BENGALURU: The safari introduced in MM Hills by the Karnataka Forest Department has become a big hit among tourists, not just from the state but also from neighbouring Tamil Nadu.
The safari was introduced last year by the forest department in the TG Palya range of Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary adjoining Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple Tiger Reserve. The area also adjoins the newly declared Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve in Tamil Nadu. The safari route is 18 km long.
The safari has become a hit and is drawing tourists, even as the Karnataka forest department has shelved the proposal of pursuing with the Union Government to declare MM Hills and Kudremukh as tiger reserves. MM Hills was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 2013, and an action management plan for improving eco-tourism was finalised in 2019.
Trials were on till October 2023, after which permission for additional trials was given for six months. Till now, over 10,000 people have visited the safari.
“As there is no option for safari in Sathyamangalam, visitors from there also come here. Though no agreement has been signed, the officials in Tamil Nadu have been informed of the safari in MM Hills. The declaration of the tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu is helping us,” said a senior Karnataka forest department official.
Deputy Conservator of Forests, MM Hills, Dr Santosh Kumar G, said there are homestays in Sathyamangalam where tourists stay and come for safaris to MM Hills. Visitors to Kollegal and the Tibetan settlement also come to MM Hills.
There are a total of three safari vehicles plying on the stretch, making four trips daily. In the coming days, the Karnataka forest department is also working on constructing a guesthouse near Uduthore Dam for visitors.
MM Hills is home to a healthy wildlife population, and tourists have recorded sightings of spotted deer, sambars, dholes, elephants, leopards, and tigers. The area is free of human habitation; hence, sightings are natural. Since the safari route is new, the animal sightings are natural and are gradually increasing, Kumar added.