Bhadra Forests - In Its Full Bloom

By Meera

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Any visit to the hill district of Chikkamagaluru is incomplete if one does not catch a glimpse of the Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary (also a tiger reserve) which is home to big as well as small animals including tigers, leopards, elephants, gaurs, deers and a host of other species. I not only wanted to see the Sanctuary through the eyes of noted wildlife conservationist D V Girish but also wanted to understand and imbibe what went behind Bhadra’s conservation all these decades. Girish picked me and Tharangini from our hotel in Chikkamagaluru town at 5.15 am on a pleasant morning in the month of January.

Surrounded by hill ranges, Bhadra in its verdant beauty

Even as we left Chikkamagaluru, I noticed the town was no longer the cool and cold place as it once was. The entire five square kilometer area has lost its tree cover under the guise of development.  Imagine even in January, it was hotter than Bengaluru and added to it - lot of roads had been widened without any thought given to sustainable living.

The entrance to the reserve

We traveled for about 32 kilometers to  gain an entry from Muthodi which is the gateway to Bhadra. The sojourn unfolded a scenic route abounding with coffee estates but involving a lot of bumps and twists. Listening to the details of rejuvenation in the last few decades and the many development works taking place around Bhadra that Girish related very lucidly - I knew it was just the tip of the iceberg.

On the way we saw the Muthodi road being widened which in fact had sunk on one side. This is a road surrounded by coffee estates and quaint farm houses and we reached the Muthodi gate at about 6.15 am. Then in no time we boarded the forest department’s safari vehicle which is not only sturdy and but also gives a clear panoramic view of the sanctuary in all its colors and hues.

The abundance of trees and deers
and the forest floor covered in vegetation

As we took a peek of the forest swashed in the morning colors with its floor littered with a thick vegetation, one could feel the heavy moisture content in the air. Walking on this made a heartwarming and crunching sound. The air in the forest was pure and filled with the unique aroma of its flora and fauna. Standing tall, the bamboo which has regenerated as also the various tree species - it spoke how nature has revived and how it has bounced back after lot of human disturbances.

The path through the forest

As we traveled winding across many known pathways, the forest in the interiors was drenched in the morning dew amid the cool rays of the sun. Like a lyric, the ‘untouched’ landscape reverberated with the melody of innumerable bird calls and the rustling sound of the forest. We were fortunate to see the fresh pug marks of a tiger while the dung of various mammals could be seen here and there. The fresh elephant droppings on one pathway showed we had just missed its majestic animal while the dung contents revealed how it was a natural pollinator and there was no need for man to interfere in the natural process of forest regeneration.

Bamboo regeneration

These sightings warmed my heart while it was necessary to see the regeneration of bamboo in a habitat that has taken a beating in the last few decades. But I was glad to see it had consolidated and overcome the disturbance from human settlements inside the sanctuary. In fact, even after the formation of Bhadra Sanctuary, it provided a home to hundreds of families who worked here and tilled their lands but struggled to send their children to schools outside the protected area.

However, after voluntary relocation efforts by the forest department, NGOs and conservationists, they have moved out of their homes for good after getting a suitable compensation package. It was not an easy task as it took years to convince them to leave the space for wildlife and its habitat, informed Girish. As we traversed to take a closer look at the varying scenario – we saw the natural regeneration of bamboo in many places.

A gushing tributary of the Bhadra River

Crisscrossing the various tributaries of River Bhadra in its full flow gave me utter happiness and satisfaction. I thanked those people known and unknown who have toiled for years to protect this habitat which is a mix of dry and moist deciduous forests. "This is all because of 20 years of rejuvenation," informed Girish while the Sanctuary is well soaked in the waters of Somavahini, Hebbehalla and Thadbehalla. These are good primary forests and they are not in patches. Bamboo extraction has reduced as once even dead and fallen trees were removed. But all those things are now resolved while to get a 'full view' of the Bhadra, one has to go to the old IB on a hilltop. This view is unbelievable as one is wonder struck at the thickness of the jungles and it reminded me of the Amazon forests.

A building wall left alone and depicting the earlier human settlements

The 13 villages which once existed here cannot be seen except maybe a small wall in one corner of the land that is now full of vegetation. With lot of rare and endemic species abounding in this protected area it was not surprising to know that more than 30 tigers live and breed here. An undulating and beautiful landscape with heights ranging from 2500 to 6500 feet, all these years, it has provided a permanent home to many an endemic species which are unique to Western Ghats.

A Sambar deer peers through the thick forest clutter

Let’s hope it remains pure and verdant in the years to come so that our future generations can see for themselves how a forest should be left to its own devices and not interfere with its life-cycle.

How To Get There:
Bhadra Wildlife Sanctuary is just 40 kms away from Chikkamagaluru town in Karnataka, India. One of the richest forest habitats in Western Ghats, Bhadra’s biodiversity can be seen in Muthodi by taking either the morning (6.30-8.30 am)  or the evening (4.30-6.30 pm) safari organized by the forest department.

For another special feature of this beautiful forest click here:

Location map: