Agents of Change

MALAIKA VAZ, 23

Wildlife

Malaika is a wildlife presenter and filmmaker, whose key areas of focus include documenting human-wildlife conflict and coexistence, investigating illegal wildlife trafficking, and highlighting the need to protect the lesser-known and endangered species in India. A penchant for adventure sports and the outdoors from an early age meant growing up around a lot of wildlife, “from whales and tigers to bears and frogs”. She’s also a windsurfer, a divemaster, and a Cessna pilot. That, and the fact that the world is in the midst of several intractable environmental issues, became Malaika’s reasons to want to pursue a career in wildlife conservation.

“When you’re so invested in environmental protection, looking at the news of the Amazon burning, the oceans acidifying, and species being pushed to the brink of extinction can be overwhelming and disheartening,” she tells Cosmo.“My generation was born into an ecological crisis—we’re seeing our climate changing in devastatingly dramatic ways, as well as the loss of biodiversity on a daily basis.” It is important, she says, to direct more of our energies, resources, and media space to understanding the lives of the animals that have to bear the brunt of unsustainable development, and to find ways to protect them.

“I’ve been able to witness and document illegal marine trafficking from India’s oceans. The scale is terrifying.”

“Another challenge of conservation is that the local communities living in the midst of wildlife are often alienated from it. They should be the leaders