Dr. N. Samba Kumar is currently an Emeritus Scientist at the Centre for Wildlife Studies following his retirement as Director of Research and Training. He holds a master’s degree in Ecology from Pondicherry University and a Ph.D. from Manipal University, India. His research focuses on disentangling complex factors that shape abundance patterns of large mammals and on developing rigorous field survey and analytical methods for monitoring large mammal populations at multiple spatial scales. He has authored/co-authored over 75 scientific articles/reports and one book. Dr. K. Ullas Karanth is the Director of Centre for Wildlife Studies, India, and a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences. He graduated in Wildlife Biology from the University of Florida, Gainesville, USA, and Mangalore University, India, and served as the Director of the Wildlife Conservation Society-India program (1988-2017). His research focuses on carnivore ecology and wildlife management. He has authored over 150 scientific articles and 15 technical and popular books. Dr. James D. Nichols recently retired from his position as a government scientist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. National Biological Survey and the U.S. Geological Survey. After studying at Louisiana State University and Michigan State University, his career has focused on animal population dynamics, biostatistics and decision-making in conservation. He has authored over 400 scientific articles and 10 books. Mr. Srinivas Vaidyanathan is a Senior Research Fellow and trustee of the Foundation for Ecological Research, Advocacy and Learning, India. He graduated in Ecology from Pondicherry University, India. His research focuses on landscape ecology, space - time analysis and connectivity conservation, with a particular interest in understanding the changes in landscape level structure and processes that affect the distribution and abundance of large mammal populations. He has authored/co-authored over 50 scientific articles/reports and four books. Dr. Beth Gardner is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington’s School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, in Seattle. She holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Cornell University. She has authored/co-authored over 70 scientific articles and 1 book on capture-recapture models. Her research focuses on statistical models, ecology and population dynamics.  Dr. Jagdish Krishnaswamy is a Senior Fellow at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bengaluru, India. He holds an M.S. degree in Statistics and a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from Duke University, NC, USA.  His main areas of research and teaching are ecohydrology, landscape ecology and applied statistics, and he has published over 60 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters.