Jaisalmer Desert National Park

Mr Ramanan, along with his family, visited the Jaisalmer Desert National Park earlier this year. Jaisalmer is in the western part of Rajasthan in the heart of the Thar Desert. An outpost in the desert, it has its share of forts and palaces as well. In fact, most tourists visit Jaisalmer to get a feel of the desert, and to see its fort, havelis and the local culture.

The Jaisalmer DNP is a large sanctuary and one of the important ones in India, showcasing desert flora and fauna. So, here is his trip report, which makes for interesting reading! And of course his wonderful photos.

We in the south are so familiar with rain-fed forests like Top slip and kalakaddu, so a first-time visit to a DNP leads us to wonder what living thing can there possibly be, in such a bone-dry area? We reached Jaisalmer by the only train which runs daily from Delhi to Jaisalmer.

We boarded the train at Jaipur around 12.30 in the night and one has to be very careful to board the right bogie as the train splits in to two! One goes to Barmer and the other Jaisalmer. After 13 hours we were in Jaisalmer, and after Jodhpur on the either side of the track from the train itself we started seeing desert creatures like peacock, demoiselle crane, vultures and foxes.

From here we have proceeded to Sam Dhani which is about 50 KM from Jaisalmer where we stayed with RTDC resort. As we didn’t have the time to go DNP on the same evening we enjoyed a package tourist thamasha at Sam Dhani. The package includes a drive on the camel to sand dunes, where we were allowed to stay and enjoy the sunset. We were then taken to another resort to witness a local cultural programme for two hours.

The next day we could enter the DNP only after 7.30 am as the people are reluctant to start very early morning. To get into the park a permit is compulsory, as we knew about it we got it from the Director DNP at Jaisalmer itself. For an Indian for a day permit cost about Rs 285 and for foreigners it is difficult as they have to get first permission from the district magistrate. Then, based on this the Director will issue permit for them and it is expensive for them.

The drive to DNP is 30 odd KM from Sam Dhani. Along the way, we saw several BSF and army camps as the DNP is situated close to the Pakistan border. Our vehicle is not permitted inside and the only mode of sight seeing inside the park is by camel cart and it is really indeed eco-tourism!

Laggar Falcon

The terrain is made up of rocks, compact salt lake bottoms and sand. Huge sand dunes form about 20 percent of the park but you will probably not get a chance to see it. The flora comprises of Dhok, Ronj, Salai, Bear and Palm trees. We proceeded on the camel cart and inspite of the open terrain we were unable to locate any of the game there as all of them are so well camouflaged. So in the first drive we solely depended on the cart driver. He described all the desert species in the local language.

Quails
On the second day our eyes got used to the terrain and we ourselves started spotting and enjoying all the birds and animals. We sighted various types of vultures - white backed, long billed, cinerous,white scavenger and the red headed. Also, all the three sand grouses - black bellied, spotted and chestnut coloured.

Immature Egyptian vulture?
Cinerous vulture - seen only in semi-arid terrain
White-rumped or white-backed vulture- Gyps bengalensis

Eurasian collared doveWe also sighted falcons and lot of eagles which I couldn’t ID. Brown-headed ravens, bulbuls, house sparrows, shrikes, doves and desert wheater are commonly sighted. And finally of course the Great Indian Bustard very far off. They are very shy and photographing them inside the park, for that matter any birds or animals is very difficult as they are not at photographic distances.

Great Indian Bustard

Chinkara and foxes are commonly sighted inside. We saw two kinds of foxes the one with black tipped tail is known as Desert fox and another with white tailed which is slightly smaller than the other one is Bengal fox.

Desert fox

I didn’t make a note of all the species as I was concentrating on photography and still I was sure that I would have seen more than 80 species of birds and three species of animals!
Cinkara - male and female

A dust storm started on the second day evening. This was an experience in itself. We couldn’t get to the park but we witnessed the beautiful sight of changing shape of sand dunes from our resort. The storm covered what we tourists spread over it like plastic cups and bags and empty bottles and we saw the real beauty of the desert. But the sad part of it was that the next day again our tourists invaded the area with more and more of plastic bags and bottles. The “YELLOW BEAUTY”, as the local call the sand dunes lasted only for a few hours.

Sand dunes after the dust storm

The next day morning again we ventured into the DNP but sighting was very poor because of the dust storm but we were enthralled by the camel cart driver who insisted that we should get married to many girls so that we will have lot of boy children and further narrated that he was married to four wives and had more than fourteen children!! I hope at least he will remember his number of children.

Feeding treepie

From there we travelled back to Jaipur and made a one day trip to Sariska Tiger reserve only in vain. We didn’t see the radio collared Ranthambhore tigers but when we were inside a check post which is called as Kalli Katti, one of the jeep drivers and the forest guard asked us do you have biscuits with you? So we gave him a few and immediately he ground it into a fine powder, asked my daughter to spread both hands and poured them on her hands. From nowhere about 30 tree pies emerged and without any hesitation started feeding from my daughters’ hands.

We really enjoyed it but on our way back I saw the instruction board of the forest department which instructed tourist not to feed the animals. Did it apply to the birds as well?

Mugger-Sariska
Grey Langur relaxing - Sariska
Black-tailed Godwit - Sariska
Sunset - Jaisalmer

Bridge for endangered monkeys

Times of India, 19th Sep '08

B Aravind Kumar | TNN

Chennai: The state forest department has come up with a simple solution to reduce the number of lion-tailed macaque dying along the road leading to Valparai, a hill station in Coimbatore district — bamboo bridges connecting the treetops on both sides of the road to facilitate easy and safe movement of the endangered species.
The lion-tailed macaque (Macaca silenus) lives only in the Western Ghats, and derives the name from its lion-like mane and tail. “Puduthottam, a patch of rainforest located a couple of kilometres ahead of Valparai town, is home to about 150 lion-tailed macaques. There is a large group and many smaller groups,’’ says Dr H Basavaraju, field director, Anaimalai Tiger Reserve.
In the Indira Gandhi wildlife sanctuary, 520 lion-tailed macaques were spotted during the census in February 2008. Valparai range had 225. Apart from Puduthottam, small groups were seen in Kurangumudi and Thonimudi.
An arboreal species, the lion-tailed macaque leaves the safety of trees only to search for food on the forest floor. From Puduthottam, the monkeys have to cross the main road for food. Four adult monkeys were killed by speeding vehicles on the road in the past two months, says the field director.
Authorities in the Indira Gandhi wildlife sanctuary discussed the issue as the lion-tailed macaque is one of the most endangered primates whose habitat is fractured. A report was sent to chief wildlife warden A Sundararaju who instructed building of bridges across the road.
“It did not cost us a single rupee. There was plenty of broken bamboo left by herds of wild elephants in Valparai. We strung the bamboo together and built five bridges,” says Valparai forest ranger Manickam. “The bridges were built three days ago. A few monkeys have started using them,’’ the ranger says. Forest department personnel are monitoring the movement of the lion-tailed macaques to make modifications and improvements.

Good luck to the macaques!  My only in-the-wild sighting, so far, of these impressive monkey was way back in 1994, in the Periyar reserve.  We were on a walk in the forest, when we saw this macaque on a tree above us.  I dont think we had binoculars with us, but he was close enough for us to see his handsome head.  Look at the length of his tail! 


...That was a memorable trip...maybe I should write about the elephants gambolling on the wet hillside, Mr Balakrishnan at The Lake Palace, and being cold and wet in the rain with a bunch of laughing schoolkids for company, and a husband somewhat bemused at his hysterically giggly wife?!

One day I shall.

Kanha Memories - The graceful and handsome Barasinghas

Continued from Kanha Memories

18th April 2007:

This was the sight that awaited us on our morning ride.  The early morning light shone off their skins and their noses glittered black as they stood, the two male stags, fully alert to the danger that we may pose. 

Our jeep was the only one on this route, and I think on the entire trip we were the only ones lucky enough to have seen this magnificent herd.  

These hard-hoofed swamp deer are found only in Kanha.  Imagine, at one point they roamed the entire northern plains of India.  Probably decimated for their majestic antlers which have 10-12 points.
The tall grass is their favourite food, and they roam the meadows of Kanha.  Their numbers are nowhere near as high as that of the ubiquitous chital, and in the seventies their numbers were down to below a 100.  MP Government claims around 350-400 now, but if there were so many, they were not in evidence.

Their colour gives them an excellent camouflage in the tall grass, and when we passed them and looked back, we could not spot them,  so well had they merged in to the grassland.

A young stag keeping an eye on us
The herd crosses the road, all the while keeping us in their sightsThat whole morning ride, was very satisfying.  First the barasinghas, then the vultures, and the excitement of a possible hidden tiger in the grass.  Our guide was one D P Patel, an older, paan-chewing veteran, while our driver Amandeep Singh was the opposite - a greenhorn in his first week of work!

On the evening ride that day, the skies opened up, and we were all completely wet and soaked as the open jeeps provided no protection.  The guides took us for temporary shelter to a forest camp.  It was quite a awe-inspiring sight to see lightning streak all the way down to the horizon, lighting up a tree in a flash of light, before finishing in a murderous clap of thunder.

Once the rain slowed into a steady drizzle, we returned in the jeeps, wet, cold but in high spirits.  One more pant down, wet and smelly.  To add to the sambar-filled pant of the journey.

Only one left for another 3 days.... who wants to wash clothes in Kanha?  I hoped it would not come to that!

Continued in Tiger Tales.

A jewel in the jungle

After all these long years in Madras, I can finally say that I've visited the Guindy National Park. Not the snake park or the children's park, but the protected reserve behind a locked gate.

Sunday evening and Banumathi of MNS took a bunch of 15 of us into the park. The basics of nature walking - silence, dull clothes and a keen eye.

This beautiful antigonon spray greeted us on our entry. Its a lovely creeper, and commonly called Coral Vine. I believe there's a white variety, which I have not come across. This pink variety is all over the KFI school walls, Blue Cross and various large estates in south Madras.

I learnt about the difference between a bug and a beetle - the bug sucks and the beetle chews. Saw some great looking insects - the jewel bug, the green link spider, the flightless grasshopper, and other creepy crawlies. Some parakeets, posed for us, as also the coppersmith barbets.

One of the high points was definitely coming across this little marvel called the jewel bug. It was a real beauty, its colours glitterring in the sun. Belongs to the Scutelleridae family.

Learnt that bugs like this "suck", while beetles chew!

One learns something new everyday.....

Frog spawn - oh I thought it was a rossogolla - star tortoises, and the endangered black buck. What kind of strange human beings could shoot these magnificent and handsome creatures?

Ate wild berries, worked up a good sweat, and was in the heart of south Madras without the sound of a bus, or a crow. The big aeroplanes though roared by at regular intervals, startling the fawn and gambolling deer.