundation was handed over the trophy and a cash prize of £30,000 from Princess Anne recently at London’s Royal Geographical Society. Madhusudan and his team work at the grassroot level with farmers on the fringes of Bandipur Tiger Reserve on a conflict mitigation project. The science graduate from Mysore tries to combine science with practical conservation action to resolve conflict between wild animals and local communities. He says the Bandipur initiative is a pilot project where he has encouraged farmers to build common fences around cultivated lands to protect their crops and reduce the risk of man-animal contact and agrarian losses due to raids by elephants and wild hogs.

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Anil Budur Lulla