Prajna Chowta Explained

Prajna Chowta (born in 1970, Accra, Ghana) is an Indian conservationist, wildlife researcher, writer and filmmaker specialised in the Asian elephant. She is the co-founder and managing trustee of the Aane Mane Foundation,^[1] founded in Bangalore, India, in 2000.^[2]

Studies and research

Prajna Chowta graduated in 1993 from the School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS, University of London, with a Masters in anthropology.^[3] She spent the last two decades in elephant camps and communities of mahouts in south and north-east India and is one of the rare women mahouts in Asia. Since 1995, she has focused on the migration of Asian elephants on the Indo-Myanmar(Burma) border; the communities and traditional techniques of mahouts in India and Burma; and the management of elephants in their natural habitat.Since 2011, she developed ElephanTTrackinG, a remote monitoring system for elephants using GPS collars currently deployed in India, Bhutan, Thailand.^[4] Prajna Chowta has recently been researching the history of the Andaman elephants.^{[5] [6]}

Early life

Prajna Chowta was born in Ghana, grew up in Nigeria and later in Bombay and Bangalore, India. She is the daughter of D. K. Chowta, a Kannada author and businessman, and the sister of music director Sandeep Chowta.^{[2] [7]}

Awards

In 2016, Prajna Chowta was made Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite (Knight in the National Order of Merit), by the President of the French Republic.^{[8] [9]}

Publications

• Chowta P., Gautier P. (2000) Hathi, l'éléphant (French) Published by Les 400 Coups, Montreal, Canada ^{[10] [11]}
• Chowta P. (2000) The Old Elephant Route, A Research on Elephant Migration between Myanmar and India, Asian Elephant Conservation Fund Report, Fish & Wildlife Service, Washington D.C., USA^{[12] [13]}
• Chowta P. (2010) Elephant Code Book, revised by S.S. Bist, R. Sukumar, B.C. Chittiappa, published by Asian Nature Conservation Foundation & Aane Mane Foundation, Bangalore, India ^[14]
• Chowta P., Ledoux S. (2014) Enfant d'Eléphants (French), published by Elytis Editions, France. ^{[15] [16]}
• Chowta P. (2016) A Brief History of the Andaman Elephants, Aane Mane Foundation, India.^[6]
• Chowta P. (2022) Cultural Aberrations in the Management of Captive Elephants in The SOAS Elephant Reader, edited by Ed Emery, SOAS, London, UK. ISBN 978-0-906305-16-4

Filmography

• Hathi (1998) directed by Philippe Gautier, written by Prajna Chowta and Philippe Gautier, produced by Rock Demers, Les Productions La Fête, Montréal, Québec, Canada^[17]
• The Old Elephant Route (2000) directed by Philippe Gautier, written by Prajna Chowta and Philippe Gautier, produced by Les Films d'Ici (Paris) & GA&A (Rome), Discovery Channel, USA.^[18]
• Elephas Maximus (2005) documentary trilogy directed by Philippe Gautier, written by Prajna Chowta and Philippe Gautier, Produced by Les Films d'Ici & 24images, Arte Television, France.

Episode 1: Of Elephants and MenEpisode 2: Meetings with Remarkable AnimalsEpisode 3: God and the Elephant^[19]

• Elephant Blues (2014) directed by Philippe Gautier, written by Prajna Chowta and Philippe Gautier, produced by 24images & Les Films d'Ici, France. Distributed by DigiNext, New York City.^{[17] [20]}

External links

• Official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Aane Mane Foundation Asian Elephant Conservation News. aanemane.org. 2018-06-12.
2. Web site: May we have the trumpets please?. Deccan Herald. 29 October 2010 .
3. Web site: Elephant Conference @ SOAS 2016 – SOAS University of London. www.soas.ac.uk.
4. Web site: elephant tracking. www.elephanttracking.org. 2018-06-12.
5. Web site: elephants crossing. Nidhi. Adlakha. 4 November 2017. www.thehindu.com.
6. Web site: The Aane Mane Foundation – Asian Elephant Conservation – News. aanemane.org.
7. Web site: Sandeep Chowta. IMDb.
8. Web site: Remise de l'Ordre National du Mérite à Prajna Chowta et Jean Riotte. La France en Inde / France in India.
9. News: France confers knighthood on elephant researcher. Staff Reporter. The Hindu . 4 October 2016. www.thehindu.com.
10. Book: Livre : Hathi, l'éléphant. www.livres-cinema.info. July 2000 . 9782921620550 . Gautier . Philippe . Chowta . Prajna . Les 400 Coups .
11. Book: Hathi, l'éléphant : l'aventure d'un tournage en Inde. Philippe. Gautier. Prajna. Chowta. 2 January 2018. Les 400 coups. .
12. https://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/summary-report-asian-elephant-1999-2000.pdf
13. Web site: The Aane Mane Foundation – Asian Elephant Conservation – Asian Elephant. aanemane.org.
14. Web site: Books – ancf. asiannature.org.
15. Web site: Beaux livres Elytis. elytis-edition.com.
16. Book: Enfant d'éléphants. Prajna. Chowta. Stéphanie. Ledoux. 2 October 2014. ELYTIS. .
17. Web site: Prajna Chowta. IMDb.
18. Web site: The Old Elephant Route – smh.com.au. www.smh.com.au. 6 September 2003 .
19. Web site: Elephas Maximus – 24images. www.24images.fr.
20. Web site: DiginextWeb. www.diginextfilms.com.