Indian Wildlife Club Forum

Where: Tadoba -Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra

Best time to visit: March to May and October to December

You need: 3-4 days

Maharashtra’s largest national park,Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve spans about 625 sq km and has one of the top tiger densities in India. On the record, there are around 70 tigers in the park, as per the recent tiger census, but some tadoba tiger safari operators & guides say there may be more;closer to 100 is their approximation as more famales have given birth to new cubs in the Tadoba reserve in the last 5 years

The Tadoba NationalPark and Andhari Wildlife Sanctuary jointly outline the Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve. The exotic tadoba tiger safari is widely popular amongst the wildlife lovers and people who are seeking toescape the chaos of city life.

If you are planning to explore the authentic wildlife in Maharashtra, then you simply can’t afford to miss Tadoba wildlife safari which is positioned in the nucleus of Vidarbha region. The wildlife comprise of sloth bears, leopards, tigers, sambar, gaur, wild dogs, hyenas, panthers & so on.

The national park is enormously overshadowed by the canes and hike along with puzzling scenery of marshlands, rocky cliffs, small lakes, etc. Along with being acclaimed as the biggest tiger safari in India, Tadoba Reserve Park also consist of diverse fauna and flora that draw thousands of people towards the park. Further,Tadoba is renowned for the existence of rare species like Leopards, Sloth bears, Wild dogs and Bisons .Along with exploring Tadoba wildlife safari,people also witness the sight of several species of reptiles, rare insects and birds living in these dense forests.

Administration Zones of Tadoba-Andhari

The astounding reserve has 3 administrative zones: Kolsa, Tadoba-Andheri and Moharli with 6 different entry gates. The Moharli gate has more popularity among public owing to its close proximity to Chandrapur city.

 It is really vital to plan the trip well in earlier manner via online safari booking in Tadoba,since the reserve park includes few locations for safari facilities and accommodation. The mind-boggling national park will not only endow you some delight,but also facilitate you to take pleasure in the elephant rides. When you decide to make an online safari booking in Tadoba,you must collect complete information about the visiting hours and some other helpful facts. The national park is at all times open, but the best time to travel around is from the month of November – May.

Thrillingwith Tadoba Tiger Safari in India

If you have already tadoba safari booking plan for autumn/winter, you will acquire an opportunity to witness the tigers and some other wildlife species near the watering ponds with an exquisite tadoba jeep safari. Typically, the tigers can be spotted in the months of April & May&Oct-Nov. In addition, prior-tadoba safari booking also allows you to enjoy jeep safari/ jungle safari in the park without any hassle. The advance booking process facilitates you to enjoy your wildlife safari in a simpler manner.

The best way is to go for tadoba tour packagesto avail the better-quality facilities that will really make your trip unforgettable. You can book the jeep that will pick you up from your staying place half and hour before the tadoba wildlife safari begins. In order to get the convenience, you must take into service a reliable tour agents like Mumbai Travellers who will arrange the best tadoba tour packages for you and your family. The tour agents will not only bring you some important services, but also explicate complete information concerning the safari timings.

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Snow Leopards are natives to the cold climatic regions where human population is very scarce. They live in harsh conditions on earth. Their white-grey coat perfectly blends in with the snow-clapped mountains of Asia and protects them from the adverse climatic change. Basically these wild cats are from carnivorous family and breed on sheep, ibex, hares, and marmots. They’re usually found at high, rugged mountain landscapes at heights of over 3,500 meters. With the increasing number of days, months, and years, the numbers of snow leopards is diminishing and very soon they will soon become extinct. If proper measures are not taken to save snow leopards by the responsible citizens of the countries and government authorities, very soon our ecosystem will experience a shift that will cause discord. 

According to a recent study, there are only 7,500–4,500 snow leopards left and they are too under attack for various reasons. These snow leopards are found high in the mountains of the Himalayas and in Central Asia. They are sporadically distributed across the globe in countries such as Central Asia, China, Mongolia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Nepal.

Saving snow leopards is the need of the hour. These snow leopards are everyday under attack and their number is depleting rampantly for various reasons. One of the major concerns for their loss is climatic conditions. With global warming scenario all over the world, it will first affect the high snow and mountainous regions. Unfortunately, these places happen to be the habitat of these snow leopards. If their habitat is destroyed or changed, they move towards other nearby areas for survival. Again, these nearby areas are densely populated with humans. Humans feel a threat with the snow leopards and start attacking them. 

The human-animal conflict is the second important issue that needs to be tackled. The snow leopard preys on mountain sheep and goats. With less or no snow leopards, these herbivores will feed on all the grasslands and vegetation, thereby leaving no food for other wildlife. The same landscape makes available food and other important resources for the inhabitants; including medicine, heat, wood for shelter, and fuel. So by saving the snow leopard, we’re benefiting the whole natural ecosystem in these areas and the people who rely on them.

Third and the saddest reason behind the decreasing number of snow leopards is poaching or illegal wildlife trade. As their natural prey becomes difficult to find, snow leopards are forced to kill livestock such as horses, sheep, goats, and calves for survival. The farmers in turn hunt these snow leopards and put them down. 

Saving snow leopard and its natural habitat is critical in protecting the environment and the ecosystem as a whole. There are many wildlife conservation groups that are working with local communities to monitor snow leopards and reduce their killing. There are reports of the government bodies working in close connection with Kanchenjunga conservation area in Nepal and their inhabitants to protect the snow leopards and reduce the conflict between the animal and the local residents.

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CONSERVE FOREST & WILDLIFE

Wildlife photography has different charm accompanied by related benefits and drawbacks, read some and be prepared accordingly for a jungle tour ahead

Benefits and drawbacks of wildlife photography

It is really tedious to become a wildlife photographer. Just getting a SLR in hand is not sufficient for making one a good photographer. One must possess skills as well as creativity required for capturing top candid moments.Taking photography of wildlife is the trickiest of all. Although currently it is not much in demand, wildlife photography does hold some benefits and drawbacks, let’s read on and find these.

Benefits of wildlife photography

• It makes one understand and blend with Mother Natur

• The photography relates one’s life with animals  that are living in the forest

• It can easily be completed in bendable hours

• It permits one to closely watch the way animals stay alive in jungle

• It is the perfect hobby which provides a complete mind recreation

• The photography and the money invested in it is never a waste. The reason behind this is  all digital photos can easily be edited as well as deleted depending on the requirement

• No extra cost is needed for processing and filling

• The job of wildlife photography is really required in channels for instance Discovery  and Animal Planet

• Wildlife photography possesses the prospective of fetching money only when it is done in a professional manner. This is done by people who have interest of capturing photos of wildlife in India.

• It permits one to capture wildlife moments which are quite precious and can be shared with friends and all.

When people book wildlife holiday package to any India tiger reserve, they usually do keep a camera that will help them capture such moments which are truly priceless.

Drawbacks

• There is threat of getting wounded by wild animals

• In some situation wildlife photography taken in an Tiger reserves of India may be quite an annoyance to wild animals

• One cannot shoot best moments during night time

•  In monsoon seasons, it really becomes very complicated to shoot best wildlife photographs

• The competition in the wildlife photography is really high

• One has to be stretchy and alert throughout the day

For any holiday in India especially a wildlife holiday, photography is an inevitable part of it. Thus if you are too ready for a wildlife safari tour then you must be prepared accordingly after reading the plus and minus point as mentioned.

The leopard in the above picture is the very embodiment of helplessness and misery. A young subadult, no more than 3 years old, it probably made its way from Rajasthan’s Kumbhalgarh National Park to Rajsamand district’s Sardul Kheda village, where its head got stuck in a pot, probably while it was looking for water.
This story has a happy ending ; the villagers who found the shell-shocked leopard roaming around with its head trapped in the pot informed the Forest Department, whose personnel tranquilized the leopard and set it free in Kumbhalgarh’s forests.

But numerous incidents of leopard “straying” dont end in the same way; in June this year, a leopard that had entered Tatuarah village in West Bengal’s Purulia district was brutally killed and strung up on a tree. Its paws and tail were hacked off. In August, another leopard was beaten to death in Assam’s Sivasagar, which has been a hub of man-leopard conflict for a long time.

The Purulia leopard, which met a grisly end.
Pic : deccanchronicle

According to estimates by the NTCA, India’s forests may host 12-14000 leopards,
though there is a lot of debate surrounding the veracity of this figure, as it is based on the arbitrary extrapolation of an estimated population of 7,910 leopards dwelling in tiger habitat.

One of Bandipur’s leopards, captured on a camera-trap unit.
Pic : Ullas Karanth

The most adaptable big cat, leopards are capable of residing in almost every conceivable type of habitat, ranging from the tropical evergreen forests of the Western Ghats and Arunachal Pradesh, to dry scrubland surrounding villages in Rajasthan and Gujarat, and the tea gardens of Assam and North Bengal. Leopard-human conflict is extremely common, as more and more of them are forced to dwell cheek-by-jowl with humans who destroy their forests and hunt their prey. Panicked residents of cities and villages who spot the big cat in their midst frequently attack it, without realising that the vast majority of leopards don’t see humans as prey. Untrained, under-equipped and overstretched forest department personnel are often forced to confront bloodthirsty mobs without police support. The ever-increasing nature of human population means that such incidents are becoming more commonplace.

The boma in Chattisgarh’s Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary has a unique resident-  Asha, one of Central India’s last wild buffaloes. At first glance, she looks strikingly similar to her domestic kin, but a closer inspection reveals the massive spread of her horns and huge bulk, which are unmistakeable characteristics of the wild buffalo.

Asha’s proud ancestors would once have roamed across much of Central India and Northeastern India. The eminent hunter-naturalist Dunbar-Brander, writing in the 1920’s, wrote of their abundance in the forests east of Balaghat, with their biggest stronghold being Bastar.

Unfortunately, the wild buffalo’s range and population have undergone a massive contraction since. A survey in 2007 by the NGO Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), estimated their total population in Central India as being less than 50 individuals. Indravati, home to the largest population ( of about 25-30 individuals) , was in the grip in left-wing extremism, and hence, no conservation programme could be taken up there. Udanti in Raipur district was found to have 7 wild buffaloes, of which only 1 was female. The decline has been particularly steep in recent times, since in 1993, Chattisgarh itself was believed to be home to around 250 buffaloes, with both Indravati and Udanti having approximately 100 individuals each. Healthy populations of these giant bovines continue to exist in quite a few Protected Areas in the Northeast, such as Kaziranga, Manas and Dibru Saikhowa in Assam, Balpakram in Meghalaya and Dayang Ering in Arunachal Pradesh.

A wild buffalo with its calf in Kaziranga National Park.
Pic : alamy.com

However, many of the Northeast’s 3000-3500 wild buffaloes are believed to have been adversely affected by interbreeding with their domestic kin, and the remaining populations are also threatened by the destruction of their wet grassland habitat and poaching.

Asha, with one of her calves, at Udanti.
Pic : Dr R.P Mishra, WTI

WTI, with the assistance of the Chattisgarh Government, swung into action immediately. A “Wild Buffalo Conservation Project” was framed. Conservation initiatives could be undertaken only in Udanti, as it was the only habitat of wild buffaloes which was free of naxal violence at that time (sadly,  naxals have extended their control over much of udanti, and neighbouring sitanadi, since 2009-10. However, attempts to conserve the wild buffalo continue).

Given the very low population in Udanti, conservationists were determined to prevent any unnatural deaths, which could lead to the extinction of the population there. A “boma”- an artificial enclosure was constructed for the last female buffalo of Udanti, aptly named “Asha”, or hope. She has given birth four times since. Conservationists, however, could truly rejoice only when she gave birth to a female calf, named “Kiran” for the first time earlier this year. Her previous three calves had all been male. The male calves grew up in the boma with her, before joining the herd, which spends most of its time in an adjoining grassland, with some boisterous males frequently visiting the adjoining villages to mate with the female domestic buffaloes there.

One of Asha’s calves gets a health check-up.
Pic : Dr R.P Mishra, WTI

Not wanting to take any chances, Karnal-based NDRI (National Dairy Research Institute) cloned Asha in January 2015, producing a female calf named “Deepasha”. These three females represent the last hope for Chattisgarh’s beleaguered wild buffaloes. Asha herself is 13 years old, and a female wild buffalo is normally reproductively viable for about 15-17 years of her lifespan, which is usually 20-22 years.

Even though administrative apathy and a steady rise in naxal presence in the surrounding forests have stymied initiatives, several attempts have nonetheless been made to preserve the buffaloes of Udanti. These involve the inoculation of livestock residing in fringe villages, the deweeding of grasslands, and the providing of incentives to villagers encouraging them to sell off domestic buffaloes, so that interbreeding between domestic and wild buffaloes, leading to a contamination in the genetic stock of the latter doesn’t occur. Attempts are also being made to procure genetically pure wild buffalos from the Northeast to boost Udanti’s tiny population.
In spite of so many measures, however, the path ahead is still treacherous.

In 2009, a tiger reserve, covering 1,842 sq. km (with a core area of 851 sq. km) was eked out of Udanti and adjoining Sitanadi wildlife sanctuary. The Udanti-Sitanadi tiger reserve suffers from several management lacunae, however. These include a highly complex administrative set-up which is not conducive to tiger conservation, with the Field Director’s office being located in distant Raipur. Moreover, protection infrastructure such as anti-poaching camps and vehicles for patrolling, is severely lacking. The DFO’s managing these sanctuaries are often burdened with non-wildlife conservation related tasks, dealing with the management of the surrounding territorial forests. A massive overhaul of the protection mechanisms currently in place need to be carried out by the State Government.

This will be very hard to carry out, however, given the ongoing naxal insurgency in the landscape. Udanti-Sitanadi should not be written off, however. Along with the contiguous Sunabeda-Khariar forests in western Odisha, it forms part of a compact forest block extending over 3000 sq. km, which serves as an important habitat for many species of Central Indian flora and fauna. Proposals to denotify such “lesser” forests are based on a poor understanding of their ecological potential, and should not be acted upon.
Tigers with cubs have been reported from Udanti and surrounding forests in recent times, and, for the first time, a tiger was camera trapped in 2014, an event which put to rest niggling doubts regarding the presence of tigers in the landscape.

A map of the Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve.
Pic : cgforest.com(Chhatisgarh Forest Department)

Attempts have also been made to conserve the other viable population of wild buffaloes in Central India, in the Indravati landscape. Indravati itself may be out of bounds to the Forest Department,  but neighbouring Kolamarka,  in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district, frequently plays host to a couple of herds. A 181 sq. km area in Kolamarka was declared a conservation reserve in 2013, for the conservation of wild buffaloes. Inspite of recurring incidents of naxal violence, a dedicated team, led by RFO Atul Deokar, have been diligently monitoring the wildlife of the region, while undertaking numerous conservation initiatives with the help of the local villagers. Kolamarka is also an important habitat for Maharashtra’s state animal, the Indian giant squirrel ( Ratufa Indica). To sustain these initiatives, support from the State Government is key. Kolamarka’s forests are threatened by habitat destruction and poaching, and conserving the small wild buffalo population here (estimated at around 10-15 individuals), will be a stiff challenge.

“Treasures of Kolamarka”-a book detailing the biodiversity of Kolamarka conservation reserve in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli and is a product of the untiring efforts of RFO Atul Deokar and his team.
Pic : RFO Atul Deokar

Of late, the Central Government has also taken an interest in wild buffalo conservation, with the buffalo being one of the five target species for which recovery programmes have been implemented. Moving these plans from the cramped confines of the bureaucrat’s office to the field in the badlands of Udanti-Sitanadi is of the utmost essence.

The Central Indian wild buffalo has never received the same amount of conservation support as the tiger or the elephant, with the result that it is poised on the brink of extinction in a region that was once its historical stronghold.

Asha, the last adult female of Udanti, embodies the hope that the noble bovine will recover from the brink of extinction, and reclaim those forests which they once lorded over.

After filling up our boat with foodstuffs and water, we – myself, two forest guards, the owner of our launch, and his assistant, bid adieu to civilisation, leaving the small town of pakhiralay (located opposite to the entrance to sajnekhali wildlife sanctuary) far behind, as we journeyed into the heart of the throbbing wilderness that constitutes the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve. This reserve, spread over 2,585 sq. km, is the only place in the world where wild tigers exist in a mangrove habitat. We were participating in the initial phase of the quadrennial tiger census carried out by the NTCA (National Tiger Conservation Authority).

The world’s only mangrove tigerland.

Enumerating wildlife scientifically involves demarcating “transects”, or pathways, in the forest and then noting down signs and direct sightings of the various species which are encountered while the transect is being negotiated. In the sunderbans, the various transects coincide with the innumerable creeks which dot the mangrove forests.

A map showing the transects in Panchamukhani block of Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary, STR.

Our transects lay mostly in the Panchamukhani and Pirkhali forest blocks, a part of the 362 sq. km Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary, which forms the north-western part of the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve.
We had to fill up several forms stating the time and GPS location of each of our sightings of the various species and their signs. At half-hour intervals, we also had to state details of the flora noticed- the various mangrove species encountered, how tall they were, etc.

Such sheets needed to be filled diligently!!!

We negotiated each river bend in extreme caution, hoping to spot tigers at the very next one. Unfortunately, the big cat itself remained elusive. But tiger pugmarks were everywhere-we even saw the pugs of a tigress and her three cubs at a riverbank. Another set of pugs appeared to belong to a mating pair. These are the welcome signs of a thriving population.

Pugmarks left by the king of the mangroves.

Not that this population isn’t affected by any threats, though. Man-animal conflict is a significant problem in the Sunderbans, for this is an ecosystem where man is still preyed upon by quite a few species- the Bengal tiger and the estuarine crocodile being the foremost among them. We saw two crocodiles during our boat survey, however, they were extremely wary and rushed into the water as soon as they saw us.

An estuarine crocodile basks in the sun opposite the Nature Interpretation Center at Sajnekhali.

The vast majority of those who get killed by tigers and crocodiles in the Sunderbans are honey-collectors and fishermen. Crab fishing often yields fair returns, but it is an extremely dangerous occupation, which, sadly, the poorest of the poor have no option but to take recourse to. Numerous ecodevelopment initiatives have been launched by the authorities in the fringe areas of the Sunderbans in the recent past; however, many people continue to remain heavily dependent upon the forest. Sometimes, poachers sneak into the reserve in the guise of crab fishers. While the direct targeting of tigers for their skin and bones has never been a common occurrence in the Indian sunderbans, there should be no let up in vigil.

The fisherfolk of the Sunderbans.

Naturally, there are few permanent residences for the forest staff of the Sunderbans which lie on terra firma. Several boats have been converted to “floating anti poaching camps” , for more effective patrolling. Nevertheless, the average age of a forest guard in the Sunderbans is 52 years, and several posts lie vacant.
After having met no humans during the first day of our survey, we stopped at the first floating camp we came across on the second day. The guards there told us that a tiger had crossed the creek where the camp lay only half an hour ago. And sure enough, we saw his huge saucer-shaped pugmarks on the opposite shore.
Our next encounter with Homo sapiens was of a different kind, for a boatload of tourists chanced upon us, as we were headed off towards our next transect. They initially thought that we were an errant tourist-carrying boat that had strayed into  a part of the forests where tourists are forbidden to go!!!
On that very same transect, we came across a small herd of chital- some 4-5 members of the group were visible. Chital, or spotted deer, form the bulk of the tiger’s preybase in the sunderbans. Chital sightings in sunderbans are few and far between, since they are heavily reliant upon the few fresh-water ponds which exist on the Sunderbans. Poaching for meat has also played a significant role in depressing their density, which, at 13.3 per sq. km (according to a WII survey), leaves a lot to be desired.

Chital form the bulk of the tiger’s preybase in the Sunderbans.

Tigers in the Sunderbans also prey on rhesus macaques, wild boar(of which there are few), and monitor lizards, some of which can grow up to 7-8 feet in length.

Rhesus macaques are commonly seen at Sajnekhali.

After 3 days, the hectic census finally came to an end, with our sheets full of data regarding the time and GPS location of each sighting of wildlife and their signs. Even though i am a novice birdwatcher, i was able to identify common sandpipers, great egrets, ospreys, purple herons, golden orioles and 4 species of kingfishers- black-capped, brown-winged, small blue and white breasted, among others. The Sunderbans, with over 230 recorded species of birds, is a dream destination for a birdwatcher.

A common sandpiper.

Great egret (Ardea Alba).

The results of our hard work were made available a year later- 76 tigers were estimated to exist in the Indian Sunderbans, compared to 70 in 2010. The need of the hour is to strengthen conservation initiatives in the Sunderbans, especially when it comes to patrolling and monitoring. The mangrove tigerland, with its enchanting habitat, fierce tigers, lurking crocodiles, and soaring egrets is a unique component of our natural heritage which deserves to be jealously protected forever.

Postscript : This article is a tribute to Panchanan Mondal and Ghosh Babu, those awesome forest guards whom i accompanied during the census, and whose dedication and knowledge was a source of inspiration. These brave foot soldiers of the Sunderbans are doing a wonderful job in possibly the most inhospitable tiger landscape in the world- serving with dedication day in and day out, inspite of having lost colleagues to tiger attacks in the past. 
I also thank Joydip and Suchandra Kundu, eminent Kolkata-based conservationists, for their help and support, and Subrata Mukherjee, the then field director of STR, and his team. May they receive all the support they so earnestly need, in their war to protect the mangrove tigerland.