By Pragya Raj Singh
In India, where 1.4 billion people share their future with some of the world’s richest forests and most extraordinary wildlife, conservation is not just a necessity, but an opportunity for vision and innovation. Few embody this balance as powerfully as Dr. Krithi K. Karanth, CEO of the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS). With nearly three decades of experience in the field, Dr. Karanth has pioneered programs that extend far beyond protecting animals, empowering communities, and reimagining conservation as collaboration rather than conflict.
Dr. Karanth’s initiatives — Wild Seve, Wild Shaale, Wild Surakshe, and Wild Carbon — have reached thousands of villages, students, farmers, and frontline workers, blending science with social equity. This model of resilience and coexistence recently earned CWS the prestigious John P. McNulty Prize, making her the first wildlife leader worldwide to receive the honor. Established in 2008 by Anne Welsh McNulty in partnership with the Aspen Institute, the prize provides $150,000 in funding and tailored support, and has so far recognized more than 57 leaders across 25 countries for pioneering solutions to global challenges.
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For Dr. Karanth, this recognition is one more in a constellation of accolades that mark her extraordinary journey, but it is not a destination. Rather, it is a spark that pushes wildlife to the center of global environmental discourse, fuels innovation at the crossroads of ecology, technology, and society, and confronts urgent threats such as illegal hunting and trade. Yet, beyond the milestones and honors lies a deeper philosophy: conservation that collaborates rather than isolates, that listens rather than imposes. In our conversation, Dr. Karanth reflected not only on the path to global recognition but also on the unfinished work ahead, and on the kind of leadership it will take to keep India’s wild heart beating strong.
Pragya Raj Singh: Dr. Karanth, congratulations on your remarkable McNulty Prize. What an incredible testament to your decades of passionate work and visionary leadership in Indian conservation. To start, what feels especially exciting or new on the horizon for you and the Centre for Wildlife Studies right now?
Dr. Krithi Karanth: At CWS, we are really excited to see our conservation programs of Wild Seve, Wild Shaale, Wild Surakshe, and Wild Carbon grow both in depth and scale. From a research perspective, I’m very eager to see how new technologies and AI can drive major advances in monitoring wildlife species. I’m particularly interested in exploring how we can collect and analyze large amounts of data, whether for amphibians, birds, or mammals, much faster than we can today.
How does this recent recognition resonate with you personally, and what does it mean for the wider conservation movement?
We were the first wildlife organization among 60 globally to be recognized with this McNulty prize. I think it is an extraordinary testament to the 41 years of work we have done, pioneering wildlife science, conservation, and education in India. It also brings wildlife to the forefront, as it is often overshadowed by broader environmental discussions. Drawing attention specifically to wildlife is very important, and I hope this recognition sparks curiosity and interest in the incredible work being done not just by CWS, but by many wildlife conservation organizations around the world.
On a personal level, it is deeply gratifying because I have spent the past seven years rebuilding CWS, balancing both legacy and charting the course for the future. When you have an organization in its fifth decade, it is fascinating to see how it evolves – the kinds of work it undertakes, the approaches it adopts. I believe what sets CWS apart is our ability to integrate science and conservation, and to address the needs of both people and wildlife not as opposing forces, but through problem-solving that serves both.
India’s conservation landscape presents unique challenges, from striking diversity and complex human-wildlife interactions to rapid economic changes. How have these local realities shaped your approach at CWS?
I think India is a fantastic rapid learning ground for organizations around the world. The diverse and intense human livelihood needs of highly tolerant and empathetic communities who are genuinely interested in conserving wildlife despite all the challenges they face, makes it a fascinating place to learn and work. This is further shaped by the country’s immense social, political, cultural, economic, and educational diversity. Our ability to solve for many is often what sets us apart. There are so many lessons from working in India that can be shared with other countries which have more time than us to solve these challenges.
With nearly thirty years of experience in the field, what key shifts or emerging trends do you see globally in wildlife conservation? Are there specific ways in which India can contribute to international conservation efforts? Conversely, are there lessons, innovations, or threats that India can learn from other countries?
I think wildlife and biodiversity conservation have taken a secondary seat to the larger global conversation on climate change. I would like to see them return to the forefront of conservation conversations and be valued for their own inherent worth, rather than simply as a secondary benefit of climate action. India presents a great deal of complexity in addressing these challenges, but one of our strengths is that innovations, whether in education, health, or wildlife, can scale very rapidly once effective solutions are found. This is something we can share with the rest of the world. I am excited to see the range of innovations emerging from our country. In many ways, we are on the edge of developing solutions, but we must do it faster, so that wildlife can coexist with us. That urgency, and our ability to meet it, is something the world can learn from us.
After achieving such an extraordinary milestone and years of trailblazing work, I’m curious: what’s next for you? Are there dream projects or new directions for CWS, or perhaps a personal adventure you’ve always wanted to pursue beyond wildlife science?
I am fundamentally driven by a curiosity to keep learning about many fields and subjects well beyond my core expertise. I love the intersection of ecology with economics, history, geography, and political science. One of the biggest threats to wildlife is the direct hunting and trade of many species across India. This is an immense challenge, with wildlife being directly persecuted. And it is no longer an issue that affects large animals such as tigers and elephants; it now involves all species such as owls, pangolins, and mongooses. The strong local to global market linkages make it easy to hunt, consume and transfer animal parts around the world. I am very interested in building a deeper, more complex approach to tackling this issue, because it is one of the most fundamental threats to the survival of wildlife around the planet. I hope some of the work we are doing today around illegal wildlife hunting and trade can be expanded through innovative partnerships.
Finally, your journey has inspired so many. What advice would you offer to the next generation, young changemakers, scientists, or anyone eager to champion nature’s cause in India and beyond?
Fundamentally, if you work in the environment or wildlife space, a lot of the time the approaches we try do not succeed. I would like everyone in this field to be truly resilient, gritty, and work on long term impact. There will be many frustrations and many failures in what we do, but those few things that work and when you get things right make it all worth it. My advice to young people is to be patient, adaptable and deeply resilient when tackling these challenges, because most of them do not have short-term solutions. Quite often, it takes decades to get something right.
(Pragya Raj Singh is a next-generation social entrepreneur dedicated to innovation and grassroots impact.)