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Praveen aimed the D100 as soon as he spotted the wild boars, big sturdy ones and small shy ones, grazing on the wayside. He has not come across such a large sounder of boars in his years as a wildlife photographer. Tiny eyes above fatal tusks watched the intruders uneasily. As Praveen moved the car forward for a better view, tiny boars ran to their parents. Slowly the sounder vanished behind the undergrowth.

Where gaur and bear rule

Don Sebastian
2007-03-08 19:31:45

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Praveen aimed the D100 as soon as he spotted the wild boars, big sturdy ones and small shy ones, grazing on the wayside. He has not come across such a large sounder of boars in his years as a wildlife photographer. Tiny eyes above fatal tusks watched the intruders uneasily. As Praveen moved the car forward for a better view, tiny boars ran to their parents. Slowly the sounder vanished behind the undergrowth.

The first creature to greet us inside Top Slip sanctuary was a common langur. Peacocks, eagles and bonnet macaques followed before we reached the entrance to Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary. This forest division of Kerala can be accessed only through the forestland in Tamil Nadu. After two check posts put up by Tamil Nadu and one by Kerala, we enter the 285-sq kilometre forest division.

S Babu, an eco-guide, joins us. The forest department has made it mandatory to depute a guide to each private vehicle venturing into the forest after a few reveling parties ended in tragedy. Before we go deeper, we eat at a canteen run by the tribesmen on the premises, which house the divisional forest office and other buildings. Today, they didn't go
fishing in the dam. But curd was fresh and refreshing.

On the way, we check elephant droppings. Babu says it is two days old. You have to be lucky to spot animals, he adds. We stop by a large lake. It is the catchment area of Thoonakadavu dam, one of the two reservoirs inside the forest division. An old contract gives Tamil Nadu the rights over the water bodies and the pumping stations while the land belongs to Kerala. But right of way belongs to animals, a board reads.

Monsoon, with all the rain, slush and greenery, is not a good time to visit the sanctuary. Animals are comfortably tucked away in their hideouts. In summer, adds Babu, all animals would converge at the few watering holes, where crocodiles and elephants see eye to eye. The lakeside bamboo cottage would be the perfect place ...