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It’s a wild gaur chase

Where strange encounters could come your way, says W. Sreelalitha

IN THE WILD A tryst with gaurs and elephants

It is 2.45 p.m., and, seemingly, not the best time for a trek to Magazine Guesthouse. But turns out, it could not have been timed better. The sun hides behind nimbus clouds; within seconds, a mild drizzle begins, and soon every leaf holds pristine be ads of water.

With the sprinkle, birdcalls get louder. Jungle babblers grumble noisily, even as a shama rests coolly on a delicate branch. A woodpecker shrieks insanely from a bamboo shoot nearby, and in a wink, whizzes past. Presently, a descent of woodpeckers joins the bird that pecks furiously at a nut-brown bark.

The rock-ridden path surprises us with small mounds of baby elephant dung, and that of a wild dog that had a sambar for dinner. The sky roars angrily. A few metres away is a huge pit, used to capture elephants well before the time of tranquillisers. T

Photos: K. Ananthan

he pits would be spotted throughout the trek. Suddenly, the guide halts. To show a chocolate brown speck among the greenery, at least a good quarter km away — a gaur. Rendered speechless at the guide’s implausible knack for spotting fauna, we (the guide, photographer and I) tear into the forest, digressing unthinkably from the beaten track.

Soon, the trees give way to an open land. Trampling petite touch-me-nots callously, we also crouch as we run like crazy. We finally get closer to the gaur — close enough for a picture. He’s fearfully huge, healthy and ba thed in every possible tinge of brown, and as a huge bonus, indulges the photographer. His friend soon joins him, and he’s just as accommodating. Nonetheless, they politely turn their backs on us, as we try to get closer. Talk of the human fetish for invasion of private space!

As they tread back into the forest, a herd of agitated gaurs bursts into the scene. At least 20 of them, in various sizes, run into the other side of the forest. Though away from us, the sight of sturdy gaurs hurrying helplessly freezes us.

We soon get the answer for the commotion. Right in our line of vision, we spot a lone tusker walking deep into the jungle, at least 500 mts from us. In a short while, we spot another to our right, with a comfortable distance separating us.

To avoid the tuskers, we walk in the opposite direction. The guide, walking ahead, entertains us with anecdotes on such close encounters. Suddenly, with an even pallor plastered on his otherwise dark face, he turns and runs towards us, frantically motioning us to run too. Clueless, we run, as if our life depends on it. After scrambling on to a vast rock, he tells us we got “dangerously close” to an elephant herd. We spot them: four adults and a baby — all females. Women’s day out, apparently!

Now, the bad news. We are trapped between the elephants and a herd of gaurs. And, are blocking the route of the tuskers that will, any minute, return to their ladies. To escape, we have to reach the watch tower, some 300m from us.

The hitches: the watch tower is close to the female herd; the rock is slippery; there is no tree cover; and a solitary gaur is taking a stroll right below the rock we are on. Helpfully, the gaur disappears into the forest, but before we heave a sigh of relief, we hear a couple of threatening trumpets from a third elephant group to our right. Not wasting a second, we slip and slide down the rocks, and climb another equally precarious terrain to reach the tower.

From near the tower, we catch bamboos trembling under pachyderm attack, just a few feet away. A goosebump moment!

We walk to the deserted Magazine Guesthouse — the place once used to store arms and gelatine. I climb to the terrace, and look at the forest around. Somewhere in the greenery are all those giants that gave us a fright during a nine-km trek!

How to go: Magazine Guesthouse is located in Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park, 35 km from Pollachi. Pay Rs. 150 to the guide for the first three hours, and Rs. 50 each for every additional hour.

For permission and details, call the Wildlife Warden of the sanctuary at 04259-225356.

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