Going wild in India
Nature has umpteen treasures waiting to be discovered. Wildlife tourism is one of the finest ways to spread both appreciation and concern for nature among our people. |
The bird made several trips from its fragile perch on the thin creeper to the trickle of water oozing from a green grotto that had been carved by nature out of hard rock. If someone had taken the bird and dipped it into different colour ink pots, it could not have come out looking more colourful than it already was! I had to pinch myself to confirm that I was not dreaming for before me was one of nature’s tiny avian miracles... Mrs. Gould’s Sunbird. We were on the return leg of a five-day trek through the Great Himalayan National Park in Himachal Pradesh. Tired and happy, for the 100th time I asked myself why I wasted my life living in polluted Mumbai, when I should be spending each moment in places such as this.
India is many countries rolled up in one. Not because of its size, but because of its diversity. Rainforests, swamps, leafy glades, scrub, desert and snow-capped mountains; all are accessible to those who care to venture out. We quite literally have it all.
When the plains heat up... there can be no better place to escape to than the exquisite Himalayan havens. Ladakh, Garhwal, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh are all dotted with sanctuaries and national parks of indescribable beauty. Here black bear, pheasants, deer and carnivores cling on to a fragile existence in a world decorated by orchids and towering peaks. At the foot-hills of the Himalayas are located sanctuaries such as Dudhwa and Corbett. These forests provide us with a glimpse of prehistory. Undisturbed for centuries, nature manages the grasslands, glades and watercourses in the virgin wilderness with magnificent efficiency. The north-east of India which extends east of Rangoon in places, is a world of creepers, lianas, ferns and ever-damp forests. Namdapha in Arunachal, for instance, boasts of four major cat predators — the tiger, leopard, clouded leopard and that grey ghost of the Himalaya, the snow leopard. In Kaziranga and Manas in Assam, visitors can still see one-horned rhinos, elephants and wild buffalo.
The Sundarbans in West Bengal harbours the greatest concentration of mangrove forests, and tigers, in the world. Here in the tangle of mangrove roots, a unique mid-world between sea and land can be observed from boats, which glide through muddy estuaries. Reptiles, including the salt-water crocodile and mudskippers — fish that climb trees — are among the many wonders of this remote paradise. For a taste of Kipling country, visit Madhya Pradesh. Kanha and Bandhavgarh provide among the finest wildlife experiences available on earth. In Kanha, the hardground barasingha, has been saved from the jaws of extinction, thanks to the protection afforded to the forest by Project Tiger.
In Karnataka, forests such as Nagarahole and Bandipur, where grey jungle fowl announce the start of each day, are well known and well visited. In summer when leaves are shed, the forest floor is particularly vulnerable to fire and carelessness on the part of tourists can be very dangerous. Tamil Nadu possesses some of the least discovered wildlife destinations in India. The Ananmalais, Kalakad, Mundanthurai, the Nilgiri Tahr sanctuary and Point Calimere can provide unending delight and a variety of experiences to nature enthusiasts. Here it is possible to see the lion tailed macaques, tahr, tigers, leopards, elephants and a bewildering variety of bird life. Wildlife tourism is one of the finest ways to spread both appreciation and concern for nature among our people. It is a pity more Indians do not take the trouble to visit these natural havens and acquaint themselves with the fascinating world that awaits discovery.
Credit: Sanctuary Features
Bittu Sahgal
Editor, Sanctuary magazine