Book Launch | ‘The Lost Snow Leopard’: Explorations in Collaborative Storytelling

What can an illustrator, wildlife researcher and molecular biologist turned photographer have in common? A love for ecology and storytelling. 

Join us for the book launch of The Lost Snow Leopard: A Himalayan Adventure written and created by Nirupa Rao, Munib Khanyari and Prasenjeet Yadav where they will be in conversation with Radhika Timbadia reflecting on their collaboration and the need to find new and interesting ways of talking about the ecology and climate. This will be followed by an interactive Q&A with the audience.

Here are the details:

Date: 20th September 2026, Sunday

Time: 3:30 PM (seating begins at 3:15 PM)

Venue: Champaca Bookstore, Vasanth Nagar

RSVP here to register.

About the book:

The mixed media picture book combines hand-painted illustrations and photographs to tell the story of a young snow leopard named Burfila, who comes from the land of Jammu & Kashmir. Follow along as Burfi journeys through his mountain universe in search of turf to call his own, meeting a host of characters along the way ... Lhamo the Bearded Vulture, Saqina the Stoat, Jogi the Saussurea flower and more.

About the authors: 

Nirupa Rao is a botanical artist from Bangalore. She has illustrated multiple books, including Pillars of Life—Magnificent Trees of the Western Ghats (2018) and Hidden Kingdom—Fantastical Plants of the Western Ghats (2019), and co-directed an animated short film on wild nutmeg swamps with a National Geographic Fellowship. She enjoys translating scientific subjects into an easily comprehensible visual medium for the general public, covering subjects as varied as cellular biology (European Molecular Biology Lab, Germany),  mycelial networks (Fungi Foundation, Chile), and eDNA (Nature Conservancy, USA). She has also illustrated the covers of five Amitav Ghosh novels, and exhibited her work at the National Geographic Museum (Washington DC), Dumbarton Oaks (Washington DC), and Museum of Art & Photography (Bangalore).

Growing up in the beautiful mountains of Kashmir started an eternal love affair for the mountains for wildlife researcher Munib Khanyari. After his schooling in India (Srinagar and Mumbai), Munib had the privilege of doing further studies at McGill University, Canada before doing a PhD at University of Bristol/University of Oxford focusing on disease transmission between wildlife and livestock across Asia's high mountains and steppes. He is particularly interested in interdisciplinary and applied research which leads to context-specific conservation action for high-altitude wildlife, with an emphasis on the interventions being co-designed with local communities. Munib has been working with the Nature Conservation Foundation in various capacities for the past 8 years. Currently, he is a Scientist in the High Altitude Program and also a Postdoctoral Researcher at UAB-ICTA, Barcelona.

Prasenjeet Yadav is a molecular biologist turned photographer, writer and National Geographic Explorer from India. His work uses photography, field science and long-form storytelling to make complex ecological stories visible to a wider public.

His recent National Geographic Magazine cover story followed the rare black tigers of Similipal, a story about genetics, isolation and the future of tiger conservation. Prasenjeet’s photographs and stories have been published by National Geographic, The New York Times, BBC, NPR, Scientific American, The Wire and other platforms.

His luggage is based in Bangalore, India and he is either working on assignments in remote areas or traveling for his speaking engagements.

RSVP to reserve your spot.