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Thengumarada - Satyamangalam range
Thanks to the dreaded poacher Veerapan, the Satyamangalam Forests, till his death, had remained one of the most unexplored and densest forest regions. His reign over this area was so strong that people dreaded driving through these ghats, which forms an important link between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
This place, is now going through a transformation, with the forest departments of both states (Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) focussing on Conservation of the rich flora and fauna of this region.
There are some pristine spots in this range like Thengumarada (a haven for Black Bucks), ULIKARAIPATTY (a birding haven), Thalamalai, Thalavadi, Jodigere, a part of Nagari Sanctuary etc.
Though i have been to some of these a few times earlier (under the eerie scare of an encounter with the dreaded bandit and with scores of armed forest personnel), this time it was a quick trip, more to visit an ailing friend, who owns an estate near Kollegal, very close to Thengumarada and Thimbam. I was hardly there for one night and the next day afternoon, but saw hordes of deer, two elephant groups (5 and 7 members), 3 bison, gangs of langurs, a sloth bear, two tigers and a large cross section of birds (from the common jungle fowl to the malabar hornbill). Most of this was on a drive on a SUV the first morning for barely 3 hours. Since it was a very quick trip, i did not carry any of my camera gear and i really missed them, especially when a large variety of birds played out in front of me right through the trip.
The tiger was a memorable experience. Enroute to Pulinjur, we were on a single jungle road, when our driver spotted 2 of these tigers on the other side of a small rivulet. The vehicle stopped and i just had time to shoot a couple of snaps before the tigers moved back into the thickets. I am posting the photo of the tigers but not the EXIF details since these were on a aim and shoot mega zoom, which i had borrowed from my friend at Kollegal. On the way back, we saw a large sloth bear - just 30 feet from the road on a little clearing in the jungle. It was least bothered about us and hung on for ages, posing for photographs, before slowly moving out.
This place is definitely worth spending time at and i am planning a more elaborate trip soemtime during June (b4 the rains) for a few days soon. I'll work with Sabayasachi to see if a group of us from Indiawilds can do this, of course if folks are interested.
regards
Rajan
Tiger population increases in Sathyamangalam forest
An encouraging update...
Erode (TN),Sept29 (PTI) The tiger population has almost doubled in the Sathyamangalam forest range here within a year as per a census in the region,a forest official said today. In 2007 there were only eight Tigers in the Sathyamangalam forest. It declined to seven in 2008 and increased to ten in 2009. Now as per the census going on in the area there are about 18 Tigers in the forest, District Forest Officer N Ramasubramaniam told PTI. This is due to the strict vigil maintained by the forest department against poaching and proper facilities for the animals care like adequate water, he said. "Exhaustive study in ascertaining tiger population in the entire Sathyamangalam forest division is going on�, he said. He said a fresh census would be taken soon on elephants.There were 866 elephants in 2009, compared to 815 in 2007. There were 672 Gaur in the forest in 2009 as against 630 in 2007. "There are 2348 spotted deer, 1068 black bucks (kasturi Maan), 304 Sambar deer and 77 Barking deer.Government plans to start a black Buck Sanctuary in the Bhavanisagar area," he said. The leopard population too has seen a rise with 27 inhabiting the forest now against 19 in 2007. "But the wild boar population is decreasing sharply due to climatic conditions.No one is hunting the variety." Compared to 2402 wild boars 2009, there were only 843 in 2009. There forest also has 43 sloth bears and 15 striped hyenas. A separate vigilance squad has been formed to prevent poaching in the forest. He also said over the past few days some Tigers from Karnataka have been migrating to Tamilnadu forests,especially Sathyamangalam.
Taken from http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfee...st/362611.html