Cara Tejpal

Young Naturalist Awards (2012)

Wildlife champion, writer, animal rights activist

Cara Tejpal, in her early 20s has already gained a reputation for hardcore wildlife conservation work. A combination of intelligence and compassion, her sedate attitude towards conservation belies her age. She currently works with the Gerry Martin Project that seeks to protect and educate the masses on reptiles and specifically on how to reduce the frightening incidence of snakebites in India.

A prolific writer, Cara has covered a number of conservation issues in India and has a veritable following in cyberspace as well.

She has empathised with animals from the time she was a child and has picked up an impressive list of work experience ranging from volunteering for animal shelters, working as a zoo keeper with the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Jersey, researching and editing for Tehelka and interning with Panthera, Mountain Cleaners, Aranyak and the Andaman and Nicobar Environment Team (ANET), to being a ‘Minister’s Fellow’ with Jairam Ramesh at the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Cara is a young lady whose heart beats for nature. In her purpose lie the hopes of all those who have been defending India’s wildlife for decades past.

For this, we honour her.