Dehradun, June 26 -- Noted wildlife biologist and wetland expert BC Choudhury on Wednesday called for a fundamental shift in India's wildlife conservation strategy, urging authorities to move beyond the traditional focus on tigers, elephants, and rhinos. He stressed the need to develop targeted programmes for lesser-known and endemic species, many of which remain neglected in mainstream conservation policies. Speaking on the opening day of the Indian Conservation Conference (ICCON) 2025 at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, Choudhury, a first-generation wildlife scientist and former senior faculty member at WII, said, "We have been far too much into tiger-centric, elephant-centric and rhino-centric conservation. We probably need to move away from these enigmatic and charismatic species to address the needs of lesser-known species." His talk, titled "Post-Independence Wildlife Conservation Models in India: Review of Lessons Learnt for Refinement of Pathways", examined decades of conservation practices and proposed more inclusive models for the future. Choudhury advocated for the launch of new conservation programmes for lesser-known species and called for a more scientific approach to conservation breeding of rare and threatened animals. He also underlined the urgent need to strengthen state wildlife management institutions and proposed the establishment of regional centres of the Wildlife Institute of India to improve local capacity building for frontline forest staff. On the trend of developing large, visitor-oriented zoos, Choudhury, said, "There is currently a visible shift into generalist, visitor-enjoyment-centric mega zoos rather than conservation-focused, objective-based ex-situ programmes. This requires serious review," he said. Reflecting on the evolution of conservation in India, Choudhury noted that the sector has successfully weathered waves of transformation - from the green and white revolutions to economic liberalisation and ongoing tensions between ecological and developmental priorities. However, he cautioned that new challenges loom large. "The challenge today comes from the shift in our development agenda to the marine environment under the blue economy and our aspiration to be one of the largest economies in the world. This demands preparedness to safeguard biodiversity amidst rapid transformation," he said. In the plenary session on the same day, Dr Hema Somanathan, a leading evolutionary ecologist, delivered a talk on the intelligence, social behaviour, and ecological role of bees. She spoke about the ancient human-bee relationship, drawing on cave art from India and Spain to highlight honey harvesting as a millennia-old tradition. "Bees are not only vital for biodiversity but are also central to global food security due to their role in pollinating both wild and cultivated plants," said Dr Somanathan. She drew attention to lesser-known native bee species in India such as Apis cerana, Apis dorsata, and Apis florea, stressing their critical role in tropical pollination systems. "Unlike the managed pollinator systems widely used in Europe and North America, India's agriculture still largely depends on wild bee populations. Research into these species remains severely limited. India's wild bees are critical to our ecosystems. We know far too little about them, especially at a time of climate change and habitat transformation," she said....