Rohit Chakravarty

My favourite Naturalist Ruddy is back! This book was produced through the most intense personal and professional setbacks. This is @green_humour 's testament of resilience! And for me, the peak of his artistic brilliance. 'Carri-On Ruddy' offers the most unique glimpses of nature and my favourite comic book character's character: 2. Ruddy scales the Himalayas 3. And descends into caves 4. Poses like Feluda 5. Remembers his mother. He wasn't born with a silver spoon but with a golden hat 6. I love bee-eaters and seeing them cry was traumatic 7. Crying Purple Herons are fine, especially if they have the audacity to confront Ruddy! 8. And 9. Ruddy's imagination is straight out of Cartoon Network 10. And 11. Some child-friendly gore like a hanged gecko and a beheaded mantis . Please go buy your copy right away and make this incredible book the bestseller that it deserves to be!

We are pleased to welcome Dr. Rohit Chakravarty, the “Batman” of CWS, as Principal Scientist and Faculty. A dedicated bat scientist, Dr. Chakravarty has worked extensively to understand the natural history of Indian bats while advancing public awareness about these often misunderstood species. In cities such as Delhi, bats have long inhabited historic monuments. While there are efforts to remove bats from heritage sites, there is an important lesson to be learned about their ecological importance. Bats play a vital role in maintaining ecosystem balance. Many species act as natural pest controllers, while fruit bats contribute significantly to pollination and seed dispersal. This Bat Appreciation Day, swipe to learn more about the delicate balance between preserving cultural monuments, and protecting bats; and the scientist who works to promote coexistence between the two. #BatConservation #WildlifeScience #BatResearch #BatAppreciationDay

I consider myself very fortunate that I have said "goodbye" to every workplace instead of "good riddance". After an immensely productive two and a half years, it is time to say another teary-eyed goodbye to the two organisations that have shaped the trajectory of professional life from here on: @ncf.india and @batconservationinternational . . I'm filled with gratitude for @flandersjon at BCI and Kullu at NCF. I owe this job to their trust and faith. I was blessed with exceptional mentors. On the one hand, I had Kullu with his clear thinking and reassuring nature, and on the other I had @bella.lost.outside with her empathetic approach and strong emphasis on organisational and management skills. I would've never believed that I could do a decent job of this job without their mentorship and belief in my ability. I have never seen myself as a leader but in this job there was no escaping it. I thank all the students who made this job enjoyable for me - hopefully not at their expense! Each one of them was unique in their own right. It was always nice to see a pinch of my younger self in them or their younger self in a presumably older me. Thanks are also due to my main collaborator in these two years, Bonnie (3rd last photo) whose patience, attention-to-detail and perseverance are inspirational. . Signing off with a series of photos of places that this job took me to and the people whose friendship I will cherish!

On 20th February, I had the joy of conducting a drawing workshop for Classes 5–10 at Spring Vale Academy Secondary School, where students explored their creativity by expressing the beauty of nature through art. #nature #workshop #conservation

I spent last week near Kanyakumari with my new master's student @__vaishnav_k.__ and his interns Naveena and @lucidrift_02 . What an interesting place! Wind turbines everywhere- next to someone's house, inside scrub forests, paddy fields, mango orchards, coconut plantations. Really, everywhere! . And that's where the problem may lie. Bats either roost in these habitats or actively hunt for insects leading to a higher risk of colliding with turbines. Vaishnav and his team are working hard and diligently to gather data on bat activity and mortality in such a mixed-use landscape. As much as I miss actively doing fieldwork, watching students do fieldwork is always an interesting learning experience. 😊

Rohit returns. With his bats. 🦇 And once again, a full house. Turns out Bangalore is deeply curious about these gentle nocturnal beings. Yet when we think of bats (not Batman), our minds jump to kitschy horror films and scarier headlines about viruses and ghosts. Sometimes all it takes is staying up a little later, looking up at the sky, and noticing the quiet choreography between trees. Observe closely. No panic required. Bats don’t usually top the sustainability wishlist. But ecosystems don’t work in rankings. By controlling insect populations and pollinating plants, bats keep forests healthy. And healthy forests mean prey, cover, and water for apex predators like tigers. Everything connects. Always has. 🌀 All of this over fresh sober sips from @localfermentco.in . Thanks to @attagalatta for hosting us. Lectures like these leave us wistful for more lectures like these. We’re making it a point to bring forth at least one ecology based lecture per month, across birds, wild dogs, spiders, bees, carnivorous plants, lizards, baboons. You name it. We got it. For our upcoming lineup, check out the links in our bio. 💫 📸 @saumyasnehil

Two evenings of watching Kelaart's Pipistrelle bats emerge from their roost at our terrace in Nagpur. The first bat takes five seconds to find its way out. The next two? This most underrated Amit Trivedi song from the criminally underrated movie, Aamir, describes their plight.

‘Climate Conversations’ at HLF 2026 is here & how! 🌱 Curated by @ekogalaxy 🦇 A Better World with Bats 3 PM – 3.50 PM, 24 Jan By Dr. Rohit Chakravarty Talk ​in collab​ with @ncf.india 📍Orwell 3, Sattva Knowledge City ➡️ About the session: A Better World with Bats is split into three chapters. In the first chapter, we'll go through some fascinating trivia about bats - basically everything that you need to know about bats for a quiz night. The second chapter touches upon Rohit's work and helps you make acquaintance with some of India's iconic bats. In the final chapter, we'll go through the threats that bats face and why we, as ordinary citizens, must care about their conservation. 🦇 Batter be there, folks!

‘Climate Conversations’ at HLF 2026 is here & how! 🌱 Curated by @ekogalaxy 🦁 Wild Adventures: Incredible Stories from the Field 12 PM – 12.50 PM, 25 Jan Kobita Dass Kolli, Sujeeth Anne, Ravi Chellam, Rohit Chakravarty w/ Farida Tampal Panel Discussion in collab with @ncf.india @wwfindia 📍Orwell 3, Sattva Knowledge City ➡️ About the session: Conservationists bring with them compelling stories from the field - from deeply personal relationships with wild animals, to profound & moving moments of collaborative efforts to protect threatened species, to the seemingly ordinary moments of curiosity, awe & wonder that they experience with plant & animal species. In this very special session, we bring together terrific naturalists/ conservationists who deep dive into the incredible experiences they've had in the field, the moments that took their breath away - and some unforgettable lessons they've learnt from their adventures in the wild! 🐝​ Promises to be a fantastic!​ Don't miss this!

The Batman of Bangalore Returns (With Bats, Bollywood & Better Drinks!) 🦇🥂💃🏻 If you follow @paintedbat on Instagram, you already know what we’re talking about. If you don’t, let us paint you a picture: imagine someone who can make you laugh about echolocation, drop a perfectly timed Bollywood reference while discussing nocturnal mammals, and somehow make you genuinely excited about bat conservation—all in one breath. That’s Rohit. ⭐️ About the lecture ⭐️ What really goes on after the sun goes down? The Secret Lives of Bats is a lively, story-driven lecture that pulls these nocturnal mammals out of the shadows and into sharp focus. The talk unfolds in three engaging chapters. It begins with a rapid-fire dive into bat trivia—the kind of facts that make you unbeatable at a quiz night. From echolocation and flight to bizarre behaviours and record-breaking abilities, this opening chapter builds a solid, surprising foundation for understanding bats beyond the usual myths. The second chapter turns personal and local. Drawing from fieldwork and research, the lecture introduces you to some of India’s most iconic bat species, helping you recognise them not as abstract wildlife, but as distinct, fascinating animals with their own stories, adaptations, and quirks. The final chapter looks outward, examining the many threats bats face today: habitat loss, superstition, urban expansion, and neglect. More importantly, it asks why this should matter to all of us, including a pub-going audience. By tracing bats’ crucial role in ecosystems and public health, the lecture makes a compelling case for their conservation and for rethinking our relationship with the night. By the end of the evening, you’ll walk out seeing the night sky differently. Date: Sunday, 11th Jan Time: 4pm-6pm Venue: @attagalatta , Indiranagar One complimentary drink by Bangalore’s homegrown kombucha and soda brand, @localfermentco.in Sign up via the LINK IN BIO.

@hemistola and I just returned from a short holiday in Vietnam. We had been travelling to different countries this year but never together. So we thought of this holiday where wildlife will not be the focus - a very rare thing for me! ;-) . But what do you do when Saigon is dotted with Borassus (?) palms, especially near all its landmarks? A personal natural history highlight from this trip was finding this colony of Short-nosed Fruit Bats right outside the city's Customs Office during a guided walking tour! In total, I found at least four tents in different locations. According to Vu Din Thong, a Vietnamese bat expert based out of Saigon, these are most likely Lesser Dog-faced Bats (Cynopterus brachyotis). C. brachyotis is more common there than the similar looking Cynopterus sphinx.

Wrapped up a 3-day intensive workshop on small mammal ecology and conservation! With @darshan__s_21 , @gaj_tenga , and @paintedbat , we aimed to involve participants in research dimensions in ecology and conservation of small mammals using museum specimens, molecular tools, and acoustics. The participants were enthusiastic and engaging, making it a fantastic exchange!