In the dense forests of Mudumalai, where every rustle in the grass could signal danger or discovery, one officer spent three years ensuring that not a single tiger was lost to poaching.
That officer was Shenbaga Priya.
An Indian Forest Service officer from the 2013 batch, Shenbaga Priya, has built her career deep inside some of India’s most sensitive wildlife landscapes. From anti-poaching operations in tiger reserves to elephant rehabilitation, wildlife DNA forensics, and marine conservation projects, her work has stretched across forests, laboratories, and field camps.
And somewhere between tracking tiger movement and running conservation programmes, she continued playing competitive tennis, a sport she has pursued since childhood.
Today, she serves in Tamil Nadu while continuing to work on wildlife conservation initiatives, forest genetics, and Project Nilgiri Tahr. Earlier, she served as Deputy Director of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve and later at the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC), Vandalur. Her contribution to conservation earned her the prestigious Bagh Mitra Award from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
But behind the award is a career built on long patrols, difficult terrain, and constant vigilance.
Also read: Mission Vande Mataram: How Four BSF Women Climbed Everest And Sang India’s Soul From The Top Of The World
WHERE THE TIGER JOURNEY BEGAN
Shenbaga Priya’s journey into wildlife conservation began in 2015 when she joined the Tamil Nadu cadre after completing her training.
Her first major attachment was at Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, one of India’s earliest tiger reserves and the southernmost tiger habitat in the country.
“That is India’s first tiger reserve. So the tiger conservation journey started from there,” she told Indian Masterminds, in an exclusive conversation.
For nearly six months, she trained across divisions, learning field operations, patrol systems, forest management, and wildlife protection mechanisms. It was here that she got her first close understanding of what conservation truly meant on the ground.
Soon after, she received her first district-level posting as District Forest Officer in Dharmapuri’s Harur Forest Division.
THE CRACKDOWN ON POACHING AND ILLEGAL MINING
The challenges in Harur were immediate and intense. Poaching was a major concern. Illegal hunting networks were active. Mining violations added to the pressure.
Instead of treating these as routine cases, Shenbaga Priya launched aggressive enforcement operations.
“We booked nearly 80 cases and remanded the poachers,” she says. “Around one crore rupees was collected as fines linked to hunting and illegal mining cases.”
The operations sent a strong signal across the region. Wildlife crime would no longer go unnoticed.
It was an early phase in her career, but it shaped the style of conservation she would later become known for: field-heavy, prevention-focused, and strongly dependent on ground intelligence.
THREE YEARS IN MUDUMALAI AND ZERO TIGER POACHING
From Dharmapuri, she moved to the famous Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris, where she spent nearly three years.
What happened during that tenure stands out sharply.
“There was no poaching case of tigers in the tiger reserve for all three years,” she says.
In a landscape known for its ecological sensitivity and heavy wildlife movement, maintaining such a record required constant monitoring.
Mudumalai operated with nearly 20 anti-poaching camps spread across the reserve. Teams conducted intensive patrols through forest interiors to detect suspicious movement and stop illegal hunting before it could happen.
The result was not just the absence of tiger poaching cases, but stronger protection for leopards and other wildlife as well.
During her tenure, Shenbaga Priya personally sighted nearly 138 tigers in the reserve landscape, a reminder of how alive and active the ecosystem remained under careful monitoring.
She also focused heavily on staff welfare, something she believes directly impacts forest protection.
“All the anti-poaching watchers became regular watchers. Staff welfare was taken care of properly,” she explains.
For frontline forest staff who spend days inside remote jungle terrain, that support mattered.
INSIDE ASIA’S OLDEST ELEPHANT CAMP
Mudumalai is also home to the famous Theppakadu Elephant Camp, regarded as the oldest elephant camp in Asia.
Here, Shenbaga Priya was involved in the training of kumki elephants in collaboration with the Kerala Forest Department. Kumkis are specially trained elephants used during rescue operations and conflict management involving wild elephants.
Three kumki elephants were trained during that period. The camp also became a rehabilitation centre for elephants in distress.
One elephant named Mathani arrived from a temple in Srirangam in poor health.
“It had come in very bad shape. So all the rehabilitation was done there,” she shared with Indian Masterminds.
Another elephant, Raghu, became part of a film shoot that took place during her tenure in 2019 alongside elephants Bhoomi and Ammu.
Behind these public moments, however, was the everyday reality of veterinary care, feeding management, and constant monitoring of captive elephants.
PROTECTING THE NILGIRI LANDSCAPE
Mudumalai also connects with Mukurthi National Park, one of the most important habitats for the Nilgiri tahr. The region forms a critical ecological corridor in Tamil Nadu’s Western Ghats landscape.
Protection work in the region included habitat monitoring, fencing initiatives, and regular patrols to reduce threats to wildlife movement.
The conservation effort extended beyond charismatic animals like tigers and elephants. It focused on preserving entire ecosystems.
RETURNING TO THE FOREST WHERE IT ALL STARTED
Interestingly, Shenbaga Priya later returned to Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, the same reserve where her training had first begun. This time, she returned not as a trainee, but as an experienced officer leading conservation efforts.
The focus remained clear: intensive patrolling, zero tolerance towards poaching, and better support systems for forest staff.
“There was no tiger poaching issue there also,” she says.
Even amid the pressures of forest administration, she found small pockets of personal time.
“That is where I could manage my tennis also,” she adds with a smile.
THE SCIENCE LAB FIGHTING WILDLIFE CRIME
After her field postings, Shenbaga Priya moved to the Advanced Institute for Wildlife Conservation (AIWC) in Vandalur. The shift brought her from forests into laboratories and research facilities, but the mission remained the same.
The institute, established in 2017, handles wildlife forensic analysis and conservation research. Whenever wildlife crime occurs, whether tiger poaching, bushmeat hunting, or elephant ivory cases, samples are sent to the institute for scientific examination.
“We do DNA molecular analysis and identify the species and sex,” she explains.
For elephants, determining sex becomes especially important in ivory-related investigations.
But AIWC’s work went far beyond forensics. Under various conservation programmes, the institute carried out Tamil Nadu’s first raptor census and launched telemetry studies on Olive Ridley turtles.
“We conducted telemetry studies for nearly ten Olive Ridley turtles,” she says.
The institute also launched certificate programmes for school students covering wildlife conservation, forest fire management, and environmental awareness. Nearly eight major conservation projects were undertaken during that phase.
THE TENNIS PLAYER BEHIND THE FOREST OFFICER
Away from tiger reserves and wildlife laboratories lies another side of Shenbaga Priya’s life: tennis. Long before she joined the Indian Forest Service, she was already competing in tournaments during school and college.
“It started as a hobby and later developed into tournaments,” she says.
She participated in state-level, regional, and national-level competitions during her school years and continued playing through college.
In 2015, she won medals in the All India Forest Sports Meet in the singles category. Nearly a decade later, she repeated the feat again in 2024.
Even now, despite her demanding schedule, she still manages to play once or twice a week whenever possible.
A CAREER BUILT DEEP INSIDE THE WILD
Conservation stories are often told through statistics like tiger numbers, patrol routes, or wildlife census data. But behind those numbers are officers who spend years working quietly inside forests, often away from public attention.
Shenbaga Priya’s career has unfolded across anti-poaching camps, elephant rehabilitation centres, wildlife laboratories, and mountain ecosystems.
From filing cases against poachers to tracking tiger habitats and running DNA analysis on wildlife samples, her work reflects how modern conservation is no longer limited to guarding forests alone. It now combines science, field intelligence, community systems, and continuous surveillance.
And somewhere between all of that, she still finds time to pick up a tennis racquet. Because for Shenbaga Priya, whether it is on the court or inside a tiger reserve, focus has always mattered.
Also read: How IAS Namrata Jain Is Taking PDS Deep Into Abujhmad
