Reptiles of India website launched

Following the incredible success of the Facebook group, Reptiles and Amphibians of India, of which all of you are hopefully members, we have taken the next step in not only bringing together the Indian herpetology community, but also providing them a critical resource that has been sorely missing. The Reptiles of India website has three main objectives: (1) consolidate available information on Indian reptiles and make it freely available on the website, (2) actively collect new information on all aspects of Indian reptiles through research, and (3) communicate this information with policy-makers and work with various governing bodies so that the information is used to conserve reptiles and their habitats in India. Like its sister websites, this website is heavily dependent on citizen scientists.

This website is built upon the powerful online framework developed by the Butterflies of India website. We hope that we will flourish just as well as that website with the strong herpetologist community that exists in India. We also hope that we can come together as a strongly integrated community of amateur naturalists, professional scientists, educators and conservationists in both building this online platform and using the information generated here for effective conservation of Indian reptiles. Please email us if you have any comments, wish to contribute to this website, or want to join us in various capacities.

- Varad Giri, Akshay Khandekar, Purnendu Roy, and Krushnamegh Kunte, editors, Reptiles of India. 23 August 2017.