For the first time in the country, an MSc course in Wildlife Biology and Conservation has been inaugurated at the National Centre for Biological Sciences at the GKVK campus in the city. (Feb 14, 2004) The course is affiliated to the Manipal Academy of Higher Education and has been launched in association with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), New York; Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS) and NIAS. Applications for the course had been solicited in December.