Cats of the Wild

The Mizoram Model: Amit Kumar Bal

Listen on

Episode notes

When we think about the illegal wildlife trade, we think of the fur of tigers, the ivory of elephant tusks and the scales of pangolins - but even small wild cats are traded illegally in many countries around the world.

In the porous border region between Myanmar and the Indian state of Mizoram, wildlife biologist Amit Kumar Bal stumbled upon a trade of small wild cats from the Murlen National Park in India, across the border to Myanmar - a global hub for the illegal wildlife trade.

After three years of living in one of the small villages bordering the park, Amit has completely eliminated the hunting of small wild cats - but that's just one village - and now Amit is trying to replicate this success in every village all throughout Mizoram.

Guests: Amit Kumar Bal