Pictures by: B S Guruprasad
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| Iconic picture for the Black buck Count |
Black buck is one of the species of wildlife that is
thriving well outside protected areas. The mythical and religious significance
it has in many cultures across the country has enabled the species pull on into
this century. Historic accounts of the scale of hunting of this species left
behind by the Moguls and the British hunters are astonishing. Soon after
independence hunting was totally banned and many reserves were created to
preserve our wildlife. To begin with we
had a habitat approach and focused upon the conservation of mega fauna. Reserves
with exclusive protection were set up for them and believed that all other
species under its domain would survive. Hoverer, certain species simply didn’t
find their home here or they even radiated out of the protected areas. But widely
distributed species like Black buck remained outside the parks in small pockets
struggling against odds of being in non protected areas.
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| A hind of Female bucks |
All through our childhood Ranebennur was the only known
black buck habitat in Karnataka. Probably lack of wildlife enthusiasts and
field studies had not revealed their distributions. In the early nineties
amateur naturalists of Tumkur who worked under the banner of Wildlife Aware
Nature Club reported a hind of these antelopes in the grazing lands of
Mydanahalli. Their further field studies under taken by the then Deputy
conservator of Forests UV Singh and Ameen Ahemad revealed the thriving
population of Black bucks and based on their report the Govt. of Karnataka
declared these grassland a community reserve. Ever since the discovery of this
grassland habitat, WANC has stood behind the reserve as guarding sentinels. They
have provided advocacy for conservation in every capacity ranging from being
scientific advisers to mediators who do counselling to the stake holders.
The
work force of WANC has constantly kept up with the demanding times and tries to
upgrade their volunteers. They are able to pool in life science students from
Tumkur and carry out the status survey of the species. Their recommendations
are sound and valid but yet to be taken up by the government. Their studies did reveal like elsewhere
plantation of alien species was the worst enemy for the black bucks. Prasanna D
R, an ardent member of the club took up the studies of the Black bucks of
Mydanahalli as his subject of doctoral theses.
Ever since his research work began, the census has almost become an
annual feature.
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| A Muppet of a Bull Manu.K |
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| A village enthralled in its own celebrations Manu.K |
Last fortnight about seventy students and thirty forest
staff gathered at Mydanahalli to conduct the count. It was a Saturday in the festive season. The village of Puruvara was all immersed in festive gay. The prevailing drought had not put off the villagers from celebrating the festive of pomp. There were loud music and processions in the hot sun and the road leading to Mydanahalli was blocked due to the erection of a Drama pendhal.
The students gathered by evening and the organizers had arranged three sessions making
the event an intense workshop on people’s role in Wildlife conservation. TVN
Murthy, the founder Secretary of WANC who is also the Honorary Wildlife Warden
of Tumkur Distrrict presented the colorful saga of the club since its inception. He narrated all the good work they carried out in their district
from field surveys to campaigns and perusing Public Interest Litigation. He
left behind a mark of Wildlife Patriotism on the young minds and invited them
all to join in their efforts to serve Nature.
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| The late evening session |
Later on Ameen Ahemad took up the Dias and mesmerized the
youth through his historical diggings. His anecdotes based on the dairies and
biographies of travellers and resident British officers were illustrative in
itself. His slides of pictures and
paintings of the Tumkur area of the raj era captivated the young minds. They
were astonished to take the fact that the entire area was grassland and home
for black bucks and their predators like hunting cheetah and Grey wolves.
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| Fall-in order at dawn...... |
Finally, Dr. Prasanna D R converged the discussion into the
issue of Black bucks. He gave an over view of the species, its physical
features, identifying tips and its status. His slides illustrated the variations
in the colouration of the species, demography and lifestyle of blackbucks. Line transects method of counting the
population was also narrated so well that the students would be able to count
them with ease. The forest officials’ right from the DCF to foot soldiers
were all present for the smooth sailing of the program.
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The early morning Address Manu.K
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After Dinner the forest watchers were briefed about the
different transects and how to go about them.
Prasanna sat burning the midnight oil in dividing the teams of the congregation
of youth. There were 26 teams in all and there was a logical mix up of forest officials
in most of them. Members of WANC and other invites with Naturalist background
led the groups where there was no forest official.
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| Final tips before the start of the Annual Black buck Count, |
The teams were all up and active before sun rise. After a
final briefing the teams were all taken in jeeps and cars to be dropped in
their respective destinations. The teams had to start sharp at seven in the
morning and walk back in their designated paths back to the base. In about three hours the census was over. The process of tabulation was on and would be
out in a day or two.
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| The tabulation team |
It was indeed a great effort of the WANC team to utilize the rare opportunity of a routine exercise into a wonderful time of learning and understanding for the youth. Unless the youth are exposed to the wonders of their land and legacy the youth may not value their heritage. Being through the census the youngsters were exposed to numerous things which their colleges would not have exposed them to.
May the efforts of WANC and the forest department bring
in lot of laurels along with the consciousness of conservation and the plight of wildlife of this country.
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