Tumakuru's Environment & Heritage Issues

Dear nature lovers, Many of you might have heard about the Slender Loris' of Nagavalli village near Tumakuru City. This place is a story of the tireless efforts of BV Gundappa, a school teacher and the current Chairman of Tumkur -based conservation group Wildlife Aware Nature Club (WANC), to conserve wildlife of our eastern plains. An article on this place by Amit S Upadhye, who is doing a wonderful job of covering wildlife stories in the mainstream media, was published in The Times of India. The story reminds us of the rich bio-diversity of the much neglected eastern Karnataka, like Kaggaladu Heronry, Jayamangali (Maidenahalli) Blackbuck area, Devarayanadurga State forest and numoerous other places of spectacular wilderness which lie outside the Western Ghats and also need the Government's focus. In conservation, Ameen Ameen Ahmed WANC, Tumkur PS: For those interested in emailing Mr.Gundappa, unfortunately he doesn't currently have access to internet at his home : (...

Dear friends, A wild tiger has been sighted near Holalkere in south-interior Karnataka's Chitradurga District after nearly 60 years (or 35 ?) years. Please click here to see a satellite image of the area on Google maps. Some of the stories as they appeared in the press are on this page.  So, did this tigress come from south-west of Chitradurga via Joldala from the north-eastern portion of Bhadra Tiger Reserve? Or did it do so from the south-east of Chitradurga via the huge forest belt along the Tumkur - Chitradurga district borders. This sighting may fuel the controversy that Tigers might just be surviving in the forests of Mari Kanive State Forest (Chitradurga District) - Bukkapatna State Forest (Tumkur District). Or is it that the tiger population of Bhadra Tiger Reserve has increased beyond its carrying capacity driving young tigers like these out of its boundaries?  But the biggest question is, are tigers (like leopards) adapting to so called "big prey-depleted"...

Background Devarayanadurga state forest (DDSF) has seen many changes in its boundaries since it first got protection status by the British, way back in 1853. When it finally got notified in 1907 as a Reserve Forest, for unknown reasons, some parts of the forest were excluded from its official boundaries. These are chiefly the slopes along the periphery of state forest’s hills. These have been under control of the state's revenue department but protected by the forest department. Proposed 'Devarayanadurga East Yellow-throated Bulbul' Conservation Reserve in relation to Devarayanadurga State Forest (sketched from Survey of India sheet No:57 G/3, Scale 1:50,000) Ameen Ahmed, March 2008 Wildlife India's largest butterfly, over 250 bird species, some of India's most beautiful mammals and snakes, all live in DDSF and its surrounding revenue forests. The Yellowthroated Bulbul (Pycnonotus xantholaemus) , endemic to interior peninsular India and categorised as 'Vulnerab...

Yellowthroated Bulbul: A new home to secure the future of this exclusively 'Indian' bulbul. Pic: Clement Francis ----------Quote--------- Saving the bulbul's home Amit S Upadhye TNN Bangalore: In 1906, when the British government notified a 42.27-sqkm forest patch on the hills along east Tumkur district as Devarayanadurga state forest, it left out 6 sqkm abutting it. Over a hundred years later, the patch is now getting its due, with conservationists formulating a proposal to declare it a yellow-throated bulbul conservation reserve. The area is a nesting ground for these winged beauties, apart from being home to sloth bears and leopards. On World Forestry Day recently, researchers from the Indian Institute of Science, members of the Wildlife Aware Nature Club (WANC), Tumkur, and forest department sleuths began a two-day survey of the patch, which is categorized as southern thorny scrub forest. The forest department will formulate the proposal based on the study re...

Dear WANCers, The Tigers of Devarayanadurga have always haunted nature lovers visiting this place so as many of our 'Tiger Conservationists'. The later deny their existence or attribute them to captive tigers being released by travelling circuses or others. What ever the truth is, the tigers of Devarayanadurga don't seem to go away as quickly as our 'tiger conservationists' want them to. Please read the latest 'sighting' below. Thanks, Ameen ----------------------------------- Tigress with two cubs spotted in Devarayanadurga State Forest 20th February 2008 : Early morning by 00.30 hrs ie., 19th midnight (at 12.30am) Assistant Conservator of Forests, Tumkur Sub-Division Sri T V Srinivas and Range Forest Officer, Tumkur Range Sri. M N Naik along with a guard Ganganna K C, spotted a Tigress with two cubs near Shanimahatma Temple and Ganesh Temple along Belagumba - Oordigere road inside Devarayanadurga state forest. They were returning back to Tumkur from ...

Dear friends, We saw a pair of Yellowthoated Sparrows in Devarayanadurga State Forest today (Sunday, 17 Feb. 2008) during an outing by WANC members. This was about a kilometre to the east of Namadachelume at the foot of Devarayanadurga hill, immediately after the Durgadahalli/Goravanahalli temple cross. The birds were perched at the top of a Ficus bengalensis tree and we could see them for about 7 - 8 minutes. Below are some pictures taken with a Canon A95 digital camera through a spotting scope. We were not able to take a picture with the male showing the yellow patch on its throat as it (the male) had turned its face away through the sighting. It is worth remembering that the only sighting of a YTS in DD was by Dr.Salim Ali 69 years ago. This was way back in 1939, during his survey of the birds of erstwhile state of Mysore. Most birders had thought the bird to be locally extinct. This is another reason to conserve Devaryanadurga's jungles.