Wild Shaale

Scientists from the Centre for Wildlife Studies have been studying human wildlife interactions over the past three decades. Our work has brought us into close contact with communities that live in close proximity to wildlife reserves. Families from such communities regularly come in contact with wildlife which can lead to negative interactions or conflict. Through our work and long term engagement with these families, we recognized that such conflict incidents with wildlife have an adverse psychological impact on children, a fact that was overlooked for a long time. Growing up in high-stress environments in areas that experience high levels of human wildlife conflict can be challenging for children in their formative years.

Wild Shaale is designed for 10-13 year old school-going children living in rural areas around wildlife reserves in India. Environmental education in India, while mandated by the constitution, is rarely or poorly taught in schools. We believe that unique curriculum and tools must be created to nurture children’s natural curiosity and empathy for the environment. Our curriculum features locally- specific wildlife, ecosystems and conservation issues which are paired with evaluation tools that allow us to measure the program’s impact on children’s environmental literacy and attitudes.