17th - 18th Feb 2024
Go herping with Dr Gowri Shankar and the Irulas!
Walk day and night looking for reptiles.
Explore the habitat from a reptile’s perspective.
Discuss the life of reptiles, species found across the world, conservation stories, current research, their plights and more.
Share stories and have a fun time learning and exploring.
For participants from our previous workshops, it is a refresher of sorts, while for new entrants it will be an eye-opener.
Dr P Gowri Shankar
Herpetologist, TED Speaker, TEDFellow 2020
Dr Gowri Shankar is a wildlife biologist working on king cobras for close to two decades. He completed his PhD from North Orissa University. He is a former exchange student at Uppsala University, Sweden.
He was instrumental in initiating the pioneering radio telemetry study on king cobras and was able to discover the secret life of king cobras.
He is an authority on the ecology of king cobras and has been featured in several wildlife documentaries like the ‘King and I’, ‘Secrets of the King Cobra ‘, ‘Asia’s Deadliest Snake’, and ‘Wildest India’ by BBC, National Geographic Channel, NatGeoWild , Discovery Channel ‘Mysteries of Wild India’ and ‘The Cobra King’ by channels like the BBC, Discovery, NatGeo Wild, Animal Planet, Smithsonian and National Geographic Channel.
He was awarded the herpetologist of the year-2015 by the Swedish Herpetological Society. He is a TEDFellow 2020 and a TEDx speaker
More about Gowri at : http://pogirigowrishankar.wordpress.com/
The Irulas
The Irulas are skilled snake trackers who supply venom for anti-venom production in our country.
They are highly skilled in tracking and locating snakes by reading signs like shed skin, faeces, tracks, rat burrows, and many other clues from the habitat.
It is a mind-blowing experience to accompany them on snake walks and watch them track down snakes on trees, in rat burrows, and sometimes on the move in a field.
They are excellent spotters, a veritable knowledge bank about snakes, traditional medicine, and snake folklore.
READ MORE ABOUT IRULAS HERE:
The Better India: Saving Lives For Years: This Ancient ‘Snake’ Tribe Makes Most of India’s Anti-Venom!
BBC Travel: The snake people of southern India
ELIGIBILITY
Open to ALL above 15 years.
Maximum participants: 20
FEE
Fee : Rs. 9500/-
Includes: Accommodation in tents. Wholesome food ( meals, snacks, and beverages)on both days, a donation to the Irula co-operative Society and program charges.
Excludes : Travel and personal expenses.
VENUE, DATE & TIME
Venue: Eesha Farm House
Maniyappana katte, Thimmanayakana Halli
Tumkur, Karnataka.
Time : 9:30 AM to5:00 PM
