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Beyond Ranthambhore
Kailadevi is a little known but vital addition to Ranthambhore conservation area
It was winter, and Ranthambhore National Park was awash in pink and mauve.
The entire scene in front of me was a magnificent painting in pointillism, dotted by the small, round leaves of the dhok trees. The entire ground too was heaped with the dots.
Magic happens when stripes rise out of the dots, and the world’s most charismatic carnivore boldly pads through the woods, stops to take a long drink at the lake, stalks a chital stag and clambers over a ruin to lie right where the sun is strongest.
In recent times, a lot has gone right with Ranthambhore; thoughtful governance and dedicated individuals have upped the game. One of its main portals, the Sawai Madhopur train station, once decrepit, has been painted from end to end with scenes of local flora and fauna, and it now has the feel of a decorative haveli.
The park has been well protected; its denizens seem unstressed. In a brilliant new scheme, visitors can purchase half day and full day passes, enjoying unhurried sightings. This singular move has increased the revenue from 6 to 30 crores a year, the highest among India’s sanctuaries. Rarely seen before, female rangers are becoming a part of the workforce.
Most notably, vast pockets of wilderness adjoining the core sanctuary are coming under the protection of the forest department, and the expanded habitat is ensuring the successful survival of dispersing tigers and other wildlife.
While Ranthambhore National Park covers 392 sq. km, the greater Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve area, which includes Kailadevi wildlife sanctuary, Sawai Madhopur Wildlife Sanctuary, Sawai Man Singh Wildlife Sanctuary and Qualji game reserve adds up to over 1700 square km.
Conservationists are now visualising corridors that will connect to the wilderness areas of Madhya Pradesh.
KAILADEVI’S LESSERKNOWN SPECIES
Kailadevi, a vast tract of land made of high table land and deep gorges is double the size Ranthambhore, and it became a part of the reserve in 1991. We got word that this is a particularly good place to spot the Indian grey wolf, golden jackal, Bengal fox, whitefooted fox and the Indian striped hyena, and we joined Dharmendra Khandal of Tiger Watch, an NGO, that has devoted his life to protecting these species and their habitat. On a frosty January morning, we made our way from Sawai Madhopur towards Karauli. Passing Tarla and Landawari villages, our jeep mounted the dirt road to the top of a plateau. It was elating to experience the unusual and dramatic topography of a vast, flat plateau dotted with dhok scrub and ber bushes edged with sheer drops into deep gorges.
We watched handfuls of sprightly chinkara antelope bound through the scrub, taking a fanciful leap now and then.
A vast flock of banded geese washed with rare vigour in a lake, splashing the stately Brahminy ducks and a serious looking black stork. A herd of nilgai drank lightly, jerking their heads up now and then at some imagined threat.
Interspersed with the wild creatures were scrawny cows, flocks of goats, rickety village huts bound with thorn fences and people carrying water and dried sticks.
The presence of man is everywhere in this denuded landscape, and the wolves often follow a herd of goats to nab a straggler.
We sighted of a pair of sparring golden jackals, a sandy Bengal fox with a black tipped tail, and just as the sun went down, a wolf came into view.
He was much larger than the other Canidae, and he looked straight at us with captivating, intelligent eyes. We followed him carefully, as he stalked chinkara for a while before jumping over a wall of rocks.
At sundown, we returned to our tented lodge, Sher Bagh where Dharmendra showed us his book, Unexplored Ranthambhore by the fireside and we marvelled at his spectacular images of species we rarely get to see. Even a single day in Kailadevi had put their fragile existence in context.