Dr Shirish Upadhye , Chief Editor, Indian Wildlife Yearbook
Dr S.V. Upadhye, Director of Instructions & Dean, Faculty of Veterinary Science, MAFSU, Nagpur graduated from Nagpur Veterinary College in 1990 with distinction and was University topper. He completed Post-graduation in Veterinary Surgery and Radiology from Mumbai and Doctorate from NVC, Nagpur.
He started his career as a Livestock Development Officer in 1992 and later in 1996, joined as Assistant Professor and thereafter worked on various academic and administrative positions including Officer In-Charge, Maharajbagh Zoo; Associate Professor; Technical Officer; Controller of Examinations; Private Secretary to Vice-Chancellor; Deputy Director and Professor.
He was one of the pioneer staff to submit a full-fledge proposal to the Government of Maharashtra for establishing the Wildlife Research & Training Centre under MAFSU that has come into existence in 2015 at Gorewada, Nagpur through a MoU with the FDCM Ltd., Nagpur. He also took over the reins of the Wildlife Research & Training Centre, Gorewada, Nagpur as the Director in August 2019. He has organized WILDCON 2020, an International Conference and organized more than 20 International and National Conferences/Seminars/Webinars during 2021-2024. Dr Shirish Upadhye has been appointed on a State level Committee the Forest Department for suggesting the rehabilitation of orphan cubs and conflict tigers. He is also Executive Member of the Zoo Authority of Maharashtra.
He is recipient of total more than 80 prestigious awards/ medals/ appreciations including the ICAR fellowship, CSIR fellowship, Scientific Society Awards, and many other awards of national repute, handled 11 research and infrastructure projects, authored 05 books, 09 book chapters, 16 popular articles, 173 research papers till date and guided 11 Masters and Doctorate students during the service. His work for the profession has been acknowledged the scientific societies such as Indian Society for Veterinary Surgery (ISVS) and National Academy of Veterinary Science (NAVS) conferring Fellowships.
Dr Palanivel Rajan, Managing Editor, Indian Wildlife Yearbook
Dr. M. Palanivelrajan graduated with a B.V.Sc. from Madras Veterinary College (MVC) in 2006. He went on to complete his M.V.Sc. in Wildlife Science in 2008 and his Ph.D. in Wildlife Science in 2019, all from the same esteemed institution. In 2016, he further enhanced his qualifications earning a Post Graduate Diploma in Small Animal Emergency and Critical Care Medicine (PGDECM) from MVC, along with an online certification in “Wildlife Disease Management in Species Conservation Programme” from the
Durrell Conservation Academy & Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, U.K.
Dr. Palanivelrajan commenced his professional career as a Rescue Veterinarian at the Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre, Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Chennai, from 2009 to 2010. Since 2010, he has been a dedicated faculty member at Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS). With 15 years of experience in teaching and research in Wildlife Science, he has mentored 18 post-graduate students, 17 PG Diploma candidates and one doctoral student. His research contributions are significant, with 49 national and 15 international peer-reviewed journal articles to his name.
Dr. Palanivelrajan’s illustrious career has been marked numerous accolades. He was a Gold Medallist in both his M.V.Sc. and Ph.D. programs. In 2017 and 2018, he received the prestigious “Murray Fowler International Conference Scholarship (MFICS)” from the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV). In 2022, he was honoured with the “Melpadom Attumalil Georgekutty Young Scientist Award” the Malankara MarThoma Syrian Church, Thiruvalla, Kerala, for his outstanding contributions to science and technology and meritorious service to humanity with Dr. K. Sivan, Former Chairman of ISRO, as a fellow awardee.
Dr Karikalan, M. Editor, Indian Wildlife Yearbook
Karikalan M. holds doctorate in Veterinary Pathology from the ICAR-IVRI, Izatnagar, Deemed University, Bareilly. He has been working as a Scientist (Veterinary pathology) at the Centre for Wildlife Conservation Management & Disease Surveillance, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izatnagar since 2015. He is involved in conducting post-mortem, histopathological and molecular diagnosis of diseases among captive and free range wild animals. He was recently completed the DST-SERB funded project entitled “Patho-epidemiology of elephant endotheliotropic herpes virus among Asian Elephants” and developed diagnostic kits against the disease. He has been providing technical services to various state wildlife departments, Central Zoo Authority and Project Elephant, MoEF & CC, Govt. Of India.He is also PI of NSAIDS safety testing in vultures and his innovative research led to ban of Aceclofenac and nimesulide in veterinary use. He also found the safe use of NSAID tolfenamic acid in Gyps vultures. He published more than 100 reasearch papers in National and International journals, 4 book chapters and 3 books related to wildlife diseases. He has guided 4 MVSc students and all have did research on molecular epidemiology of wildlife diseases. He was recipient of Murray Fowler Scholarship Award in 2024 and various other Association awards IAVP. He is member of Association of India Zoo and Wildlife Veterinarians and Indian Association of Veterinary Pathologists.
Dr. Gowri Mallapur, Jt Editor, Indian Wildlife Yearbook
Dr Gowri Mallpur is an eco-warrior, a passionate herpetologist with an unquantifiable eagerness to push boundaries.
She has a masters in Veterinary Sciences (Parasitology) from the Bombay veterinary College and a Diploma in Sustainable Development and Natural History management from the Ecological Society, Pune. In addition, she has completed a year-long course in basic herpetology from the Bombay Natural History Society.
She currently works as the Director of the GaiaMitra Collective Foundation based out of Goa. The main focus of work here is inclusive conservation practices for Landscape conservation in the Northern Western Ghats. The aim being to link field conservation, communities, livelihoods, natural resource management and environment protection, into a practical working model.
She has worked as a Subject Matter Specialist (Veterinary Health Management) on a project entitled Biodiversity Conservation and Ganga Rejuvenation under the aegis of the Wildlife Institute of India and the National Mission for Clean Ganga. This project focuses on work on conservation, rescue and rehabilitation of Aquatic Macro-Fauna. She also completed a 2 year stint at the Central Zoo Authority, as the veterinary consultant.
She is an invited member of the IUCN SSC- Crocodile Specialist Group. She also worked as the veterinarian at The Madras Crocodile Bank Trust/ Centre for herpetology and its associated Projects and also had an administrative role in the organization.
AIZWV Newsletter Editorial team
Dr Shirish Upadhye, Chief Editor
Dr Sujith Kolangath, Editor (West)
Dr Ashok Khasa, Editor (North)
Dr Nidhi Rajput, Editor (Central)
Dr Parag Deka, Editor(East)
