During a recent trip to Nagarahole Tiger Reserve in Karnataka, we noticed a few common langurs at play. We paused for a few minutes to observe them jumping around trees, very close to some electric lines running beside the road. Suddenly, one of the excited Langurs jumped straight on to the wires. Unfortunately, it touched two wires at the same time. There was a big spark, which threw the langur off. As it fell to the ground and lay still, … Read More
Jumping Ant with Prey
I saw my first Jumping Ant (Harpegnathos saltator) on the outskirts of Bangalore and observed how it moves about. The ant jumped and lived up to its name!
Back in 2004 near Belgaum, as I photographed a jumping ant, it did something very interesting. I was peering through my view finder when suddenly the ant leapt and went out of my frame. The ant had actually jumped and caught a moth mid-air!
I saw it jump, but missed … Read More
Dhole Pups on a Tree, Nagarahole
During a morning drive around Nagarahole national park, Karnataka, in March 2013, we encountered a pack of 5-6 dholes (Cuon alpinus) close to the forest office. There were a few pups playing around, even climbing a tree. Being highly social, playing is helpful in cementing bonds between pack members, besides being fun! (Adult dholes too will sometimes climb onto sloping tree trunks or termite mounds – Ed). Pack sizes may sometimes swell to over 20, but will usually then split … Read More
Chital antlers entangled in fishing net, Nagarahole
This was photographed on the Kabini Backwaters in the Nagarahole tiger reserve on 18th June, 2014. This chital was running desperately trying to get rid of a fishing net entangled in its antlers. I hope this image highlights the threat of carelessly discarded nets to wildlife.
Nets pose a significant threat to wildlife often leading to fatalities. See more images of this threat on Conservation India.
Is there any way the forest department can periodically clean such nets and plastic … Read More
Protected Areas and Beyond
Authors Ruth DeFries, Krithi K. Karanth and Sajid Pareeth propose the designation of a ‘Zone of Interaction’ (ZOI) around reserves encompassing hydrologic, ecological and socioeconomic interactions between a reserve and the surrounding landscape, in their paper, “Interactions between protected areas and their surroundings in human-dominated tropical landscapes,” published in Biological Conservation in 2010.
There are 683 Reserves covering less than 5 per cent of total land area in India today. Most of these reserves are embedded in human-dominated landscapes. Land … Read More
Developing Simple and Innovative Techniques to Monitor Elephants
Authors V. R. Goswami, M.V. Lauretta, M. D. Madhusudan and K. U. Karanth have developed an automated process to identify individual adult male elephants effectively. These are the highlights of their study published in the journal, Animal Conservation in 2011.
There are an estimated 40,000 wild Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) spread across 13 countries in Asia (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka in South Asia and Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam). According … Read More
Q: My question is about the roads which are shut during the night time in Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks in Karnataka, why can’t we shut these roads completely? I know there was a great struggle to even shut these roads during night time. But with the will and constant fight against the evil powers, your case study has shown how it can be handled. Alternate roads can be developed far away from forest range easily if Government has the willingness to do so. I have left my comment below your case study as well, please advice whether my words make sense or not.
Answer from Praveen Bhargav, Managing Trustee, Wildlife First:
Your comment on developing alternative alignments to roads that cut through Wildlife Reserves is valid. A lot of effort has been put in by the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL) to address this issue. There have been many interventions by Courts as well. So, we are moving forward but we cannot completely close down roads/highways since that would antagonise society, which will lead to the loss of public support for conservation. … Read More
Tribals and Dhole, Nagarahole
On Saturday 13th April 2013, I was surprised to see these people / tribals walk along the Kabini backwaters in Nagarahole Tiger Reserve so close to the wild dogs. Just before walking past the wild dogs, they walked past some elephants as well.… Read More
Black Stork, an Uncommon Bird in South India, Nagarahole
The Black Stork (Ciconia nigra) is an uncommon bird in South India. It is a winter visitor and considered to be rare in the Deccan. It has not been recorded in South India (Ali & Ripley, 2001).
However, over the last few years there have been several sightings in Karnataka. The bird has been seen in north Karnataka in the vicinity of Dandeli. In more recent times, there have been reports of a bird from Bangalore as well … Read More
Electrocuted Elephant, Nagarahole
This magnificent tusker was electrocuted on Nov 12th, 2012, around 1 a.m., in Balle Range in the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve. The elephant was frequently seen in the area and was known to have sight in only one eye. As it was attempting to cross a tribal village, it appears to have entangled in a triangular section formed by an electric pole and the guy wires holding it up. The elephant’s attempts to free itself seem to have brought the guy … Read More
Replenishing Water Tanks in Wildlife Reserves: How Scientific?
A recent decision by the Karnataka Forest Department to replenish drying waterholes in Bandipur and Nagarahole Tiger Reserves with water brought in from outside using water tankers, has been opposed by several experienced conservationists, who have worked in these areas for several decades. Sometime ago, CI carried a letter to the PCCF (WL), Karnataka, from K.M. Chinappa, former Range Forest Officer, Nagarahole, and President, Wildlife First, and Praveen Bhargav, Trustee, Wildlife First. Here we present the views of Dr. K. … Read More
Field Survey of large mammals (transect surveys) and training program on their population monitoring methods — Call for Volunteers by WCS – India
Field Survey of large mammals and training program on their population monitoring methods
Wildlife Conservation Society-India Program and its partner Centre for Wildlife Studies are conducting field training camps for monitoring large mammal populations for the field season 2013. These field workshops will be held at several reserves in Karnataka including Dandeli-Anshi, BRT, Bhadra, Bandipura and Nagarahole. Some of the methods taught will include:
- Estimation of large herbivore populations
- Relative abundance estimation of large carnivores using scat encounter rates
- Demo
Indian Spotted Chevrotain (Mouse Deer), Nagarahole
The Indian Spotted Chevrotain (Moschiola meminna) is often referred to as the Mouse Deer. However in recent times, Indian Spotted Chevrotain seems to be the preferred usage.
This diminutive animal is nocturnal in habit, making it very difficult to see one in daylight. Occasionally a chevrotain may be seen late in the evening or early in the morning if it ventures out into the open like the one in this image, photographed one foggy morning near the Kabini … Read More
Kodagu Villagers Demonstrate a Model Response to Managing Human-Tiger Conflict
Most often, in situations involving a large predator, which is accidentally cornered in human dominated landscapes, local people swiftly form raging mobs and attack the animal as well as impede forest officials handling the situation. This often ends tragically with the death of the big cat, and sometimes injuries to people and forest staff. In this context, WCS India would like to highlight the exemplary restraint and positive conservation attitude of village community of Nidugumba, which is about 1.2 km … Read More
Jackals in Nagarahole
Although jackals occur widely across India, we know very little about them. These images were photographed on the morning of 11th November, 2012 near the Kabini backwaters in Rajiv Gandhi National Park (Nagarahole Tiger Reserve). We believe that jackals have never been sighted here for past over 15 years, so it’s interesting to know if these jackals have lost their way and have entered the protected forest. Or are there any other reasons for them to been wandering in Nagarahole?… Read More
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