BALLARI: A team of forest staff ascends the rocky terrain, which has just become green with recent showers. A stick (lathi) in their hand, they tap it on the ground and chat loudly with each other, unusual to the wilderness practice (silence is the order in the jungle as one can sight more wildlife).
They are in the Gudekote Bear Sanctuary, a mesmerising haven for bears which were once the most feared. This strange practice by the staff rests on the common belief that bears don’t attack people who move in groups and talk loudly. It dates back to those days when this region witnessed severe man-bear conflict and many people were killed by the bears.
When the man-animal conflict began escalating and the people spoke of taking action all by themselves, the forest department in a swift action declared this place as a wildlife sanctuary.
This is a young and second bear sanctuary in Ballari district which came up in 2013, the first one being Asia’s first sloth bear sanctuary, the ‘Daroji Bear Sanctuary’, created in 1994. Unlike in Daroji, where bears allow people near them, here, they have their own haven, strictly for themselves.
The unique Gudekote habitat with rich greenery and water sources in such a dry land area is now home to an estimated 50 sloth bears (no survey conducted so far, but sighting is frequent). It is not just a sanctuary for the bears, there are leopards, jackals and other wildlife.
With the water bodies aplenty, both natural and man-made, this is a future for not just the wildlife, even for the people. “The significance of this sanctuary will not be understood now. People will realise later on. It will make an impact on the water conservation, micro climatic changes and so on,” says P Ramesh Kumar, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Ballari.
“The habitat has come up, thanks to the combined efforts of some local wildlife activists, particularly Abdul Samad Kottur, the people and the forest department. Considering the man-animal conflict, the sanctuary was the only solution to it,” says Takath Singh Ranawat, former DCF, in whose tenure the sanctuary took shape.
“It is a story of how conservation can change the whole scenario of wildlife,” he adds.
The road to success has not been smooth. The region suffered the worst man-animal conflict ever.
Recollecting those days, Abdul Samad Kottur, who proposed this sanctuary, says, “The region witnessed trouble for more than 15 years. Now I can proudly say that there has not been any conflict since the last five years, except for a few sporadic incidents.”
“We surveyed the entire region around Gudekote. We spoke to people for years, gathered information pertaining to agriculture activities, met police officers, obtained information on man- animal conflict and finally prepared a report recommending formation of Gudekote sanctuary. The work did not happen in one or two days, it is an effort of many years,” says Samad Kottur.
He says the report recommending notification of the sanctuary included the list of flora and fauna. The sanctuary came into existence on Nov. 1, 2013, including three reserve forests, Gudekote, Gudekota reserve forest and Halasagara reserve forest.
The transformation is now visible at this 4,700 hectare-sanctuary. With at least half a dozen anti-poaching camps having been set up, the employees here have ensured that the vegetation has improved so drastically that the change has surprised both the wildlife enthusiasts and the officials. “I cannot believe that this is our own Gudekote. Just a couple of years ago, there was not much vegetation. Today, the tree cover has come up very well,” says Dr S K Arun, Honorary Wildlife Warden, Ballari district.
However, the task was not complete after the sanctuary was declared. There was a need to stop the animals from straying out by ensuring sufficient food was available to them within the forest. The first thing was to stop the harvesting of non-timber forest produce (NTFP).
The custard apple, which grows in abundance here, was harvested in tonnes as NTFP from this place, before it was declared a sanctuary. “Nearly 80 lorryloads of custard apple was harvested and auctioned by the forest department for a mere `80,000. The other NTFP was honey. Both these are favourite food for bear. Now there is no auctioning. The animals get their food within the sanctuary and do not venture out now,” explains Samad.