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This article highlights the documentary, 'Keeper of the Last Herd' by filmmaker Nirmal Verma, which documents the fragile ecosystem of Dhawa Doli, a community-protected oran (sacred grove) in western Rajasthan. It examines the grove’s ecological importance as a refuge for blackbuck, chinkara, and diverse bird species, and the growing threats from habitat fragmentation, invasive vegetation, and feral dogs. Centred on Sharvan Patel, a local conservationist, the film follows his tireless efforts to safeguard wildlife through water conservation, rescue operations, and community awareness.
Stretching across a fragile patchwork of scrub and grassland in western Rajasthan, Dhawa Doli is an 'oran' — a community-protected sacred grove that, though modest in scale, sustains a remarkably rich ecosystem amid the starkness of the Thar landscape. Here one finds blackbuck (Indian antelope), chinkara (Indian gazelle), small deer, reptiles such as the spiny-tailed lizard, and a myriad of bird species, including resident and migratory avifauna. Scattered patches of native shrubs and trees like dhok, khair, neem and others, punctuate the open grassland, offering refuge to creatures small and large.
Despite its diminutive size, Dhawa Doli is threaded deeply into local livelihood. Generations of pastoralists have grazed livestock here, and the grove’s sanctity has long shielded it from conversion. Yet this fragile mosaic has begun to unravel, fragmented by fences, choked by invasive thickets, and sundered by the unchecked proliferation of feral dog packs. The tragedy is that creatures born to roam freely now find themselves hemmed in, running blindly into wire fences or into the jaws of marauding dogs.
It is against this backdrop that the documentary 'Keeper of the Last Herd', by Roundglass Sustain, directed by Nirmal Verma, unfolds, weaving an intimate portrait of human–wildlife coexistence under siege. At the heart of the film is Sharvan Patel, a young man whose fate is inseparable from the fate of Dhawa Doli. Having grown up alongside orans, he has witnessed first-hand the decline of wild herbivores: where antelope numbered in the thousands a decade ago, only hundreds remain today.
Through the camera’s lens, we see Sharvan moving ceaselessly — repairing enclosures, ferrying water in a tanker to dried-up waterholes, rescuing injured deer, tracking dog movements, and engaging with schoolchildren and elders alike to build awareness and a sense of shared responsibility for the land. On the festival circuit, the film has already begun to make waves. Its premiere screening took place at the 2025 EcoReels Film Festival organized by Kriti Film Club. It has also been shown at the Green Hub Festival in Bhopal.
'Keeper of the Last Herd' reveals the everyday realities of conservation — the exhaustion, improvisation, and persistence it demands. Through Sharvan’s commitment and rhe collective effort of his community, it paints a poignant portrait of the coexistence that defines Dhawa Doli, where people and animals move through the same landscape, shaping and responding to each other’s presence over time.
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