More about Bivash

After joining the Masters Degree program at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun as a student in 1991, Bivash carried out field-work in the Bhitarkanika mangroves in Odisha.

Subsequently he started his career in marine turtle research along the coast of Odisha in 1994 and was involved in long term research and monitoring to gauge the health of the turtle population that nests in the hundreds of thousands each year. Bivash and his colleagues tagged nearly 15,000 adult olive ridleys, which has revealed interesting information about their movements.

Tagged turtles from this effort have been recovered from the coastal waters off Sri Lanka, indicating their migration to and from the Odisha coast.

Bivash joined WII as faculty in late 1999. Besides regular teaching and training assignments, WII provided Bivash ample opportunity to continue field research. In 2003, along with colleagues, Dr. S.P. Goyal and Abishek Harihar, he began a long-term monitoring programme for tiger and prey populations in Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand, following voluntary relocation of human settlements.

In 2007 Bivash was deputed to WWF-International. Operating from Kathmandu, Nepal, he coordinated WWF’s tiger program across 14 different landscapes in 11 tiger range countries. He travelled extensively across Asia’s tiger habitats, witnessed massive destruction of their habitat in countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, and came across a few success stories (like India). Over time, his focus has shifted from research to conservation.

Post his stint with WWF-International, Bivash returned to the Wildlife Institute of India in 2011. He continues to walk in the forests of the foothills of the Himalayas and monitor its elusive animals while thoroughly enjoying life.