An international collaboration of researchers have studied the trends in tobacco use in China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Taiwan and India. The study, which included a million participants, is a meta-analysis of 20 cohort studies in these countries that collected data on tobacco habits from representative individuals above 35 years of age. The results reveal region–specific tobacco smoking patterns and the resulting mortality.

Bamboo brings to mind beautifully designed furniture and for a few, memories of seeing a bamboo grove may have left an ever-lasting impression. Home for extraordinary animals and livelihood for millions of people, we are all familiar with bamboo.

“Ecology is boring for the same reason that destruction is fun”, said Don DeLillo, an American novelist and playwright. This saying resonates very well with road ecology. Road kills are soon forgotten till the next one happens, reckless driving in protected areas is ubiquitous and polluting ecologically sensitive area is an act of no shame. And, this is not fun!

World Migratory Bird Day is an annual awareness-raising campaign highlighting the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats. It is observed on 2nd Saturday in May and October! It is a global awareness-raising campaign to conserve Migratory Birds.

Doing our dirty jobs of clearing animal carcass for generations, extraordinary scavenging birds of prey, the vultures, deserve our gratitude and attention. Associated with goddesses in Egyptian mythology and revered hero in Indian mythology as Jatayu who sacrificed himself to save Sita, and once commonly seen; today, most species of vultures face extinction worldwide. Four out of nine species of vulture in India are critically endangered; it is now crucial to understand this often overlooked ecologically important bird.