Conservation
Unlikely haven
S. NANDA KUMAR
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Situated in a heavily mined district of Karnataka, the Daroji Bear Sanctuary, against heavy odds, is home to a bewildering range of wildlife.
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The officials have worked hard in transforming the rocky terrain into one that can supplement the food needs of the bears. Numerous local fruit-bearing trees have been planted.
Photos: M.Y. Ghorpade
Irresistible fare: A sloth bear and two cubs present themselves for their share of jaggery.
AN ancient myth speaks of the presence of Jambavantha, the King of Bears, in the Kishkinda hill area of Hampi in Karnataka. Jambavantha was the bear who had the famous Symantaka gem in his possession, and the Mahabharata talks about the fierce 21-day
battle between the bear-king and Krishna. Hampi, with its historic ruins, is situated just 25 km away from the Daroji Bear Sanctuary.
Local lore
The locals believe that it is because of Jambavantha that the area abounds in sloth bears. The area was always known for its bears. A British Government notification way back in 1885 had named a hillock in the present Daroji Bear sanctuary area Karadikallu Gudda or the hillock of the bears. Setting up the sanctuary was not an easy task. M.Y Ghorpade, scion of the erstwhile Sandur royal family and world-renowned wildlife photographer, struggled hard to get the area notified as a wildlife sanctuary. He recalls the days when locals would approach him to find a quick solution to the sloth bear problem, when the shaggy creatures would raid a field at night and decimate the crops. “Have them shot,” the locals would say. “Our crops are being destroyed.” Ghorpade counselled patience, and kept persuading the State and central governments that the bears urgently needed a safe sanctuary. The Daroji Bear sanctuary was finally formed in 1994.
Flourishing sanctuary
Today, nearly 13 years later, the area has become a safe haven for sloth bears (Melursinus ursinus). The sanctuary is spread over an area of about 55 sq km in the Billikallu reserve forest area, and is home to over 140 bears. That i
s not all. Nearly 90 different species of birds busily chirp through the year, safe in the quiet environs of Daroji.
The list of wild animals that can be sighted here is unbelievable in today’s world of disappearing forest cover. The panther, jungle cat, striped hyena, common civet, jackal, fox, pangolin, black-naped hare, bonnet macaque, common langur, starred tortoise, Indian flap shell; snakes like the spectacled cobra, red sand boa, chequered keelback, Indian rock python, common krait, Russell’s viper; reptiles like the rock agama, Indian chameleon, monitor lizard, spotted skink and other animals, and nearly 27 of species of butterflies. The richness of the wildlife here would lift the spirits of any nature lover.
But it is not an easy task to maintain a sanctuary in an area that is rife with mining and quarrying — Bellary district today is synonymous with tearing the earth apart to find rich ore. The present Range Forest Officer, Ravindranath, and Assistant Conservator of Forests, Malvalli, have together fought hard to get nearly 25 quarries around the sanctuary closed.
Threat of poaching
Poaching continues to pose a threat, although the forest officers say it is under control. Bear cubs are captured from the Hampanakatte area for use as performing animals or for the lucrative Chinese medicine business. Daroji itself appears safe from poaching — for now. But with just 19 temporary staff members, the foresters find it difficult to monitor activities after 6 p.m., when the sanctuary is shut down. “We go out in search parties in the night. Things would definitely be better if we had more permanent staff members,” said a forest official.
The sloth bears live in small caves and hillocks around Daroji. The forest staff smear the rocky out-cliffs with a jaggery mixture, something the bears love. Around four in the afternoon, when fresh jaggery smears have been liberally applied to the surface of the rocks, the staff withdraw and wait. A tall watchtower overlooks the smeared areas, where visitors and photographers, camera lens bristling, wait.
First, the numerous birds make their appearance. Bulbuls, warblers, hoopoes, squirrels, along with cheeky mongooses, make straight for the sweet paste. “It’s like a theatrical play — there is always an order of appearance. After these birds, squirrels and mongoose appear, the peacocks make an entry. That’s the signal — it means the sloth bears are not far away,” says wildlife enthusiast and photographer Nazim Sheikh. He was not wrong. In the sweltering heat and after all the other players had made their appearances, a sloth bear suddenly emerged on the heels of three brilliantly plumaged peacocks. Within minutes, there were at least 13 bears, sucking up the jaggery mix with sounds that would put a vacuum cleaner to shame.
Necessary intervention
While some might argue that the boiled rice and the jaggery mix might make the bears dependant on the supply, S.N. Malvalli, Assistant Conservator of Forests in charge of Daroji, maintains that this was also being done to ensure that the bears get vital nutrients necessary for their health. “It is similar to the salt licks placed at various locations in other sanctuaries,” he said. The jaggery smears also ensures that visitors get a rare sighting of these shaggy beasts.
Meanwhile, forest officials have worked hard in transforming the rocky terrain into one that can supplement the food needs of the bears. Numerous local fruit-bearing trees have been planted here, and more fruit groves of seethapal a
nd Japanese cherry are being planted. In order to ensure that the inhabitants of the villages surrounding the sanctuary are educated in the importance of preserving bears, 17 eco-development committees have been formed. The forest officials ensure help to villagers in drilling bore wells and supplying solar lamps. In turn, the villagers are made to understand that poaching and cutting of trees for firewood inside the sanctuary is illegal.
Creating awareness
During the Sankranti festival, it is traditional for villagers in the area, like in many other parts of Karnataka, to go hunting for jackals, foxes, civets and any wild animals that come their way. “This year, we pasted posters and distributed pamphlets that made it clear that even famous actors were arrested for hunting, that ordinary people would face the same prospect. The hunting was reduced to just a few wild boars. Everybody helped. Next year we hope it will be zero,” says Ravindranath.
When the odd bear attack takes place, the foresters rush in to help, shifting the injured to hospital and giving compensation for crop damage. This quiet work on the ground is ensuring that the sanctuary stays safe for the 140-odd sloth bears that inhabit it presently. At least four fresh cubs have been spotted over the last six months — an encouraging sign.
While the sanctuary today has an unbelievable number of endangered wild animals, urgent steps are required to ensure that the bears continue to multiply in the wild. It is unimaginable that such wildlife can still be spotted in the midst of all the mining activity in Bellary district, in Daroji — a most unlikely sanctuary, not so far from the famous Vijayanagar ruins of Hampi.
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