PfA Wildlife Rescue and Conservation Centre

Darting up tree trunks, shaking branches and leaves, and scurrying along compound walls – these small mammals lead fascinating lives that we often only get to catch a glimpse of amidst our busy daily schedules. We’re bringing into the spotlight our fruit and nut-gathering urban neighbours, the three-striped palm squirrel! Native to India and Sri Lanka, this species of rodent has also been named after our subcontinent as the “Indian palm squirrel” due to its prevalence in various parts of the country as well as its mythological significance here. These squirrels get their name from the three distinctive white stripes running along the length of their back. Mythology accounts for these stripes as originating from a tale in the Ramayana, when a little squirrel contributed to the building of the bridge at Rameswaram and Lord Rama, pleased with its effort, stroked the squirrel’s back, leaving the three stripes we can see today. They are closely related to the five-striped palm squirrel foun...

In a world of increasing ecological imbalance, environmental protection and sustainability are key topics of discussion. The ecological crisis calls for immediate action to reverse or at least pause the damage done to the planet we have been blessed with, and the reason why we’re called to act on this is simple – our planet allows us to thrive, and we want to keep thriving. It’s simple reasoning on the surface, but as evidenced by the lack of meaningful progress in our collective goal to save our planet, it isn’t effective enough in creating real change. A large portion of the population continues to view the goal of humanity through a lens of materialism and anthropocentrism, as a result of which the web of systems being affected by the ecological disturbances remains out of sight. This warrants a shift in perspective; one where spirituality acts as the root for environmental concern. Eco-spirituality acts as the meeting point of spirituality and the Earth. It transcends environmental...