Visit to Dandeli Tiger Reserve

A village adjoining the jungle; This one would be evacuated to make way for the Tiger Reserve

The night gets darker. Warning calls of Chital congregates emanate from a water-body from a deep corner of the forest. You hear chitter of the Slender Loris against the shrill of the night. And as seconds turn to minutes, the Chital cries get even more frequent – till it is lost again in the silence of the forest. You hear of movements around the bush. The birds twitter. The dark, lonely, shrill of the forest gives way to a flurry of activities and you suddenly realize that you aren’t alone there anymore.

Rays of the early morning sun intruding in

Somewhere in February, we decided to call a trip to Dandeli Tiger Reserve. The camp was organized 15 Kms deep inside the tiger reserve in tents of the Kulgi Nature Camp. It was a part of TCS-CSR activity and we were there along with Dr Anish Andheria of Sanctuary Asia/kidsfortiger (KFT - http://www.kidsfortigers.org/).

When we got there, the place was already abuzz with activity. There were 15 bright kids, handpicked from schools all over Mumbai and Pune along with their teachers. They kids were to be known as the tiger ambassadors of KFT and part of their responsibility would be to spread the message of forest and wildlife conservation to their schools.

It was easy to recognize the good intent of KFT to make the children aware of the problems facing mankind and making them active partners in the quest to save our tomorrow. Kudos KFT!!

The Kulgi Nature Camp is located at the periphery of the Dandeli Tiger Reserve and is any nature lover’s delight. The place is known to be a habitat of various animals like tigers, panthers, gaur, wild dogs, spotted deer, the barking deer, sambhar and many exotic birds. It is known to feed about 250 species of birds apart from various reptiles and insects. Some of the birds are said to be endemic to the place. But I was in particular excited to learn about the Black Panther.

Our tents at the Kulgi Nature Camp

Though we weren’t lucky enough to spot the big cats, we spotted a gaur (grazing with its calf), a pack of spotted deer (Chital)-closely followed by wild dogs, a jackal who strayed onto our tent area and many birds. The most memorable one has got to be the Malabar Pied Hornbill. Though I am not very good with animal names, I could manage to remember exotic names like the paradise flycatcher, emerald dove, magpie robin and the paddy crow :-)

The Malabar Giant squirrel

A gaur with its calf (camouflaged against the surronding)

You grasp the enormity of forest only once you get closer to it. There is no such great feeling as you move away from the clutches of the concrete jungle back home, sit back and relax. And amidst the cries of the Chitals and the growl of the Macaques, you feel great as you almost hear the jungle speaking amongst itself. In the words of Anish, “When you walk miles into the forest, caring for the species you love, trying to protect them, you don’t necessarily get to see any traces of them. You start losing hope about their survival. And as you come back to your tent, contemplating on the day that went by, you hear these cries. This is what keeps you going; a feeling that there is still life buzzing amidst all the chaos”.

The sun-set point

Watching the sun set in the vast expanse of dark green mountains was a memorable incident in the whole journey. The vast footage of the pristine, ever green forest amidst a setting sun would stand amongst one of the best incidents of my life. Perhaps what stood out was that there was no hint of human intervention in the entire stretch of ever-green forest. No glittering lights or towering mobile stations to distend the view. We can only hope that Dandeli be left untouched by the selfish human interventions for generations to come.

The vast mosaic of mountains against the blue misty sky

The sun sets

Another high point of the journey was a visit to a large monolithic called Syntheri Rocks. The place is located along the banks of the river Kalindi. We were told that the animals flock to the water body next to it at times. But all we could see were umpteen bee-hives. The rocks being excessively slippery, the waters are extremely dangerous for swimming.

The message is loud and clear :-)

Kalindi River cuts through the rocks

Though any one would stand disappointed after going all the way to a tiger reserve and not spotting one, I came back with a feeling of content. We couldn’t disturb the peace of these amazing creatures facing extinction from the face of this earth. Though spotting one would’ve been icing on the cake, I would rather hear the sounds of existence of these indomitable animals against domineering jungle than spot one.

Bird_Watching. Not me :-)


Niranjan with his collection of figs of various shades

The lone ranger walks on

About KFT:
Program Vision:

A world in which wild tigers and their forest homes are safe well into the next century.
Program Mission:

To inform, educate and motivate 1.5 million young students from 1,000 schools within three years to become an active force to save wild tigers and their homes.
Program Values:

To promote caring family values centered around environmentally-friendly attitudes.
Program Objectives:
To build a strong relationship with schools and teachers.
To be a resource and support for environmental educators.
Use teachers' skills to convince the children under their care that by saving the tiger we save the rich and diverse natural wealth of India.
Create a core of young 'Tiger Cubs' to be the tiger's defence team for the rest of their lives.
Slogan for the year 2008-09:
Bagh Bachao, Jungle Bachao, Bharat Bachao!