Dr. Amit Kumar Bar

Team SPECIES is working tirelessly along the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot to save one of the world’s most elusive wild cats: the clouded leopard (Kelral). In Mizoram, this incredible species faces severe threats from rampant illegal wildlife trafficking and poaching. To combat this, our team has pioneered a deeply collaborative approach that places indigenous communities at the very heart of wildlife protection.Over the years, we have successfully transformed local conservation dynamics by engaging directly with the community. Remarkably, former hunters have now become our frontline conservation allies. Team SPECIES has trained these local experts to deploy and monitor sophisticated camera traps across the dense, rugged terrains of Murlen National Park, providing vital data to document and protect the clouded leopard alongside other threatened regional wildlife. Recognizing that sustainable conservation requires economic stability, we have actively developed alternative livelihoods for the people of Murlen village. We built the Clouded Leopard Cottage, an eco-tourism hub where global researchers, wildlife enthusiasts, and tourists can stay. This initiative allows visitors to experience the breathtaking, Amazon-like rainforests of Murlen National Park while immersing themselves in traditional Mizo culture. By linking financial well-being to habitat preservation, our ultimate goal is to establish a permanent, community-managed conservation framework in this remote frontier—creating a successful, scalable model we can share with the global conservation community.