Ivory poaching was believed to be contained in India following stringent law and policy enforcement in the 1990s. This proved to be false when a poaching ring was uncovered in 2015, revealing an extensive, shadowy nexus of poachers, traders, high-end art dealers, and collectors spread across the country, making it the largest one in Indian history. A study by Poacher, a critically acclaimed docuseries, fictionalizes the two-year-long investigation that led to the crackdown on this ring. Environmental issues are rarely covered by news media, let alone on the big screen. However, the proliferation of OTT (over-the-top) platforms has changed the way media production and consumption functions, and previously overlooked or controversial scripts are now seeing the light of day. The recent push for environmental concerns worldwide may be a reason for the slow but gradual increase in such web series and feature films in India. This paper studies the eight-episode series through content analysis of its narrative, visual elements, and environmental philosophies, with Ecocriticism as the theoretical framework. Through triangulation, the researchers aim to understand the communicative effectiveness of bringing gruesome, real-life incidents to the wider-than-ever reach of the OTT screen and the impact it may have on the audience's understanding of the irreplaceable significance of non-human species and the inimitable role of forest rangers and grassroots environmentalists in conservation and environmental well-being.   

 

Key words: Environmental communication, poaching, India, over-the-top, web series, ecocriticism, docuseries, environment.