Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248001, India.
+91-0135-2646219
nigamp [at] wii [dot] gov [dot] in
About
Dr. Parag Nigam, a former officer of the Indian Army's Remount & Veterinary Corps, joined the Wildlife Institute of India in 2002. As a senior scientist in the Department of Wildlife Health Management, he develops and executes global capacity-building programs for wildlife professionals. Dr. Nigam has been instrumental in large carnivore and mega-herbivore conservation, notably contributing to India's first tiger reintroduction program in Sariska Tiger Reserve and leading the reintroduction of Indian Gaur in Bandhavgarh and Sanjay Tiger Reserve. He provides technical expertise to state and national agencies on wildlife management, conservation, and research, and heads the Wildlife Health Management division.
Academic Positions
2002-till date: Scientist G, Dept. of Wildlife Health Management
2017-2022: Scientist F, Dept. of Wildlife Health Management
2012-2017: Scientist E, Dept. of Wildlife Health Management
2008-2012: Scientist D, Dept. of Wildlife Health Management
2005-2008: Scientist C, Dept. of Wildlife Health Management
2002-2005: Scientist D (Veterinary), Dept. of Wildlife Health Management
1999-2002: Laboratory Officer, Central Military Veterinary Laboratory, Remount Veterinary Corps, Meerut, Indian Army
1997-1999: Veterinary Officer, 22 Mobile Field Veterinary Officer, Remount Veterinary Corps, Meerut, Indian Army
BVSc & AH, Kerala Agricultural University, Mannuthy, Thrisoor, Kerala
Research Interest
Wild animal capture
Wildlife Health
Population management
Ex-situ management
Publications
Nigam P. & P.K. Malik (2008). Managing health of wild animals in captivity: principles and practices. Pp. 151–160 in Indian Zoo Year Book, Volume V, edited by L.N. Acharjyo & A.K. PatnaikIndian Zoo Directors’ Association and Central Zoo Authority
Srivastava K., D.S. Chauhan, P. Gupta, H.B. Singh, V.D. Sharma, V.S. Yadav, Sreekumaran, S.S. Thakral, J.S. Dharamdheeran, P. Nigam, H.K. Prasad. & V.M. Katoch (2008). Isolation of Mycobacterium bovis & M. tuberculosis from cattle of some farms in north India: possible relevance in human health. Indian Journal of Medical Research 128(7): 26–31
Nigam P. (2008). Immobilization and restraint tool in wildlife practice. In Emerging Trends in Nutrition of Wild and Zoo Animals, edited by S.K. Saha, A. Das, N. Dutta, L. C. Chaudhary, & K. Sharma. Centre of Advanced Studies in Animal Nutrition, Indian Veterinary Research Institute: Izatnagar. 176 pp
Nigam P. (2007). Managing wild animals in distress: principles and concerns. In Rehabilitation in Free Living Wild Animals, edited by B.M. Arora. AIZ&WV, Bytes & Bytes Publishers: Bareilly, India
Nigam P. (2007). Managing wild animals in distress: principles and concerns. In Rehabilitation in Free Living Wild Animals, edited by B.M. Arora. AIZ&WV, Bytes & Bytes Publishers: Bareilly, India
Talukdar, A., Pandav, B., and Nigam, P. (2020). Parasite commonality at Swamp Deer (Mammalia: Artiodactyla: Cervidae: Rucervus duvaucelii duvaucelii) and livestock interface. Journal of Threatened Taxa 12(3): 15364–15369. DOI: https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.4812.12.3.15364-15369
Nigam, P., Talukdar, A., Habib, B., Pandav, B., Malik, P. K., & Kalyanasundaram, S. (2020). Hematologic and serum biochemical reference values in chemically immobilized free-ranging sambar (Rusa unicolor). European Journal of Wildlife Research, 66(6),
Ankit, K., Ghanekar, R., Morey, B., Mondal, I., Khandekar, V., Jayramegowda, R., Mondol, S., Nigam, P & Habib, B. (2021). Inhabiting terra incognita: Two-decadal patterns of negative human-leopard interactions in human-dominating landscape of Maharashtra, India. Global Ecology and Conservation, 29, e017
Ghazi, M. G., Sharma, S. P., Tuboi, C., Angom, S., Gurumayum, T., Nigam, P., and Hussain, S. A. (2021). Population genetics and evolutionary history of the endangered Eld’s deer (Rucervus eldii) with implications for planning species recovery. Scientific reports, 11(1), 1-14.
Talukdar, A., Panda, A., Srivastav, A., Hussain, S. A., Malik, P. K., and Nigam, P. (2021). Growth patterns of critically endangered, head-started three-striped roofed turtle, Batagur dhongoka (Gray, 1834). Biologia,
Khan, A., Patel, K., Shukla, H., Viswanathan, A., van der Valk, T., Borthakur, U., Nigam, P., Zachariah, A., Jhala, Y., Kardos, M. and Ramakrishnan, U., (2021). Genomic evidence for inbreeding depression and purging of deleterious genetic variation in Indian tigers. PNAS 2021 Vol. 118 No. 49 e2023018118, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023018118
Talukdar, A., Mallapur, G., Gosami, S., Konch, P., Hussain, S. A., & Nigam, P. (2021). Hematology and serum chemistry values in the critically endangered Red-crowned roofed Turtle, Batakur kachuga and Three-stripped roofed Turtle, B. Dhongoka. Herpetological Conservation and Biology, 16(3), 681-6.
Meredith, A., Anderson, N., Malik, P., Nigam, P., Thomas, A., Masters, N., Guthrie, A., Davidson, H., Patterson, S., Amin, R. and Skerratt, L., (2022). Capacity building for wildlife health professionals: The Wildlife Health Bridge. One Health & Implementation Research, 2b(2), pp.68.
Bhardwaj, G. S., Habib, B., Nigam, P., Sengupta, D., & Kari, B. (2022). Camera trapping data indicates temporal niche segregation among mammals in a tropical deciduous forest. Scientific Reports in Life Sciences, 3(4), 8-26.
Ahmad, K., Pacha, A.S., Naqash, R.Y., Peddamma, S.K., Yellapu, S., Hudson, S., Baghel, D.S., Nigam, P. and Mondol, S. (2023). Evolutionary insights on critically endangered Kashmir red deer or hangul (Cervus hanglu hanglu) through a mitogenomic lens. PeerJ, 11, p.e15746.
Pandey, R.K., Yadav, S.P., Selvan, K.M., Natarajan, L. and Nigam, P. (2024). Elephant conservation in India: Striking a balance between coexistence and conflicts. Integrative Conservation; 3:1-11
Vishwakarma, R., Sharma, C.P., Mondol, S., Habib, B., Bhandari, B., Mishra, R., Gupta, N., Chauhan, J.S. and Nigam, P. (2024). Preliminary study on cranial measurements and sexual dimorphism in skull bones of gaur (Bos gaurus gaurus, Smith 1827). Anatomia, Histologia, Embryologia, 53 (3), p.e13031
Mandal, D., Nigam, P., Malik, P. K. & Habib, B. (2024). Putting ducks in a row: Village resettlement prioritization from inside tiger reserves and its implication in achieving global conservation goals for India. Journal of Wildlife Science, 1 (3), 104-110. DOI: https://doi.org/10.63033/JWLS.QLJT3814
Natarajan, L., Nigam, P., and Pandav, B. (2024). Human-elephant conflict in expanding Asian elephant range in east-central India: implications for conservation and management. Oryx, 1-9. [Impact Factor: 2.7
Nigam, P., & Mallapur, G. (2025). Unravelling the Secrets of Nature's Health-A Journey into Wild Animal Disease Surveillance and Disease Forecasting. Epi-Dis-PHERE-Publication of Health Resilience Quarterly e-Journal of National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), 25.
Dr. Parag Nigam
Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun 248001, India.
+91-0135-2646219
nigamp [at] wii [dot] gov [dot] in