Call Of The Wild

Many sancturies have been established in various parts of the country to save the wildlife of India which includes at least 500 species of mammals, more than 2,000 species of birds and some 30,000 types of insects. India has more kinds of deer than 2,000 species of birds and some 30,000 types of insects. India has more kinds of deer than any other country and a large variety of casts, among them the magnificent tiger, the majestic lion and the beautiful snow leopard.

Wildlife is to be founded in pockets of nonurbanised and uncultivated areas all over the vast country-in the high mountains of the Himalayas, the tropical peninsula, the desert of Rajasthan and the backwaters and the swamps on the plains. Several national parks and more than an hundred wildlife sancturies have been constituted, of which the following is a selection (in alphabetical order).

BANDIPUR, in Karnataka, is an ideal place to see and photograph wild elephants and guar and herds of chital. Eighty kilometres from Mysore (220 kms from Bangalore) Bandipur has an unusually long visiting season, from Jan uary till the end of June and in September-October. One can hire a seat in a van or take an elephant ride.

CORBETT NATIONAL PARK, named after the wildlife enthusiast, is tha best known of several sanctuaries which exist in the sub-Himalayan stretch of Uttar Pradesh. Covering 325 sq.kms in the Himalayan foothills, corbett Park is a tiger reserve and is about six hours by car from Delhi. Elephants and herds of chital are to be found in large numbers and there are huge tortoises in the Ramganga river which flows through the Park. Visiting season November to May.

DACHIGAM, in Kashmir, was originally a royal game preserve and is close to the State Capital city of Srinagar. Only a part of the journey can be done by car, and one has to trek or ride a pony to view the Kashmir stag, the Himalayan brown bear and musk deer. Dachigam is suited for visits only during the months of June and July.

GIR, in Gujarat, is the only home of the Asiatic lion. The lion, which had a wide range from West Asia to Northern India for thousands of years has been successfully saved only in the Gir national park which is 1300 sq kms in area. Gir also hold leopards, nilgiri, chinkara, sambar, chital and pig and the unique chowsingha-the four honed antelope. This buck is the only animal in the world which has four horns, and the doe is hornless. The gir season is long, from october to June, and the park is reached by rail or orad from Ahmadabad via Veraval.

HAZARIBAGH, in Bihar, on the Delhi Calcutta railway route and 100 kms by road from Ranchi, houses more herds of sambar than any other natural park of its size. Nilgai, chital and an occassional leopard or tiger can also be seen in the undualating hills of Hazaribagh. Best time for a visit February and March, when the early spring covers the area with fresh green.

JAIDAPARA, in West Bengal, is amid a tall Himalayan forest along the river Torsa, just below the kingdom of Bhutan. One hundred sq kms of great forests and tall grass contain a variety of monkeys, tiger, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros and hog deer. It has also a rich bird life. About 150 kms by road from Bagdora.

KAZIRANGA, in Assam, is famous for the 'living fossil' the Indian rhinoceros, its armoured coat and three ton body. About 400 of them roam the left bank of the Brahamaputra, wallowing in the muddy ponds or grazing in wide meadows of grass tall enough to hide a wild elephant. The elephant is the only mode of transport within the sanctuary to approach the rhinocerors, although there are some roads. The viewing is February to May and one drives up to Kaziranga from Gauhati or Jorhat.

KANHA, in Madhya Pradesh, a 250 kms sanctuary is specially known for its tiger and chital. It is one of the richest faunal areas of the country and until some years ago was a hunters paradise. Now it is tiger reserve under Project Tiger. The main motive to set up this sanctuary in 1955 was to save the barasingha deer from extinction. The visiting season is from February to May and one can reach the sanctuary from Jabalpur or Nagpur.

MANAS, in Assam, is about 175 kms from Gauhati and consists of 270 sq. kms of riverian forests abundant in langur, elephat, wild buffalo, swamp deer and sambar Rhinoceros and tiger may also be seen. The brief season is from January to March.

MUDUMALAI, in Tamil Nadu, is conguous with the Bandipur sanctuary in Karnataka, and has two distinct visiting seasons, February to May and September to October. In Summer, the forests are leafless and visibility good to sight the leopard, giant squirrel on tree-deer and pig and a number of monkeys. In September-October. The sanctuary is smothered in tall grass and large herds of elephants and chital can be seen. Mudumalai is about 100 kms from Mysore and 64 kms Ootacamund.

PALAMAU, in Hihar, is about 150 kms by road from Ranchi and is a comparatively small preserve of 26 sq kms in paratively small preserve of 26 sq. kms in which one can sight the rhesus, the common langue, tiger, leopard, jungle cat, sambar, chital and nilgai. There are special watchtowers and protected ground-sites for photographers. The season is brief, February and March.

PERIYAR, in Kerala, sprawling over 700 sq.kms is the best place to watch and photograph wild elephants. visitors travel around the lake and from the safety of the boat witness herds of wild elephants coming down to water and swim. It is here that one can study the intimate aspects of an elephant's life. The season is from February to May, before the south-west monsoon starts. The periyar sanctuary is well-connected by road and is about 200 kms from Cochin.

SARISKA, in Rajasthan, is about 200 kms from Delhi on the way to Jaipur, and harbours tiger, leopard, sambar and chital. Best time for visits, February to June.

SAWAI MADHOPUR, in Rajasthan has a November-to-May visiting season and sambar and nilgai are the main features on this sanctuary in the Vindhya Ranges, It is about 160 kms from Jaipur.

SHIVPURI, in Madhya Pradesh, is a national park extending over 160 sq.kms and was originally the game preserve of the Maharajas of Gwalior and renowned for its tigers. The main animals now in abundance are sambar, chital, nilgai, chingara and chowsingha. The season lasts from February to May and the sanctuary is easily accessible from Gwalior.

TADOBA, in Maharashtra, is a natural teak forest around a lake. The ideal time to visit this park is summer when the forest pools dry up and the animals come down to the Tadoba lake.

For those who do not have the temperament or the stamina to go out to watch wildlife in the sancturaries, the zoo in Trivandrum, Kerala, offers a show of animals in their natural habit. Other attractive zoos are to be found in Delhi, Mysore, Hyderabad, Baroda, Bomaby and Calcutta.