6.19 Anita Mani: Meet India's Brilliant Women Wildlife Conservationists

Who is India’s first ‘Birdwoman’? Who is the ‘Turtle Girl’? How many of India’s women wildlife biologists can you name?In this episode, Tara speaks with Anita Mani, editor of ‘Women in the Wild’ - an anthology of stories of India’s pioneering women wildlife biologists. From the 1940s to the present, Anita features the profiles of Indian women who dedicated their life to protecting biodiversity, from Jamal Ara who spent her life studying birds and mysteriously disappeared one day, to Vidya Athreya who studies the human-leopard conflict, and contemporaries like Divya Mudappa who studies rainforests!Anita talks about her own interest in wildlife and bird-watching, how the women in her book made path-breaking findings across forests, rivers, oceans and mountains, and what the wildlife conservation industry is like for women- from remote locations, long hours, lack of beds and toilets, and even close encounters with wild animals! Books and authors mentioned in this episode:The Peregrine - J.A. BakerJennifer AckermanMadhaviah KrishnanApplications for The Bound Publishing Course 2026 are now open.The Bound Publishing Course is a 3-month intensive course on book, magazine, and digital publishing. Through live sessions, workshops, and industry-facing projects, participants gain practical publishing skills and exposure to careers across the industry.Cohort size: 50 seatsFirst round of acceptances: 15th June 2026Applications are reviewed on a rolling bas‘Books and Beyond with Bound’ is the podcast where Tara Khandelwal and Michelle D’costa uncover how their books reflect the realities of our lives and society today. Find out what drives India’s finest authors: from personal experiences to jugaad research methods, insecurities to publishing journeys. Created by Bound, a storytelling company that helps you grow through stories. Follow us @boundindia on all social media platforms.