The Koppal Habitat - An Immensely Grounding Experience - I

By Tharangini

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Part I

The warm Wednesday afternoon had just transformed into a cool comfortable and almost chill evening. Entering into Hagedhal as guests of Indrajit Ghorpade in his farmhouse, the first thought was to breathe in and store as much oxygen as  possible during the couple of days we were going to be there. 

We were here to learn a bit about Koppal, the precious inmates of this unique habitat and the efforts of Indrajit Ghorpade and his DCF (Deccan Conservation Foundation) team in their conservation efforts to protect the region.

After being welcomed by Durganna and Suraj, a nice warm dinner of local North Karnataka cuisine  awaited our hungry stomachs. The dinner was outdoors, set to an orchestra of a thousand insects under the shimmering night sky. Warm food, chill evening breeze, a sea of stars, music of nature - I was in the embrace of heaven for sure. The enamor  of the night sky and the entire ambience took my breath away even as the others chatted. This was the perfect recipe to get grounded and connect with mother earth.

Left to myself I would have basked in this beauty all night long, but an early morning agenda awaited us and we had to be up and ready by 5:45am. Though I had kept the alarm for around 5am,  Shyamu the sweet pooch and self appointed guardian of the entire area decided to get into a long drawn argument with a visiting Langoor ensuring that all of us were up and awake by 4am itself.

"Seriously? Three days in Koppal??? There is nothing there, just chillies and rocks." This was the reaction I had received when I had first mentioned about my visit to others. But as our guided tour began after a nice warm cup of tea our fascination, enchantment and sheer respect for this amazing place grew along with the day. The whole misconception of just chillies and rocks was laid to rest in no time.

Suraj and Durganna both experts in the flora, fauna and the secrets of the terrain were in-charge of guiding and educating us during our stay there. Durganna with his keen eyes, humble nature and an expertise that spanned over 3 decades was a treasure house of knowledge. Suraj's passion for the place also proved in good stead in his position as the DCF  project manager. Even as  they spoke, their love and pride for this beautiful region was evident.

An Indian Eagle Owl gets ready to
roost at Mandalmari Village

Our first stop was in Mandalmari village. A small waterhole that has been dug up by the DCF served as the main source of drinking water to the local four legged residents of the region. During the hot and arid summer months DCF ensures it stays filled thus ensuring regular visits by jackals, foxes, wolves, jungle cats, spotted cats, civets, porcupines, pangolins etc. There have been instances of even leopards visiting this source of water.

Camera traps  are strategically placed and well hidden to track their movements. It took me a while to notice these  cameras  and I cringed inwardly wondering how many profiles of mine would have been clicked as I paraded in front of them while checking out the water hole. I made it a point to steer clear of the other camera traps, to avoid competing with the naturally photogenic models.

A view of Yallapankallu, home to
canines and cats alike - a rare feature

Porcupine quills and wolf scat gave indication of the recent visitors to the area. The sighting of the Indian gray wolf and hyena in this region after a span of over 20 years by Indrajit had given a whole new twist to the sheer possibilities of the kind of wild life here and a new purpose to the DCF.

From Mandalmari we moved to Yellapankallu, which is considered the apartment housing complex for these animals. 'Fighting like cats and dogs' was an unknown phrase here since this rocky place has the unique distinction of housing both the canine and the cat family in its various levels.

A very highly agile Suraj and Durganna swiftly moved to the top of the rocks after ensuring the inmates are not home and would not be disturbed. I scrambled along,  lugging my camera, making a mental note to work out more after the trip. A recently dug out jackal den with paw prints on the outside and a newly burrowed fox den clearly indicated they had been around recently. The penthouse area on the top of the rocks belonged to the jungle cats. We were not fortunate enough to see them ourselves. Koppal was not yet ready to share her secrets with us. But just imagining the rich life this single rock structure supported was a rewarding experience.

Ruddy Shelducks basking leisurely at Talur lake

With the sun rising further into the sky we decided to make another quick stop at the Talur lake before breakfast ignoring all screams for mercy by our poor stomachs. A couple of Ruddy Shelducks were basking lazily in the water. Some egrets, ibis and painted storks sat on a mound having their own meeting.

"The bar headed geese were here just yesterday", said Durganna. Suraj's amazing slow motion footage of the geese in flight supported the claim totally and I was trying very hard to hide my disappointment, wondering how these beautiful creatures always found a way to disappear a day before I got there. What pacified me was the beauty, calmness and the cool breeze. Most importantly, I was enjoying the absolute peace and silence in the area, far away from the city din.

A well set snare at Talur lake to capture
visiting birds. Notice the few corns laid
out as a lure.

Another snare laid to catch the unfortunate inmate
 after blocking all other routes of escape and
smoking the animal out.

We also got to witness the unfortunate downside of having these beautiful creatures in this area. Rampant poaching by locals poses a huge threat to the wildlife population. An incredibly clever trap  was set to capture the geese and other birds. The brain behind this trap was a genius no doubt, which sadly  was being used for detrimental causes.

We got a detailed know-how of the trap's mechanism before Durganna ensured it was completely dismantled. In other places we also got to witness the utter cruelty with which the dens were blocked and animals were smoked out where they got ensnared. The blockages to these dens are routinely removed by the DCF during regular patrols, but it is a challenging task to keep up with the number of traps that emerge on a daily basis.

By now our stomachs were protesting audibly. It was almost noon and we had so much more in our agenda left to be seen. But that did not deter us from spending another half hour with the Lambanis (click here for the Lambani story) before heading back.

Finally after the most incredible breakfast of poha with bajjis and upma, our stomachs were finally pacified and decided to forgive us.

Meet us in Part 2 (Click Here) for post breakfast session in this incredible place.

Location map: