Episode Information

In the land of tigers and elephants, deep in the jungles of India, a handful of scientists are at work, trying to save a species smaller than a thumbnail. Award winning photographer and film maker Vijay Bedi follows intrepid explorers working to save India’s amphibians from the tragedy of a nameless extinction. Vijay follows Dr. Gururaja a batrachologist, working at Institute of Science Bangalore, and others like Ashish Thomas at the Delhi University. He stations himself in a forest for 40 days just to document the breeding cycle of that odd looking purple nosed Nasikabatrachus sahyadrensis (the Purple frog) only recently discovered by scientists in the rainforests of the Western Ghats. He unravels fascinating secrets of the ‘Dancing Frog’, a frog that breeds without any physical contact, another species that uses its unique ‘pottery’ skills to build a nest in the swamps of Southern India. Every creature, he encounters on this journey has a unique story to tell. For further information on this documentary take a look at the scientific paper just released, with contribution from the filmmaker Vijay Bedi, on one of the species, the Salamander of India. https://www.salamandra-journal.com/index.php/home/contents/2021-vol-57