When There Is No Place Left To Call Home
Indian journalist Laasya Shekhar explores the impacts of some of human-wildlife conflicts in her latest series for The Xylom, “No Place to Call Home.”
Dear reader,
One of the biggest stories of our time started in 1760 with the industrial revolution.
As resources like water, food and medical care became more accessible, humans flourished. With population increase, small towns turned into cities, which turned into metropolises. According to Our World in Data, more than half of the people in the world now live in urban areas.
But in our human hubris, we sometimes forget that we are not the only species on this planet that deserves to thrive. Since the start of the twentieth century, we have lost about a sixth of the world’s forests. Climate change is exacerbating this by pushing mobile species out of their native habitats.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, almost 11,000 species worldwide have experienced a direct increase in extinction risk due to climate change.
More species around the world are now on the move, including mammals like elephants and leopards who are having to look for new habitats and sources of food, which brings them into conflict with human settlements at the urban-wildlife interface.
Indian journalist Laasya Shekhar explores the impacts of some of these human-wildlife conflicts in her latest series for The Xylom, “No Place to Call Home.” Her first story focuses on leopard attacks on human settlements in the Western Ghats of India, which has led to calls proposing sterilization of the feline, while her second story focuses on elephant rampages in Southeast India and the lack of mitigation and compensation measures for affected villagers.
“I read a brief article in a mainstream newspaper about the proposal to sterilize leopards, which left me with many questions,” Laasya said. “When an initiative as seemingly straightforward as sterilizing dogs has struggled, I wondered how the Indian government planned to implement leopard sterilization.”
Laasya hopes that both of her stories about human-wildlife conflict will lead to meaningful changes for the communities as well as the animals. “I am deeply grateful to The Xylom for recognizing the story’s potential and presenting it with care and impact,” she said.
This is the first time any news outlet outside of India has reported about its leopard sterilization efforts: nothing new to us because we are used to chasing after underreported stories that resonate with an Asian American audience and beyond. Without your financial support, this work would’ve been impossible.
ICYMI, we just shot past the halfway mark of our NewsMatch end-of-year fundraising campaign; every dollar that you donate today is still quadrupled! Can we count on your support of independent science and society news that makes a difference?
Yours sincerely,
Rhysea Agrawal
Managing Editor
THINGS YOU SHOULD READ
We still need a breather from the news! We will come back with “A Southern Flair” and “What Else We’re Reading” in the new year to give your inboxes a bit of a break –– and ourselves, too! In the meantime, here’s a quick refresher on what’s happening on our end.
NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS
All donations to The Xylom are triple-matched up to $1,000 until the end of the year, so even a small contribution from you can go a long way!
Aorui Pi had a great start in her role as our new engagement editor and public health writer! She has developed several new strategies to expand our reach and we can’t wait to read her reporting on Traditional Chinese Medicine!
Our Managing Editor Rhysea Agrawal was one of the winners of this year’s Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association Awards for her story on how climate change is affecting onion farming in Southeastern Oregon.
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