Praneetha Monipi

Growing up, it was with animals Praneetha really felt herself. She couldn’t stand cruelty towards them and tried to rescue those in need of help. When a neighbor shot foraging monkeys — she was only 8 — Praneetha wanted to complain to the police. At a nature camp, aged 11, where an abandoned Sambar fawn was no more than a photo-op for tourists, she decided to dedicate her life to wildlife conservation. Her latest project, Animal Ark, uses activism, education, collaboration and prevention policies to build conservation-livelihood networks. She plans to rehabilitate wildlife rescued from the wildlife trade, run education-involvement workshops in communities, and create self-sustaining, grassroots wildlife conservation teams. Ultimately, this driven changemaker wants to build a collaborative network that spans the country, reaches the highest policy levels from the bottom up, and protects India's biodiversity once and for all.