Kingkaalinga.com intends to create awareness among high school students so that we may see the Kaalinga as the intelligent creature it is, appreciate its role in the ecosystem and understand how the destruction of its habitat is threatening its survival. This website was developed as a personal project for my International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme (MYP) Year 5. It was built in collaboration with the Kālinga Foundation, Agumbe, India.
I am immensely grateful to Dr P Gowri Shankar, Co-Founder of Kālinga Foundation and the prominent wildlife biologist behind the official reclassification of the king cobra species. Dr Gowri’s encouragement, approval and personal guidance were instrumental in this project. He gave me a free hand with the website’s structure and aesthetics, and trusted me with research material and content. His involvement, which includes granting me audio, video and personal interviews lends tremendous credibility to this academic presentation.
Most of the information featured on this website has been received first-hand from Kālinga Foundation, which is at the forefront of king cobra research and conservation. I wish to thank the team for their time and patience. In particular, Priyanka Swamy and Shreyas Rao who sorted, edited and shared text and videos. Each of my visits to the Kālinga Foundation campsite in Agumbe was a learning opportunity and I thank Sharmila Rajasegaran and P Prashanth for the generous hospitality.
My aim was to make an interactive website which provided authentic, scientific information in an engaging manner. To this end, the IT direction provided by the executives and staff of Manipal Digital has been invaluable. I specially thank Vignesh Kamath, Jyothi Agarwal, Chandrakanthi P, Yashvantha Kumar, Prasad Acharya, Aman Kumar and Chandhrashekaraiya KS. They taught me processes, pointed me to the right programmes and helped resolve all technological issues. Their enthusiasm played a big role in pushing me to deliver my best.
Lastly, I would like to thank my mother, Vanita Pai without whom this project would’ve been difficult to navigate. Her guidance has been pivotal in the execution of this project.
Devina Pai
H-Farm International School, Roncade, Italy
Special thanks to:
Dr P Gowri Shankar
Wildlife Biologist | Conservationist | Educator
Founder Director, Kālinga Centre for Rainforest Ecology
Co-Founder, Kālinga Foundation
Find him on:
Photo Credit: ©Akshay Kodancha, via Mongabay
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Gowri Shankar Speaks
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