Bush Skills, Field Ecology and Tribal Wisdom – Workshop

You may recall that last year we celebrated a month long green campaign – “Awareness today, for a Greener Tomorrow’. One of the books that we launched was ‘ A King Cobra’s Summer’.

This book has been written by Janaki Lenin [Herpetologist Rom Whitaker’s wife]. And the book was launched in Bangalore by Gerry Martin.

If you like reptiles, especially snakes you can join Rom, Kali and Gerry for a fabulous workshop from 22 to 24 June 2012.

About the Workshop:

The Irulas of the Kanchipuram region are world famous for their snake-tracking prowess. However, what isn’t known as well is the fact that they have numerous other skills from tracking rodents, extracting termites and collecting honey to using various plant extracts and preparations as medicine and creating very tasty meals from the most unassuming plants, twigs and roots. We will combine learning from the Irulas with existing scientific field techniques to build a strong base of field skills and contexts.

June is a good time to be out looking for herpetofauna. A few rain showers would have interrupted the long dry season, bringing about a revitalization in life. Many reptiles will also be breeding at this time and its a great opportunity to learn and understand more cryptic behaviour of these creatures.

The Module:

The workshop will focus on various aspects of field herpetology from taxonomy to tracking and ecology.

Logistics and accommodation:

We will be based at Rom Whitaker’s farm, in a reforested corner which he calls Karadi Malai Camp. The campsite about 6 kms from the town of Chengalpet, South of Chennai bordering the Vallam Reserve forest. At the campsite we will be staying in tents and our meals will be in the common dining area. Bathrooms are permanent structures with running water.

The team:

Rom Whitaker and Gerry Martin will share their skills and combined experience with reptiles spanning many decades! Kali will help us learn tracking and other bush skills.

For more details, contact Conan on [email protected] or 9972068300.