Kalatop Khajjiar Sanctuary

[Mayank Kohli]

Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary / Kalatop Khajjiar Sanctuary

At 8000ft amidst mixed coniferous forests of deodar, blue pine and oak trees is set the Kalatop Wildlife Sanctuary. Just 6 km from the (terrifyingly) popular tourist destination of Dalhousie, Kalatop is a haven for a host of plant (some medicinal), bird and mammal species many of which are vulnerable or near threatened.

A short drive from Dalhousie takes you to Lakkadmandi gate of this sanctuary from where the forest rest house is a further 3km and the road takes you through beautiful deodar forests and if you are observant you are bound to spot some species of birds (mostly endemic to Himalaya) on this stretch itself. If along with sharp eyes you have a healthy dose of luck, no, a really healthy dose of luck, you might chance upon a red fox crossing your path. This is actually what happened when I visited this park in July this year. We (my dad and I) were returning from the forest rest house to the main gate around 3:30 pm and we just decided to stop the car at a bend so that we could check out the big nullah below us. Just as we got out we saw this red fox about a 100 ft from us on the road that we had just left behind us. The beautiful creature had stopped on the road to take a good look at what we were up to. It moved off into the nullah and we followed it down keeping some distance so as not to scare it. We gave up the chase ( as chasing was what we did not want to do!) after both parties had a good look at each other ( the image of the fox on a boulder below us staring at us curiously for a good 10 seconds is going to be etched forever) thinking it better to leave the beautiful animal alone.

The forests are home to the Asiatic Black Bear – you can find plenty of evidence of this if you hike any trail behind the rest house – the Red Fox, Himalayan Goral, Himalayan yellow throated marten, serow, Leopard, Barking Deer and Common Langur among others. These forests are home to many birds – the breathtakingly beautiful Yellow billed blue magpie, Himalayan griffon, Eurasian blackbird, Verditer’s flycatcher, Fulvous breasted woodpecker, Green backed tit, Nuthatch(Kashmir or White-tailed –unconfirmed) are some that I can vouch for. Some others that I could not identify positively were bulbuls, babblers, parakeets and laughing-thrushes.
I strongly suggest anyone in the vicinity to make it a point to visit this beautiful and ecologically rich place. The visit is of course incomplete without staying atleast a couple of nights in the forest rest house. You can wake up early and accompanied by any keen canteen guy doubling as a naturalist cum guide ( i can suggest Vipan Kumar) hike up one if the trails behind the rest house taking you into denser forests away from other homo sapiens and hence increasing your chances of spotting an animal. If you are early enough you are sure to spot a herd of goral happily munching away on the undergrowth but be quick to glue the binoculars to your eyes as these are really timid and nervous animals. Slight movement on your part and they leap down the hill and out of sight in a jiffy. You can also see plenty of bear scat and some more signs of bear activity (stones turned over, barks scratched and peeled etc.). Do not venture into the forests alone as not only is it difficult to find your way around or back to the rest house it is also as pointed out black bear and leopard country.

I almost forgot to mention that there are lots of pheasants (Himalayan Monal-unconfirmed) too and they come right up to the rest house in the morning. They breed around June – July and the juveniles sit totally still in the undergrowth and take to flight only when you are unknowingly almost right upon them.

Sadly, cars are allowed right up to the forest rest house ( on the 3 km road from Lakkamandi gate) and people drive like crazy, play music at high volume and honk like there is no tomorrow. Remember this is the same road where I spotted the red fox. The crowd comprises more of picnickers than nature lovers. Needless to say people act like hooligans and litter anywhere they wish to and the result is you can find plastic bottles, wrappers, beer bottles and more strewn all over. I even stopped a vehicle with 4 young lads and asked them to avoid honking in the park – they looked bewildered and the reply was a minute of nonstop honking to mock me. There are no signs of dustbins anywhere along the 3 km stretch. Whether this is apathy on behalf of the officials or rooted in wildlife science (as bins might attract bears which might create conflict) I cannot say but the sight of plastic in such otherwise beautiful environs is an eyesore.

Please write to the DFO, Chamba (currently a young lady who sounds like she wants to do things) and urge her to take steps regarding both the cars and the littering. Maybe if the canteen stops serving food to day time visitors or stops selling wafers and the like the picnickers will be discouraged. My guess is if cars are disallowed a major chunk of useless crowd will be avoided. The financial loss can be made up for by increasing the entry fee. The forest department can have electric vehicles plying between the gate and the rest house- this way both mad driving and crazy honking can be avoided. People found littering should be HEAVILY challaned. Some kind of environmental and responsible tourism education at the gate for the benefit of all is also suggested.

Kindly visit and photo document this treasure trove of ecological diversity ( something I was not able to do for a variety of reasons).