Prashant Mahajan

I am a wildlife ecologist, holding a master’s degree in Wildlife Science from Aligarh Muslim University and a Bachelor’s of Science in Zoology (H) from Delhi University. My dissertation study focused on human-carnivore conflict, wherein I examined the ecological factors governing kill site selection by large carnivores, particularly leopard. Post that, I completed a project on the ecology of wolves in Kailadevi Wildlife Sanctuary with Tiger Watch. Subsequently, I joined the Wildlife Institute of India with the All India Tiger Estimation project. In the past four years my focus has been on studying the ecology of large mammals in India, with a particular emphasis on wolf, tiger, leopard, elephant, and rhesus macaque. For my Ph.D. I shifted my focus to the ecology of mesocarnivores, for which I was awarded the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF). I joined the Wildlife Institute of India as a Scientist C in September 2023.

• Mahajan, P., Chaudhary, R., and Kazi, A. and Khandal, D. 2022. Spatial determinants of livestock depredation and human attitude towards wolves in Kailadevi Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan, India. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. 10:855084. doi: 10.3389/fevo.2022.855084

• Mahajan, P., Khandal, D. and Chandrawal, K. 2021. Factors Influencing Habitat-Use of Indian Grey Wolf in the Semiarid Landscape of Western India. Mammal Study 47(1): 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3106/ms2021-0029

• Mahajan, P. and Khandal, D. 2021. Preliminary status of the Indian grey wolf in Kailadevi Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan, India. Canid Biology & Conservation 23(3): 8-14. http://www.canids.org/CBC/23/Indian_wolf_Rajasthan.pdf

• Mahajan, P. and Khan, A. 2022. Ecological drivers of livestock depredation by large predators. In: Case studies of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation in India, eds. O. Ilyas and A. Khan. Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Pp. 127-141[Contributed Book chapter].

• Mahajan, P. and Khandal, D. 2019. Assessing the ecological status of Indian grey wolf with a focus on anthropogenic interactions in Kailadevi Wildlife sanctuary. Tiger Watch: A report submitted to Forest Department. Tiger Watch, Sherpur Khiljipur, Rajasthan, India.

• Prashant Mahajan (May, 2022). On the Wolf trail. Research in Translation. Current Conservation. 

• Prashant Mahajan & Juno Negi (October, 2020). Locus in Focus: One Scientist’s Story About Navigating in the Wild. NDTV Gadgets 360⁰ (Science Features).

• Prashant Mahajan (October, 2020). A Ballad for the Wolves. Sanctuary Asia Magazine.

• Amee Mehta, Ashish Agarwal, Prashant Mahajan & Shahzada Iqbal (September, 2018), Palamau Tiger Reserve: Handling the injured Jackal an experience, Me and My Earth, Vol. 2, Issue-8, pp: 46-48.

• Mahajan, P., Khandal, D. 2023. Interspecific interactions and co-existence among canids in the semi-arid landscape of western India. EURING Analytical Meeting & Workshop, Montpellier, France, pp. 42.

• Mahajan, P., Khandal, D. 2021. Examining the socio-ecological drivers of human-wolf conflict using occupancy models. International Congress for Conservation Biology.

• Mahajan, P., Khan, A. 2019. Ecological Factors Governing Livestock Depredation by Tiger (Panthera tigris) and Leopard (Panthera pardus) at the Northern Periphery of Corbett Tiger Reserve, Uttarakhand, India. International Conservation Conference, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, pp. 58.

• Mahajan, P., Khandal, D., Chandrawal, K. 2019. Examining Ecological and Anthropological Correlates of Indian Grey Wolf Habitat-Use in the Kailadevi Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan. SCCS, Bengaluru, pp. 13.