Alumnus

Rajeev Pillay

Research Associate, Western Ghats

MSc (Zoology), University of Calcutta, India (2004)

I joined NCF in November 2007. My research is centered on understanding spatiotemporal patterns in large mammal distributions in the Western Ghats and the processes underlying observed changes in these patterns. The work so far has revealed important patterns in the distribution and abundance of large mammals over time. Yet, there remains much to understand about the processes that are driving the patterns. My present focus is on modeling large mammal occupancy dynamics over space and time as a function of landscape and environmental predictors, anthropogenic threats and, life-history traits.

I am currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at the University of Florida, Gainesville. For my doctoral dissertation, I am investigating the impact of logging and rainforest fragmentation on animal behavior and species interactions. Specifically, I am testing hypotheses pertaining to: (i) the responses of breeding songbirds to perceived predation risk, (ii) frugivore-fruit mutualistic interactions and, (iii) post-dispersal seed predation. I work in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo at the field sites of the Stability of Altered Forest Ecosystems (S.A.F.E.) Project.

Previously, I was a researcher with the All India Tiger Monitoring Project at the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun (2004-05) and worked in Kanha, Pench and Satpura Tiger Reserves in Madhya Pradesh. Thereafter, during 2006-07, I worked with the Wild Rescue Program at the Wildlife Trust of India in New Delhi.

Projects

Publications

Vertebrate species richness in the 395 forest ranges in the Western Ghats

Journal Article

2022

Using interview surveys and multispecies occupancy models to inform vertebrate conservation

Journal Article

2015

Distribution, relative abundance, and conservation status of Asian elephants in Karnataka, southern India

Journal Article

2014

Accounting for false positives improves estimates of occupancy from key informant interviews

Journal Article

2011

Patterns of spatiotemporal change in large mammal distribution and abundance in the southern Western Ghats, India

Journal Article

2010

Ensuring the future of the tiger and other large mammals in the southern portion of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, southern India

Popular Article

2010

The magic of Kanha

A tiger rests on a stretch of a highway in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve that's currently realigned outside the tiger reserve

Conference Proceedings

2009

Opportunities and challenges for tiger (Panthera tigris) conservation in the southern Western Ghats, India

Popular Article

2009

Mountain rainforests. Quest for large mammals in the southern Western Ghats

Journal Article

2009

Observations of small carnivores in the southern Western Ghats, India

Newsletter

2008

Sighting of a rusty-spotted cat in the Varushanad Valley, India