Dr Sheelwant Patel has been an insurance man, a forester, an environmentalist, and a researcher. He has sold insurance for five years and been forester for thirty-three. Dr Patel has climbed hills, stalked killer elephants in jungles, and stayed over at many a haunted house in the Himalayas.
A docudrama he wrote has won him a national award for the best documentary. He lives in Mumbai with his wife and two amazing children with equally fulfilling professions. (One is an animator, and the other is a filmmaker.)
As Chief Conservator of Forests in Bengal, I was looking after the forests of northern West Bengal that are prime elephant habitats. This region contains five sanctuaries, three national parks, and has 14 elephant corridors that are notorious for being the terrain of the most intense human-elephant conflicts in South East Asia. I must add here that Jaldapara and Gorumara in the region are famous for rhinos.
We did organize safaris – in vehicles, in bullock carts, and on elephant back – but jungle treks being unsafe for tourists, we forbid them – especially as the visibility is no more than 10-15 meters in these dense evergreen forests.
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Message of the Month / December 2019
News from the world of AIRDA 