UK: The tiger became a kind of flagship. When we shut down the iron ore mine in Kudremukh or relocated over 2,000 families from protected areas, it was framed as ‘saving the tiger.’ But in reality, we were preserving entire ecosystems: forests, water systems, biodiversity, even humans. The tiger gives you a way to communicate urgency, but the impact is much broader.
KK: For my generation, the work has expanded. We still work on large mammals, but also on bats, vultures, frogs—species that don’t get the same attention.
Vogue India: Dr Krithi, what has changed for women in a field your father entered when it was almost entirely male?
KK: It has completely transformed on the science side. In my dad’s generation, it was 90 per cent men. Today, our master’s programme is a 50-50 split and our PhD programme at CWS is 60 per cent women. If a young woman is capable enough and can get past the barriers at home, she can go as far as any man, or further. On-ground fieldwork still skews male because of the physical logistics, but even that is slowly shifting.
Vogue India: What feels more difficult now than when you started?
KK: The speed of change. Technology, for one: mobile phones have made wildlife trade faster and more accessible. What was once local is now global. At the same time, infrastructure remains a huge issue: roads, dams, highways cutting through habitats. These create barriers that aren’t always visible, but they are incredibly disruptive for wildlife movement.
UK: I would add that sometimes the problem isn’t lack of resources, but misuse of them. Conservation funding has increased dramatically (10 to 13 times in some cases), but without proper scientific direction, it does not always translate into better outcomes.
