HASEEB SHAIKH #theshaikhwithoutcamels

THE MENTOR - PRIDE OF GIR (Late M. A. Rashid, Chief Conservator Of Forest, Wildlife, Gujarat) Being a keen wildlife and nature enthusiast for more than 30 years no, I work as a Professional Naturalist & Wildlife Consultant. My profession as a Naturalist and Guide is by choice and is cherished by me as it is no less than being on a vacation every single day. This profession has provided me plenty of opportunities to visit various destinations across the country and has educated me with the fact that India is a veritable storehouse of nature’s bounties with majestic snow-capped mountains, lush, green valleys and vast, fertile plains which makes it a kaleidoscope of tropical, temperate, alpine, desert, savannah, riparian and estuarine vegetation. It has 500 species of mammals and 2000 species of birds, which is about 1/10 of avian species known to inhabit planet earth. It takes one inspirational person, an unforgettable experience, , a life changing event or a thrilling chapter in...

 A DEPENDABLE RESCUE MATE ( Dr. Yassar Rafique to my left in blue, Me in red) Wildlife Rescue is all about trust and blind faith, especially, when a rescue call is attended in tandem with a team mate. Here, it is necessary that you know your team mate as well as the back of your palm. ‘Trust’ here needs to be so deep, as if a razor sharp, sparking sword hangs on a wily thin thread right above your head and yet you feel confident of walking out of the situation on your own legs. That’s the level of trust which I dare say is quite reminiscent of bond that was between Jim Corbett and Ibboston on their ventures to locate the man eater tigers. I’ve been rescuing birds, animals and reptiles for about three decades now and some of my most memorable rescue ventures have been with a good friend and close aide Dr. Yasser Rafique, who by profession is a Dentist. A common friend introduced me to Dr. Yasser In year 2011 when I moved to Ahmedabad from Baroda city, a call that was related to my...

WALKING WITH A TIGER (At Pangot, while on visit to Corbett NP ) The Corbett National Park trip in November 2012 was an awesome and unforgettable one. I am at loss of words here as I find that there is no room for narration owing to the overwhelming and enthralling feeling. This was the longest feline sighting I ever had in all these years ever since I enrolled myself as a student of nature and choose the Corbett National Park as my classroom on the subject of ‘Tiger’ (Panthera tigris tigris). Accompanied by three friends, all novices when it comes to wildlife and nature, but equally inquisitive about my wildlife enthusiasm, we entered the Jhirna gate in the evening of 15th November 2012 and spent an eventful night at Jhirna forest house. The following day on the 16th November 2012, post afternoon, we entered the Bijrani beat to proceed for the Malani forest house deep inside the beat. This was destined to be one of the longest tiger sightings of my life. Leaving behind the Bijran...

STRANGE SHIKRA BEHAVIOUR (Me, Birding in the Wilderness) On 17th June 2012 the following behavior of the birds was recorded by me Has eeb Shaikh, a Naturalist from Ahmedabad,  along with Yatin Parikh (School teacher and wildlife photographer) of from Gandhinagar) at the Aranya Park of the GEER Foundation at Gandhinagar, Gujarat. This Shikra behavior  was observed and recorded at around 05.30 pm. It was observed on hearing the chattering of a pair of Black Drongos (Dicrurus adsimilis) over their nesting site on the Bawal tree (Acacia nilotica) that the pair was disturbed by a Shikra (Accipiter badius) which perched itself on a branch just above the nest infested with a Drongo hatchling. The Drongo pair constantly flew over the Shikra to force it to fly away from their nest. Just as we sighted the proceedings and Yatin Parikh raised his camera lens to click the picture, the Shikra launched itself into the Drong nest and picked up the young one of the Drongo and flew away w...

SMART PEAFOWLS (Me, in the Wild) I consider myself to be the luckiest employee in this wide world. Every night I wait for the sun to raise next morning so I can rush to my work place in the midst of wilderness. I work as a Naturalist with some 'state of the art' organization that propagates & inspires enthusiasts to study and work on wildlife, environment & nature. The Serenity Library sits on 50,000 sq. mts.. area of land which is no less than a forest. It is a thickly foliaged estate that boasts of lush green landscape with a wide range of flora and fauna thriving within it. It has a big man-made pond interlaced with paved walkways that run through thick outgrowths, an administrative block that houses my office, a reading room that racks up 2,500 books on wildlife, environment & nature, a 70 head strong capacity multimedia room with a 8'X8' screen to project documentaries, films & educational programs on wildlife, environment & nature from our own ...

JAMBUGHODA, RISE OF A MINNOW (Me, at Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary) Often certain unsung folklore’s lie wrapped up, dusted and hidden in the annals of wildlife and environmental library. Either they are soft targets owing to the polity of the area or they are too small and feeble to fight for a share they deserve as in recognition. The ‘Jambughoda Wildlife Sanctuary’ is one such untold ‘success’ story. Fortunately it now seems that this ‘minnow’ is carving a niche for itself on the National map amongst the big-wigs.  Declared as a Wildlife Sanctuary in year 1990 through honest & dedicated efforts of the Raja Sahab of the erstwhile principality of Jambughoda, Vikram Sinhji Rana, and located in a small erstwhile princely state of Jambughoda after which it derives its name, this is a small 130 sq. Km. sanctuary which lies 60 Kms to the North-East of Baroda city and 25 Kms from the ‘UNESCO World Heritage Site’ of the ‘Champaner Archeological Park’. It is ideally located in t...