Laxminarayanan and his brother Hari had wanted to go to Bandipur, and were urging me to plan a trip. Mr. TNA Perumal, the doyen of wildlife photography of the yesteryears, agreed to join and soon four of us were on our way to Bandipur.

We started early in the morning from Bangalore and reached Bandipur Forest Rest House by around 12 noon. After unpacking, we were ready to have our lunch. The macaques were trying to sneak inside the room and had to be careful with our food and photographic equipment.

In the afternoon, we entered into the forest and soon sighted an elephant and calf on the road. The light was a bit harsh and the elephants were close.

I was driving with my EOS 1D Mark II and Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS lens on my lap. The elephants were too close for my 400mm. There was an armada speeding towards us in the road, and the elephants immediately got into the bush. We turned left and after sometime came across three Sambars (Cervus unicolor). The Sambar had a pronounced sore patch. The sambar was on the left side and I had to handheld my 400mm f2.8 IS and photograph through the left window.

George B. Schaller in his much acclaimed book – The Deer and the Tiger had this to say about the Sore patch :

“One of the manifestations of the early part of the rut is the “sore neck: (J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1921; Morris, 1988) or “sore spot.” On the ventral surface of the neck is a line of hair, somewhat darker and less sleek than the surrounding pelage, which runs down the mid-line from the throat to the lower part of the neck. At the begining of the rut, the hair falls out at the terminus of this line, and the skin seems to slough off, forming a circular area about one to two inches in diameter which is bloody in appearance and exudes a seous fluid, “a kind of whittish looking oily or watery substance” (Thom, 1937). The area around the sore spot is sometimes swollen, and Kemp (1914 [quoted in J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc., 1921]) observed that hair is occasionally rubbed off over an area as large as eight inches long and six inches wide. I noted the first sore spot on November 15 and the last one on December 15. Many sore spots began to heal during the first half of December, and by January the only evidence of them was an area of pinkish skin lightly overgrown with hair. Sore spots were not seen at other times of the year at Kanha, but in Kaziranga Sanctuary two stags and a hind all had them on May 3…….”

It should be noted that we saw the sore patch on August. The flies were swarming around the sore patch. After watching the Sambar for a few minutes, we drove ahead.

Soon we came across a lizard near the water. It kept on moving towards us and soon was close enough for me to just get its head filling the entire frame. After a few minutes, I found one Ford Endeavour moving towards us and I discovered Dr. Ajit Huilgol in that vehicle. And a couple of minutes later, the traffic jam was complete with a forest department canter reaching the place. The monitor lizard had moved away and was appearing as a small object. We then moved ahead.

Towards evening the lights started going down and we came across a herd of elephants. And I discovered that there were a few tourist vehicles about 30 yards behind the elephants. A few elephants from the herd were yet to cross over to the left side and were hidden in the dense lantana bushes. The elephants at the left started mud bathing. The matriarch gave the signal for the elephants to move. An approximately 3 year old juvenile elephant came close to my SUV and felt a bit intimidated. The matriarch moved ahead to calm it and they entered into the dense lantana bushes on our left. The sighting was not conducive for great photography. However, I was happy at observing the elephants and listening to their rumbling sounds.
We then moved ahead and arrived at a T junction.

When I turned to the left, we could find a few langurs on the ground eating lantana leaves. Lantana, being an exotic first imported by the British as flowering plants have gone wild and invaded our forests. The leaves have toxic impact on the herbivores. However, it seems that langurs have got accustomed to eating its flowers, buds and leaves. I am not sure whether anyone has done any study on the impact of lantana on the langur. Normally, I don’t stop for shooting langurs. However, the lighting was good. And Mr TNA Perumal, the pictorialist that he is, never missed an opportunity to photograph any subject in good lighting. I accordingly stopped the Safari and photographed the langurs with my 400mm. I opened the door and placed the lens in the wedge between the vehicle and the door and got enough stability to get sharp images.

The sun was setting and light had gone down low enough to prompt us to return to the Forest Rest House. We soon started chatting over a cup of tea. The images were downloaded, and after an early dinner we were about to retire for the night when we heard alarm calls.

Any visitors to Bandipur would be surprised at the congregation of spotted deers (Axis axis) near the forest rest house in the evenings. In the night, you can see the deers resting on the ground in the forest rest house compound. This is an attempt to avoid predators. However, leopards come nearby to hunt. We moved out but couldn’t see the leopard. Later around midnight again we heard alarm calls. However, it seems the leopard was not successful. I was hopeful that we might sight a carnivore the next day and didn’t realise when I fell asleep.

I was woken up by Laxminarayanan at around 4 am. We got ready and then met Mr. Jayakumar and group there and proceeded ahead. We were about to turn left when they moved ahead to turn left. So we drove ahead and took a right turn. Alas, who knew that we are going to miss the tiger?
In the early morning dew, we photographed a jungle fowl and a mongoose. At a distance we could find a few tourist vehicles. I drove ahead and found an elephant digging a salt lick. The sound of digging was audible. Since the elephant was on my right, I waited for Mr. TNA Perumal to click a few shots before I created some images. At f3.2 aperture, I could get the entire body covered by depth of field and was happy with the images.

We then turned back and came to the main road. I decided to enter into an unused road. Mr. Perumal said that chances of sighting in such dense vegetation is remote. However, I decided to move ahead. We then reached an antipoaching camp and turned left and climbed a hill again. Suddenly a Changeable Hawk Eagle flew and sat on a branch on our left. The background was not cluttered as there were branches criss crossing behind its head. It sat patiently for about half an hour. So I could change converters and create various compositions. It was about 9 am and there were no more sightings on the way.

After a quick breakfast, we decided to go to Gopalswamy Betta. Though I was not keen on taking my heavy 400mm f2.8 IS lens, Mr. Perumal said that there are chances of sighting elephants on the slopes and asked me to carry the lens. It was however, packed in my bag.

We were about to reach the Bandipur forest gate and saw a spotted deer (Axis axis) near the road side chewing on a kurkure packet. Herbivores, due to the salt content, like to lick and chew the empty wafers packets dropped by visitors. In the process, the stand on or near the road side and get hit by speeding vehicles. At times, they swallow these packets and die as well. On one earlier occasion, I had seen an elephant dung containing a polythene laced with blood. When I was struggling to remove my camera and lens from the bag kept in the backseat, the deer moved into the lantana vegetation. Several cars came speeding and narrowly missed hitting us. Fortunately, I could document the deer chewing the plastic wafer packet using 800mm focal length.

We then proceeded towards Gopalswamy Betta. Somehow, we missed the entry road and took a detour on a broken road. It was certainly not an issue as I had 4WD in my vehicle. On reaching the entry gate to Gopalswamy Betta, I was pleasantly surprised when the guard checked for plastics and took away polythene bags from the tourist vehicles. I wish this practice can be adopted in other places, including Bandipur.

On reaching the summit of the hill, we got down to macro shooting. I hadn’t brought a macro lens, but Mr. Perumal started shooting. I discovered that it is a good place for macro work. After a quick trip to the temple, we proceeded back to Bandipur. We sighted and counted a herd of seven elephants at a distance feeding on the leaves and branches on the hill slope. After observing them for about fifteen minutes, we moved ahead as the afternoon safari time was fast approaching.

On reaching the forest rest house, I found a big wild boar close by. On a whim, I took out my new Nokia N97 phone and tip toed towards it to create a full frame image. Well, the phones have a long way to go before serious photographers like me can use it.

We reached a waterhole where the previous day a tigress was sighted. Unfortunately, we only found a gaur. I tried a few shots handholding my Canon 1D Mark II and Canon EF 400mm f2.8 L IS USM lens plus 2xII Tc combination. The weight is killing, but I got a few sharp images.

Later in the evening, we found a kid langur playing and then found gaurs in low light. An adult male gaur was getting ready to mount on a receptive female. It needed some more time, and we didn’t have much time in our hands as the forest gates closing time was fast approaching. We had to call it a day.

Next day early in the morning apart from cheetals we didn’t have much sightings. We then waited at a place as Hari and Mr Perumal wanted to photograph the deers and langurs. I was watching a langur at a distance debarking a tree. After some time it moved ahead and started mating with a female langur. Fortunately, I was ready and despite handholding my heavy lens, the images were sharp. Soon it was time for us to move ahead and bid adieu to Bandipur.

(Originally written on August 2009)

Couple of years back, I was in Masinagudi for the first time. I was driving on the segur road. Dusk was fast approaching and I was looking for a cup of hot tea to beat the December cold. I saw a board on the right and it appeared to be a small restaurant. Without thinking much, I drove in.

Ofcourse, I could get my cup of tea and some munches as well. But someone else was waiting me there. I noticed the outline of a huge black animal, much larger than a buffalo. I strained my eyes, and could see a gaur (Bos gaurus) come out of the bush. I couldn’t believe my eyes, but the restaurant manager calmly told me that Gaur’s regularly visit this place. After some time, I was sipping another cup of tea when I heard alarm calls from about 50 meters away. Initially, I thought that it might be a false alarm call. But the alarm calls were repeated and I realized that a carnivore, probably a leopard might be on its prowl. There was a small building in the compound and I thought it would be an outhouse for guarding the property. I hesitatingly asked, whether I could stay in that building. My joy knew no bounds, when the manager told me that it is part of a resort that they are building, and I was welcome there. I immediately confirmed that I am checking in.And thus began my experiences with the wildlife of Masinagudi and Segur area.This resort, with basic amenities had one cottage. A small stream was passing by its side. I was told that the owner stays in Ooty, and has about 200 acres of land. They had fenced off only a couple of acres and the rest lies contiguous to the Mudumalai Tiger reserve, without any boundaries. The wildife were passing through the resort and crossing the segur road. Next day, I was sitting by the stream in the afternoon. On my left was the resort. The opposite bank of the stream slopes up to a hillock full of bamboo, lantana and other bushes. There were lot of birds chirping. A groupd of langurs were jumping from branch to branch. It was a very peaceful atmosphere, and I was soaking every minute of it, until it was broken by the sound of “Elephant”. My friends have spotted a herd of elephants, grazing upstream, about 200 meters away. I had my Canon 1D Mark II and the Canon EF 300mm F4 L IS lens. I removed my shoes and started crawling on my hands and belly. The elephant herd were feeding in small groups. A group of 4 elephants saw me and immediately turned to the right, and disappeared into the bamboo and scrub forest. I had by now crossed the stream and was moving forward in my hands and knees. The sudden disappearance of the 4 elephants to the right, made me feel edgy. From experience, I knew that elephants can remain very silent. After waiting for about 10 minutes, I started my crawl forward, shooting intermittently. The elephant herd had a small calf. The antics of the calf was worth watching. It was at times suckling from the mother. I wanted to get closer and capture it. I had moved pretty close to the elephants and was about to shoot the small calf when some one screamed from behind and urged me to come back. I turned around to see that the restaurant boy and another well dressed person were running towards me. Needless to say, the elephants simply vanished.

On asking why they were screaming, I was told that elephants are dangerous and I should not be going close to them. The well dressed gentleman told me that he is the owners son and stays abroad. They were calmed when they came to know about my credentials. But alas, by that time, the elephants had vanished, and I suddenly noticed that the scars and bruishes that I had received while crawling had started hurting.

The next day morning, I got up and came out of the cottage. The sun was about to rise. I could see a gaur and calf outside the compound wall. The calf was suckling its mother. I had the Canon EOS 1D Mark II camera and the 28-135 mm attached with it. I rushed and clicked. Unfortunately, the shots were not sharp due to the low light.

In the evening, I was again waiting near the stream. I could see the Indian Giant Squirrel (Ratufa indica) jumping high in the branches. It was a nice sight to watch. There were some parakeets feeding on the opposite bank. A solitary small kingfisher was perched on a branch at a distance. It was an idyllic atmosphere, a far cry from the mad hustle and bustle of the city. I was relaxed and soaking it up and was lost in my thoughts. Suddenly the silence was broken by the sound of hoofs, as a herd of gaur (Bos Gaurus) appeared on the other bank further upstream. There were a number of small calves and they were sliding and jumping on the steep bank. It was evening, and light was fading fast. However, I could see a calf with a very light colouration. There were some reports of albino gaur and some photographs were published in Sanctuary Asia and other places. I moved closer and closer. It was difficult to approach through the thick lantana bush on the left side of the bank without making any noise. The stream bed was barren, with some boulders here and there. I crawled on my hands, knees and belly. I knew I would not go unnoticed, but nevertheless tried my best hiding behind the boulders. The calf was from a normal coloured mother. However, its colour was totally different from the others. The light levels were low, and the photographs were not sharp to my liking. After observing this calf for sometime, I retreated back.

Masinagudi area was originally a tribal hamlet. Construction of dams in Moyar and Singara hamlets, brought labourers who stayed back after the dam construction was over. With passage of time, more and more people migrated to this area. Today wildlife tourism has picked up in the area. The locals are earning a lot by renting Jeeps to tourists for use in Safari. The small hamlet is now converting into a town. It is estimated that today, the population of the original tribal inhabitants of the area is 600, but the overall population is about 15000.

As a consequence the pressure on the forest has increased. It is estimated that about one lakh (0.1 million) cattle enter into the forest everyday for grazing. When so many cattle, goats and sheep graze, the impact on the forest is easy to guess. The forest has been virtually devoid of grass, bushes, and small shrubs. Such biotic pressures force the herbivores to move into deeper forests. The trees are hacked by villagers looking for fuel wood. And ultimately, the forest is transformed into a barren land. This also makes it easier for species like lantana camara to occupy the forest land.

Wildlife tourism is having its impact on the forest as well. A number of resorts have sprung up in the area. Wildlife tourism is seen as the “in thing” these days. Accordingly, number of tourists have increased manifold. I found liquour bottles lying in the forests, as tourists are having fun all around at the expense of wildife. Polythene bags, gutka/ pan masala sachets are found all around the place. Some of those are inadvertenly swallowed by the wildlife. Their deaths would go unnoticed. I have photographed a polythene bag that had come out with the elephant dung. I could find the hand of man raping this once pristine landscape. If something is not done soon, then this area will also be lost to wildife forever.

The traffic in the Segur road has increased. Earlier only petrol driven vehicles were able to negotiate this steep ghat road. So a major portion of the traffic to Ooty used the other route. Today, with the advent of vehicles with powerful engines, Segur road is the preferred road. Even late in the night there is traffic in the road. There have been demands to restrict the hours in this road. I was told that vehicles are not allowed to ply on this road after six. This move was started not due to love of wildlife, but due to an accident that took place where a bus overturned and lot of local people including the forest ranger died. However, I could see vehicles even in the late night.

I understand that the Tamil Nadu Government is taking steps to declare this as a buffer area. Predictably, there is lot of opposition to this from vested interests. I hope that the Tamil Nadu Govt. shows will and is able to convince the people to relocate from the area and restore this landscape to its pristine state.

Right of Way

Roads have been the bane of most of our wild areas. Some of the pristine wildlife habitats have been dissected by roads. In the early part of the 21st Century, the motorable roads were much less. The dirt roads were not much of a menace, as less population and a low frequency of vehicles on these roads didn’t create much of adverse impact on the wildlife.

Today, the quality of roads has improved a lot. The dirt roads have given way to metalled four lane or at least two lane roads. Increase in vehicles and increase in disposable incomes have led to a boom in tourism. The improvement in quality of roads has led to more and more people driving to destinations, instead of taking public transport.

And along with that comes accidents, throwing of garbage, teasing animals, zooming past animals at high speeds to terrorise them etc. At times, you would be amazed at the level of immaturity and recklessness shown by the people.

This shot shows a huge adult Gaur (Bos gaurus) crossing the road. Often mistakenly called as Bison, these can weigh upto 2 tonnes and when violent can topple vehicles. This shot was taken in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.

The road from Bandipur to Ooty passes through the Mudumalai Tiger reserve. The shorter road passes through Segur and is known as the Segur road. It is steep and several years back diesel vehicles could not negotiate the steep inclination of this ghat road. Hence most of the traffic used to pass through the other road which is about 30 kilometers longer than the Segur road.

I was coming back from an afternoon Safari in Bandipur National Park in July 2008. Dusk was fast approaching and the showers few minutes back had decresed the light. I was driving slowly when a vehicle from the opposite direction slowed down near me and the occupants excitedly told me that there is a herd of elephants ahead. After moving ahead in the winding road, about hundred meters or so, I came across a herd of elephants. The elephants numbering about forty were feeding near the road. I brought my Safari (an SUV) to the left and parked. Soon other vehicles overtook me and stopped about 15 feet away from the elephants. The elephant herd had three small calves, about a few months old, who appeared to be still in awe of their trunks.

A lady from one of the vehicles, got down and was trying to move closer to the elephant. People don’t realise the difference between pet animals and the wild ones. Soon a herd of four Gaurs appeared and tried to cross from the left to the right. One of the adolescent elephants, with the impetuousness of youth, started chasing the gaur. In the meanwhile, vehicles from both the sides had created a traffic zam. People had got down from their vehicles and were watching the drama, oblivious of the danger of being too close to these wild animals.

The Gaur was crossing about a few feet from the cars. The cars appear to be dwarfed in front of the Gaur. An annoyed Gaur, can cause significant damage to a vehicle like Maruti in the picture. Apart from the danger to the people, due to their irresponsible acts of getting two close to these animals; it also causes stress to the animals as they are not used to such close proximity with humans.

Most of the people are ignorant. A quick briefing of people entering the sanctuary should help. The briefing can be just two or three lines while opening the forest entry gates, like “Please don’t Honk”, “Please don’t litter” and “please maintain 30kmph speed limit”.

People also violate rules as they don’t feel that there is any patrolling by the forest officials. Forest department is in perennial shortage of staff. Most of them are old and on the verge of retirement. Meager salary also doesn’t help in motivating them.

Most of the vehicles given for patrolling are used by the officials. So the forest department should provide battery operated vehicles that you mostly find in Golf courses. These vehicles, apart from stopping pollution, also won’t be misused. As officials won’t be seen taking these vehicles for any other purpose.

What you can do:

You can spread the message and educate people.

You can write a letter to the forest department and the ministry highlighting the issues and ask them to sanction more posts for the forest department and urge them to fill the existing vacancies.

I look forward to your comments and your ideas on this topic. Let us know when you take any action, so that I can mention it here. It will serve as motivation for others.

• You can send this link to people to educate them about the huge impact of polythene. Ask people to use biodegradable material and adopt safe disposal practices for their trash.
• You can stop using polythene. When you go to the grocery shop, carry your own bags with you. Ask the grocery store not to give you polythene bags.
• You can ask the authorities to set up waste bins and ensure trash regular collection. 
• At the moment few hillstations like Nainital have banned polythene bags. We can campaign to make more and more cities, especially places around our forests, rivers, lakes no polythene zones. 

Spreading this message will help in stopping the ever increasing usage of non biodegradable materials like polythene. Let us all work towards a better tomorrow. I look forward to your comments and actions. Let me know when you take any action. I will highlight it here so that others can get inspired.