Dehradun, Oct. 16 -- The Books from My Shelves

Historical natural-history books are more than relics of a bygone era; they are primary sources that preserve detailed observations of India's wildlife, habitats, and species distributions from times before camera traps, GPS, satellite imagery, and DNA analysis. Many date to the British colonial period and reflect the scientific, administrative, and social contexts of their day. Through field notes, local names, accounts of behaviour, breeding, migration, illustrations, specimens, and distribution records, these works capture ecological conditions and human-wildlife relationships that may have since changed or vanished.

For young researchers and wildlife enthusiasts, they reveal how natural...