Editor’s Note

As the latest to join the amazing team at Current Conservation, I’ve had great pleasure in helping put 13.4 together. Having spent a good portion of my career studying the feminist gaze, I was struck by Aditi Patil’s take on the male gaze that follows her during feld trips. Vikram Aditya leads our spotlight story with social medias relationship with the poaching of the pangolin, while Sonia Holmstrom gives us a peek into the life of the elusive red panda. Dina Rasquinha talks crocodiles to us, with some wonderful anecdotes from her time spent with them in Bengal. And while we are on the subject of reptiles, we have the privilege of having the snake man himself - Romulus Whitaker - write for us about a feld assistant he cherishes. This story continues our series on feld assistants and is the frst of a set by Whitaker.

Starting with this issue, we are introducing a section titled ‘For Beter or Verse’ featuring poems that ft the ecological narrative. We’re also spotlighting the work an ecologist and two game developers have put together on bird communities. This issue also has a book review by Divya Ramesh where she discusses de-extinction via mammoths – its science and morality. Finally, Nicole Pinto presents her research in translation about human-elephant confict, and Ari Drummond
sheds light on how bats are paying the price for climate change. It has been a privilege to watch our illustrators bring
these moving stories to life. I hope you enjoy reading this issue as much as I’ve enjoyed editing it.

-Shruti Sunderraman