Why I Made Roar & Resilience

Hello!

My name is Viren Bhaika, and I have created a documentary titled Roar and Resilience, exploring the rising human-tiger conflict in India, particularly around the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in central India. While the increasing tiger population of Tadoba reflects the success of the Indian Government’s Project Tiger Initiative, it also poses new challenges. As forest areas have remained the same or even reduced, tigers and humans now share living spaces more frequently, leading to a growing number of encounters. Many of these are fatal. This situation has led to tragic consequences for vulnerable communities, while big corporates ravage the landscape.

Tadoba is on the frontline of this crisis, and unless we find a path to manageable coexistence here, it is likely that this problem will repeat itself the world over as conservation efforts become more successful. My film takes the viewer on a journey through the battleground between civilisation and nature and asks the question: what can we do about it?

About Viren Bhaika

Viren Bhaika is a Grade 12 student at Harrow School in London. Originally from Chandigarh, India, his deep interest in wildlife conservation began in childhood, shaped by regular visits to national parks and first-hand exposure to conservation efforts across the country.

While studying in the UK as a boarding student, he has spent school holidays volunteering on conservation projects aimed at mitigating human–wildlife conflict in both India and Namibia. In the UK, he has worked directly on habitat restoration and rewilding activities as part of the Harrow School Conservation Committee, and he also serves on Harrow’s Eco Committee. In 2023, he volunteered for desert-elephant conservation in Namibia, helping to address conflict between elephants and local villagers. Later, he led a village Cleanliness Drive and a leopard-conflict mitigation scheme with the NGO Eco-Pro at the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve in India. He is the student lead for the opening of the Sustainability and Education Hub at Harrow School’s Farm, an outdoor learning and community space promoting biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, and nature-based education.

He founded VEEWild, an impact initiative to encourage community-centric action for protecting the environment. In June 2024, Viren was awarded Harrow School’s Whitworth Prize for Conservation for his work on human–animal conflict mitigation and his contribution to Harrow School’s conservation initiatives.

VEE Wildlife Foundation is a non-profit organisation registered under Section 8 of the Companies Act, Govt. of India, 2013, with Licence Number 152228. Its primary objective is to promote wildlife conservation and environmental protection.