India's Fishermen Now Protect 1,029 Whale Sharks They Once Hunted

Twenty years ago, fishermen in Gujarat hunted whale sharks for profit. Today, they call them "paani mein taare"—stars in the water—and race to protect them.

The fishing communities of Veraval have formed protection committees that voluntarily report whale shark entanglements and help researchers track these ocean giants. Over 1,029 whale sharks have been recorded as protected and released, a stunning reversal built on years of patient trust-building, education, and a nationwide ban that gave communities a reason to change course.

The transformation started with a film and a conservation campaign that helped fishermen see whale sharks differently. Now the same hands that once hauled in these endangered creatures for their meat and oil are the ones carefully cutting them free from nets.

This is just one of several wildlife comebacks happening across India right now. In Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, four one-horned rhinos between ages 15 and 25 were released into open forests after years in a protected enclosure, bringing the free-ranging population to eight.

Dr. H Rajamohan led the phased rewilding effort supported by WWF-India. The Terai grasslands, which rhinos once shaped and sustained, are beginning to remember what it feels like to have them back.

In Gujarat's Kutch Desert, IFS officer Dheeraj Mittal carefully transported a Great Indian Bustard egg 770 kilometers from Rajasthan. He placed it beneath a wild female for natural incubation, and against all odds, the egg hatched.

The week-old chick represents hope for a species that once nearly became India's national bird. Fewer than 150 Great Indian Bustards remain in the wild today, making every single hatch a victory.

The Ripple Effect

These stories trace back to a single decision made 53 years ago. In 1973, with fewer than 2,000 tigers left in the country, India launched Project Tiger when many thought it was already too late.

Today, India holds more than 70 percent of the world's wild tiger population. The forests protected to save tigers ended up saving so much more—leopards, deer, rivers, birds, and entire ecosystems that had begun to fray.

At the heart of every comeback are people who refused to look away. Scientists, filmmakers, forest officers, and fishing communities staked their futures on the idea that wildlife was worth fighting for.

From coastlines to deserts to grasslands, India's wild places are remembering what they once were, one careful release and one changed heart at a time.