Somewhere inside the core forest,
I finish an early dinner and go to sleep. The long walk in the morning, for the
tiger estimation has caused little tiredness and sleep overtakes my consciousness.
There is no network and so there is no disturbance from the modern world. It is
the most pleasant sleep someone can get. But being a forest lover my sub-conscious
mind wakes me up for few seconds for a distant call of a watchmen Langur to
protect its family from the big cats OR for the breaking sound of the branches
of a tree caused by a moving elephant OR for a soft trumpeting call made by
mother elephant calling her naughty calf to join back the group OR for a dying
call of a porcupine which became the victim of a big cat OR for a cry of a chital
to alert its herd from the carnivores OR for a call of a leopard asking her cub
to be with her. But only one call ‘Auuuunnnnggggg’ (Sound spell copied from
Kenneth Anderson) wakes me up for a long
time and I would love to hear it more. It’s the call of a Tiger! This priceless
experience can only be experienced inside a forest and it was a gift for me
from the Karnataka Tiger census 2013. It was a better than any best moment
someone can get at the year end 2013!
Tiger, the biggest cat on the earth.
Who will not love to see this wonderful creature? Ask any child ‘which is your
favorite animal?’ most of the answers will be ‘Tiger’. It is very discouraging
that their population is decreased significantly. But what the Indian forest department and the
government is doing to increase the population is really great and appreciative;
otherwise one fine day people should see this beautiful largest cat in the Zoo
cages only! If Tigers have to be protected they should be tracked, tiger
estimation is necessary for this. Forest department carries out the Tiger
estimation for every 4 years. I had missed an opportunity in 2009 and I got the
opportunity again in 2013. Initially I had problems with my leave plans but my
friend Vinay Singh who had already enrolled for Tiger estimation 2013,
influenced a lot in motivating me to enroll for this event. I was convinced
from him, spoke to my manger and my leaves were approved. In fact my Manager
was happy to grant me the leaves and after the census I realized nothing in
this world would have compensated. This experience is something which someone
can’t buy, someone can’t explain it to others and someone can’t feel it unless
they really experience it.
I and Vinay Singh had enrolled to
Karnataka Tiger census 2013 through online. We were all set. We were
shortlisted and we were posted to Bandipur National Tiger Reserve. There was a
huge response this time and many of our friends were not given a chance. We were
lucky to get into the census and then getting shortlisted to Bandipur, one of
the best Tiger reserve in the world! Till now I and Vinay Singh had not seen a
tiger in the wild and that was another reason we were waiting for this event on
toes. Tiger census was held from Dec 16th 2013 – Dec 23rd
2013. Dec 16th and Dec 17th were reporting dates. Our
reporting date was 17th Dec 2013 in Bandipur.
I and Vinay Singh reported in
Bandipur forest office. We finished all the formality by paying 500Rs. In which
200Rs was forest entry fee and 300Rs was for food. Our names were enrolled and
forest officials informed us that after the orientation program they will let
us know to which place we will be allocated to. Orientation program was
organized precisely; we were welcomed to the program with a hot Tea and
biscuits. Projector was arranged to walk us over various activities which we
will be doing during the survey. After Lunch all the volunteers were allocated
to various locations in Bandipur. We were glad when we got to know that we were
allocated to the ‘ChammanaHalla’ beat in MoolehoLe forest! This is one of the
regions with more number of Tigers which can provide us opportunity to sight it
and learn more about them! There were around 120 lucky Volunteers on this day
and around 100 lucky volunteers previous day! All volunteers who reported on
previous day were sent to their respective ranges and it was a free day for
them. We also heard there was a volunteer from the United States of America who
had read about Bandipur and other forests and he requested to appoint him for
‘Kalkere’ range, another region with more number of Tigers and he was honored
with his request by allocating him to Kalkere.
Finally we were ready to get
dropped to our locations. Forest jeeps and Vans were arranged and they dropped
each and every one of us to the allotted locations.
We reached MoolehoLe. For
Chammana Halla range 5 volunteers were allotted. I, Vinay Singh, Nakul, Gururaj
and Shamanth. All of us and our forest watcher Srinivas, range officer Natraj
boarded the jeep with few more forest guards and started our night Safari to
our ChammanahaLLa camp! Yes, it had turned dark by the time we reached there
but it was exciting as that’s the time all Jungle animals will be on move. We
were praying Chamundamma to give us Tiger Darshana (Sighting).
From Moolehole we were supposed
to go in the Sultan bateri – Gundulpet highway for 5-6 KMs and then enter the
Chammanahalla jeep route. Natraj drove for few mins and realized he left
walky-talkie in the MoolehoLe camp. We returned and collected and then started
again. It was around 1 KM we saw a massive Elephant on the road side which was
trying to cross the road. The head was very wide and it was heavily built and
the black fluid was leaking from its head showed us it was in Must condition.
And it was a perfect tusker. As soon as
our jeep crossed the elephant, the elephant crossed the road and disappeared.
We were really excited sighting the
tusker in the Dark and now we entered the jeep route. We were going out of
human habitation and we were eagerly waiting to sight more animals and our
fingers were crossed to sight a tiger. It was around 1KM in the jeep route; we
saw 3 spotted deer on our left side. They were trying to cross the road but
they were disturbed by seeing the jeep with strong light. They were panic, one
among them jumped and crossed the road, the other 2 took some time and then
they crossed the road as Natraj slowed down the jeep. But at the right side the
land was like a step of around 4 feet for a long distance and then there were
Lantana bushes which made the deers to run beside us. Natraj drove the jeep
slowly and we were enjoying the way deers were jumping and running beside us
and when they jump they used to be in the air for almost 2secs. There was a
gradual left turn in the jeep route and in the jeep light we noticed something
sitting just beside the road. The deers were running on our right side and the
animal which was sitting now stood up, then we realized it’s a TIGER! WOW what
a moment it was, Natraj stopped the jeep and in the jeep light we were seeing
the Tiger like we see it on a TV. The tiger might have been sitting simply
without any intension to kill OR it might have been waiting to hunt. Whatever
it is, it decided to charge! It leaned on its forelegs, the tail upside in the
air and it sprinted on the deer which was coming on its way. Tiger took 3 steps
which covered almost 30-40feet and on the 4th step, it jumped on the
deer. But the deers have very good reflex, it took a flash 90degree turn and
jumped into the bushes and the Tiger too! That was the entire scene. The other
2 deers were totally panicked. Natraj turned off the jeep but we didn’t see or
hear anything. We were glad to see our first wild tiger when it was hunting! We
were really lucky. The time was so perfect, Natraj forgot walkie-talkie and we
saw an elephant, deers and the rare hunting scene of a Tiger! And excuse me I
don’t know whether it was a Tiger OR a Tigress J
We reached our Anti-poaching camp
and we met our forest watcher Mallikarjun. We were excited and informed him
about our tiger sight. But he calmly replied us showing the lake in front of
the camp, ‘Sir in the evening a tiger came here and it passed the lake slowly
giving us a perfect sight!’
In the estimation process there
are 2 parts.
- Carnivore
survey
- Herbivore
and Vegetation survey.
Carnivore survey: In the first 3 days we need to walk along the assigned beats and note down all the
indications of a carnivore. Indications can be pug marks, excreta, scat, and scratch marks on trees, sound
(e.g.: if we hear a tiger roar. We have to note down) OR direct sighting; should
be noted in the sheets provided by the forest dept. daily we were supposed to
start the survey around 6:30 AM OR as soon as there is sufficient light to
walk. We were finishing the survey by 10:30AM OR 11AM. Once we reach back we
were going through the reports to make sure there is sufficient data and finish
the verification. Point to note, these 3 days we should note down indications
of all carnivores not just the Tiger.
 |
| Tigers pug mark |
During our morning walk first day we sighted herd of Indian Gaur. There were around 15-20. People are often confused with this animal as Bison; no it’s not Bison, its Indian Gaur.
Our first day walk was also along the stream bed
and there were many pug marks of the Tiger. We identified 4 different tigers. 2
Females with a cub each. Since there were pugmarks of 2 different cubs(sizes
were different which is easier to identify), we decided bigger pug mark is of
female’s. Trust me a fully grown tiger’s pug mark will be almost same as palm size with the fingers kept wide open! (My friends say my palm is very big :P just look at the pic)
On the 2nd day we just heard a deer calling when we were sitting near a lake and noticed a single fresh pug mark. The nearer trail was harder so we didn’t notice any more clues. On the Third day we didn’t get to see any signs of a carnivore in our beat.
Vegetation and Herbivore survey: In Tiger estimation process it is
not enough if dept. finds out how many tigers are there. They should also find
out approximately, are there enough preys and suitable Vegetation. There are
instances where Tigers kills other carnivores like Leopards and feed on them
but it will not be deliberate. It would love to hunt Guars, Chital, Sambar etc…
so estimating herbivores is also important.
It’s quite difficult to survey
the vegetation and herbivores. In order to survey vegetation, the whole forest will be
divided into regions of 10Sq KMs. And in each of these a transit line of 2 KMs lenghth and 1M wide will be made by clearing the bushes. In this transit line we should walk
all 3 days and create the report as I have explained below
While going through the below
explanation, refer OR keep the above fig in mind for a better understanding.
·
2 KM Transit line will be divided into 5 points,
each one 400Mts apart.
·
At each point a rectangular area of 20*5 mts
will be cleared from all bushes (yellow rectangles in the fig).
·
Indication of herbivore like hoof marks OR feces
OR dung etc… Should be recorded only while going one way. i.e. while going through the
transit line OR while coming back through the transit line, otherwise we will
be duplicating the data.
·
Also, while coming back at each rectangle we
should survey for any herbivore feces in terms of numbers like 100 OR 200 etc…
·
At each point after every 400Mts we should mark
a circle of 15Mts (refer the blue circle in the fig) with the rope provided and
note down the count of Trees, bushes and scrubs present inside the circle in
descending order. Vegetation above 2Mts is considered as trees and the rest as
bushes. And also we should note down the thickness of the forest in terms of
canopy by looking at the sky. E.g.: 40% is covered with trees. This indicates 60%
of the area is open to sky. This has to be done at all the 5 points.
·
At each point after every 400Mts, we should mark
a circle of 1M (orange circle in the fig) opposite and after 5Mts to the
rectangular cleared area. In this circle we should note down the Grass
(different species should also be noted), weeds, any other plants and visible
ground in terms of percentage (all 4 of these should come for 100%). Also we
should note down dry leaves fallen in this circle in terms of percentage (in
this calculation, 100% is the circle and we should note down area occupied by
dry leaves. E.g.: 30%. This should be separate from grass and weeds because dry
leaves can fall and stay on these plants).
·
The above 2 activities should be carried out at
2000Mts and 1600Mts on day 1, at 1200Mts and 800Mts on day2 and at 400Mts on
day 3.
This is all about the activities
we do during our survey. But the survey was only during 6:30 – 11:00 AM and
then we were free! How to pass this excellent free time? First thing to do was
breakfast. We were damn hungry by the time we reach back. We used to carry
biscuits but they were holding our hunger for 15-30mins. We used to have heavy
breakfast and after report verification we used to take a nap for some time.
Going for a walk again will not be logical as it was noon, hot and very rare
chances for sighting animals. But in this time a Malabar giant squirrel used to come upon the tamarind tree, eat for some half an hour and take a long peaceful nap! after all it had trust on humans that we don't do any harm!
We were really interested in evening walk. We
can’t go on our own; we were supposed to be accompanied by some forest officer.
But all our forest officers were bored of roaming around Chammanahalla! It was
so difficult to convince them to accompany us! After multiple rounds of
motivation finally Madegowdru got convinced and agreed us to take us for a
walk. We also promised them in turn we would cook them chicken, Egg-item and Chapati.
It was our 5th day. And
we were going for our first evening walk and we were quite excited. We started
around 4PM and there was a lake after around 2KMs. This lake is manmade. There
were many lakes like this inside the forest. These lakes are made with lot of
efforts. Forest officials have identified places where rain water can be
collected and dug the lands to collect as much as it can. It has really helped
many animals in summer! Near the lake we didn’t glimpse possibility of
sighting. We decided to move along and not to wait there.
We had walked for about 1 more KM
and we suddenly heard strong sound of breaking the woods on our right. Its
elephants! All of us calmed down, and stopped and slowly scanned under the
bushes. Indeed the bushes were heavily covered and slowly we saw 3 elephants
enjoying their meals by breaking the branches of the trees surrounding them!
Our guide Maadegowdru asked us to step back and wait for them to cross. We
waited. After few mins we saw a small elephant coming out of the bush. Looked
like it smelt us and it stopped where it was. We were able to see its body through
the bushes; it stretched its trunk outside the bush and started smelling in our
direction. During this, the trunk end was facing our side and jiggling
continuously! It smelt for almost 2-3 mins. May be by smelling it detected we
are not moving and decided to cross the jeep route. It didn’t even bother to
turn our side while crossing! The same was followed by next 2 elephants but the
time spent by them for smelling wasn't much. It was quick. May be because there
was no harm to the opener elephant!
 |
| This pic was taken in the next day morning. |
Among the 3 elephants crossed, 2 were calves.
1 was sub-adult. But the breaking sound of branches continued in the right
side. There were more! It’s a big heard! 1 adult came out after smelling in the
same way and it ran away dashing to the left side by breaking all the branches
which comes on its way! 2 more adults came out and they too smelt before coming
out. Might be they are responsible members of the team and they decided to
charge on us! It stood in the middle of the jeep route and stared at us for
some time. Lifted its trunk and tail and it was slowly running towards us. A
completely angry elephant will normally hit the ground with its trunk, throw /
blow the mud towards us, give massive trumpet. But this elephant was not
showing any of those signs and it was approaching our side slowly and clearly
it was nervous! Our guard asked us to stand up (we were sitting and watching
all this drama). Once we stood the sudden change in our altitude made the
elephant to stop and our guard screamed few times with weird voice which made
the elephant to turn back and run away! Again we heard breaking sounds of the
branches! There was no tusker in the group. Might be he was somewhere else at
that time. We waited for some more time and then decided to move along for some
more distance as we didn't hear any more sounds.
We came across a stream, bridge
was built in the jeep route and we also saw a machan on a tree after 20-30 feet
from the bridge. Truly who ever have spent their time in a full moon night
watching across this machan should be one of the luckiest human! Such a place
for sighting. We took a small break. Our guide wanted us to return. But I
wanted to move further and simply walked after the bridge. The route was like a
slide of 100ft just after the bridge. I was not able to see what’s there after
the small ascent.
I reached the top end and I was damn lucky to see a sloth bear
slowly crossing the jeep route! I called everyone and we stood and watched the
bear. Bears smelling power is good but the Vision and hearing senses are really poor.
The sloth bear didn’t recognize 7 people standing just 50Mts near. I don’t
remember the breeze direction. It must be from the bear side to our side so it
would have not recognized. We saw the bear playing near the anthill for
2-3mins. And finally it sensed something is standing behind! Bear watched us
for almost a minute and finally our Madegowdru decided to scream with his weird
sounds and then the bear bolted! After seeing the bear we were excited and
moved further for some more time. But we didn’t see anything and we decided to
turn back as we needed to return to APC before it gets dark.
While returning we saw a female Sambar
and there were no more events. We collected and carried some fallen wood which is
the only fuel for cooking. It was time for us to cook as we had promised!
Vinay
Singh decided to cook Chicken item. I decided to cook Phulka and Egg bhurji. The
Atta was totally made of maida which eventually made me to cook tandoori roti
instead of phulka! Before Dinner we also prepared hot Onion Bajjis, French fries! Everyone enjoyed the different meal.
Next day our Gowdru wasn’t so
happy to take us for a walking. But he promised to take us the coming day and as he
promised we were in our 2nd walk in the jeep route. This time we saw
a Tusker rubbing against a giant tree just after 5mins of walk from the APC. The
elephant would have smelt us but it was enjoying rubbing its body to the tree
and it totally ignored us and also it was quite far from us. There were no
events, we had almost completed our 1 way walk. We were just reaching the
bridge which was our end point of the walk. Jeep route was left curved, we were
coming along the curve and when we were in the middle we heard a strong massive trumpeting sound! We were all afraid that we fools didn’t notice the elephant
and we were not sufficiently active with our senses in the curve. We neglected
there could be some animal at the other end and it will not be visible for us. But
luck was with us, the animal just bolted to the right side of the forest and it
was a male Sambar. uff it was not an elephant otherwise we could have been in its mercy. The sambar was running zig zag inside the woods. It stopped few
times, had a look at us and then disappeared by continuing its zig zag run. I never know a Sambar can scream so harshly! This
was a great lesson; never lose your senses when you are in a forest!
The next day, we finished our
last exercise of the survey and collected the certificates from the forest
office. It was such a bad moment to return to the city life but there was no
other option.
