In the rain forests of the south west of India, Asian elephants, Indian bisons, wild dogs, varieties of deer and sloth bears roam free. With luck one can see a fresh pug mark of a tiger and with loads of luck even spot a tiger or leopard. Nagarahole ( pronounced Nagaraholey), the National Park is just 220 kilometres from the IT city of Bengaluru, India, and only 80 kilometres from the city of palaces, Mysuru in Southern India.
City folks on a wild trip, we were on our first day’s safari in the forests of Nagarahole during the summer season two years ago, when a sudden thunder storm burst upon us. Such storms are frequent during the pre monsoon month of May. Our safari ride was in an open top Jeep which was rattling along the rough forest path, no wider than the vehicle. Lightning and instant thunder claps added to the ferocity of the sudden rain which was menacing and sharp, stinging the eyes and face. Our lodgings were at least ten kilometers away and the two children who were our co passengers were already soaked to the skin. It was late in the evening and darkness was closing over rapidly.
Our guide decided that the single seat next to the driver’s seat that had a roof should shelter at least the two youngsters and stopped the vehicle.
From the darkness of the enclosing forest, we heard a loud trumpet and a huge dark shadow emerged. The cow elephant did not like the presence of a vehicle full of human beings, stopping in her territory. She charged to chase us away. Our guide could do no more than scramble into the vehicle and order the driver to drive away, as fast as the wheels would take us. Rain, darkness, boulders: nothing mattered. Once more we heard the chasing elephant’s angry trumpet. We were soon safe, right out of her territory.
An unmatched experience like that was just an introduction to a retreat from the jaded and routine city life.
On our TV screens we can access any number of documentaries showcasing accelerating clouds, bird’s eye views of thousands of migrating animals, waters thundering down gorges, melting snow, blossoming buds and tigers succeeding in their pursuit of prey but at times getting defeated and going back hungry. The visuals are speeded up or slowed down with action replays, ready served like instant food. Can that screen experience match the live feel of the wind on the cheeks, the sound of the barking deer which senses a predator nearby or the sheer feel of expanse where the sky, clouds, forests and land become one in a deluge like that summer evening?
One of the last remaining moist mixed deciduous and ever green forests of Asia, Nagarahole is flat in its contour where the rivers and streams snake their way in curves and bends. In the contiguous national park at Bandipur, the hills and valleys dominate. The two sections in the state of Karnataka are divided by the backwaters of a dam built across a river, which is a tributary of the River Cauvery, a much venerated and celebrated river.
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The backwaters attract hoards of elephants from Nagarahole and Bandipur. The elephants can be seen more in summer months when the need for water make the pachyderms come to the backwaters more often. The backwaters show stumps of hundreds of dead trees which formed the area’s forest before the back waters submerged them. One can easily see twenty or thirty elephants at the same time at this location.
Even though the elephants looked dried out and lean with loosely hanging skin in summer, confirming that the forests were not providing them with enough food for their gargantuan appetites in the hot dry season, relief was round the corner. The grass had started sprouting and tender leaves were on trees with the pre monsoonal rains. Hoards of elephants came to the manmade waterhole at the backwaters making huge foot prints in the slushy bunds. They plucked the tender grass with their trunks, patted the clump with one front foot to release the excess mud a few times and pushed the grass, roots and all into their mouths in a graceful curve of the trunk. This was repeated again and again. Patiently they stood and fed. Pretty hard work, I must say, for so small a return.
The other common sight in Nagarahole was the abundant prey base of deer. One could see spotted and sambar deer. Fleet of foot, they dashed across the forest floor in groups from anywhere to anywhere in seconds. The Gaur (Indian bison) is abundant too. It is this rich and plentiful prey base of deer and bison that allows Nagarahole to be such a good tiger sanctuary, despite the fact that one in four tigers is poached. The tiger population is a healthy and soon the tigers may need relocation to avoid overcrowding. About 6,500 elephants traverse the areas of Nagarhole, Bandipur, Thekadi and Mudumalai in three states of peninsular India in the shadow of the western hill ranges and their contiguous forests .
Despite killings by poachers and territorial fights among themselves, tigers are abundant in Nagarahole and visitors are not allowed in the core areas. However, even in the buffer zone, if one has luck, the good sense to remain quiet and patient, and has a telephoto camera, one can spot a tiger from a long way off and even capture the memory in a photo, the tiger either resting or drinking water at a stream. We ourselves spotted a fresh pug mark even as our guide hustled us away from the open air into a closed vehicle.
They say, this is the tiger and elephant country. However the birds one saw in Nagarahole took one’s breath away. Down the river in a boat in the early
morning or late evening, one could spot hundreds of different birds crowding the banks, the trees and the shrubs, looking for their feed of fish, crabs, worms and insects. With the setting sun they made a pretty show with their colourful feathers and wings, their different calls and novel diving and fishing protocols. Spotting elephants, deer, bisons and the many different birds including peacocks was as easy as looking at one’s own palm.
On the boat ride we spotted river crocodiles. Peacocks danced and elephants mounted playful fights among themselves.
Nagarahole has recorded at least a hundred species of birds. The peacocks and peahens are everywhere. The Blue Jay delights with its wonderful hues. One constantly hears the bird calls that sound like “Why did you do it?” and “Bloody liars”. Lucky visitors will spot the Malabar pied thorn bill and many varieties of cuckoos. Our boat ride allowed us to see hundreds and hundreds of painted storks, pelicans. ducks, egrets and coots.
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Night times are not for venturing out even from the safe residential lodges. City folk like us are not used to the pitch darkness of the pristine forests and we can scarcely find our way. Besides, wild hogs run from one area to another in groups, making a frightening thud. Folks like us do not know against which animal we would bump in the darkness.
We noticed that the camera trap method of counting the population of the wild life was being used. Sets of trees were marked with red paint in many places with trip wire and cameras suitably mounted.
This year we decided to visit the same wildlife sanctuary at a different time of the year, and we chose mid autumn in the month of October.
The abundant record breaking rains this year had rendered the entire forest lush with grass, edible plants and plenty of water. The wild elephants looked well fed, shining dark of colour and fantastic girth around the mid section. We spotted many groups of elephants with very young baby elephants.
Similar were the groups of spotted deer with a large number of very young ones. Obviously the birthing season had just got over and the young ones had started roaming with the herds. We noticed too that the deer do not take fright upon seeing the safari jeep any more. They seem to understand that the vehicle may make some noise but does not stray beyond the tracks and means no harm to them. The whole herd sits and watches the jeep go past calmly and with curiosity.
The gaurs were in plenty too with their typical girth around the shoulders and curved horns.. They looked majestic and calm and could hold themselves high in any situation.
The health of the forest is evident from the fact that three different predators , the tiger, the leopard and the wild dog coexist here, added our guide.
Evenings were spent watching beautifully made documentaries of other sanctuaries. Some screenings were in open air theatres in front of campfires adding to the thrill of living the wild life.
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When Nagarhole was declared as a tiger sanctuary decades ago, about a hundred families were relocated outside the forest, with grants of land and houses. Some of the relocated persons have been employed for various tasks in the buffer zone.
To visit the Nagarahole forests and the National Park is an experience of a life time. You can leave your mobiles behind; there is but weak signals for TV and mobiles!!
Submitted by: Ms Gayatri Chandrashekar
14, 9th Main Road, 3rd Block, Jayanagar, Bengaluru, 560011, INDIA
Mobile phone: +91 9739960978
E mail: gayatri_dd@yahoo.co.in
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