Nagarahole
Nagarahole National Park
 

NAGARAHOLE NATIONAL PARK

   
 
The Nagarahole National Park, 644 sq km in size, is situated in the Coorg and Mysore districts of Karnataka State in Southern India. (11 50 to 12 15 North latitude and 76 to 76 15 East longitude). It encompasses the area where the Western Ghats integrate with the Deccan Plateau. It is flanked by the Bandipur National Park to
the south-east and the Wynad Wild Life Sanctuary to
the south-west. Together with these parks, it forms
part of the larger Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which has
a total area of 5500 sq km.
Nagarahole has an elevation between 700 m and 960 m with the Masal Betta peak being the highest point and
the Kabini River being the lowest. The soils are generally red sandy loam. Mean monthly temperatures range between 20o C to 27o C with a maximum of 35o C and
a minimum of 10o C. It receives an average rainfall
of 1000 to 1500 mm annually and the seasons can be broadly divided into the wet, cool, and dry with the wet season extending from June to September, the cool season from October to January and the dry season from February to May.
Nagarahole was ruled by the Lingayath kings of Kodagu and their feudatories until the British colonial administration established hegemony in the 1850s after the defeat of Tipu Sultan of Mysore. The presence
of derelict irrigation tanks suggests that there were agricultural enclaves within the forested landscape. While the Lingayat kings maintained nominal control,
the forests were considered common property and swidden agriculture and collection of forest produce
by the tribes residing within the forested landscape was widespread. The colonial administration established
the Forest Department in 1860 with a mandate to restrict forest burning, control swidden agriculture, prevent agricultural encroachments, carry out sustainable harvest of timber and to raise teak plantations. From
the 1890s the forests were gradually demarcated and notified as government owned reserved forests.
After Indian independence, the Government of India laid great emphasis on the production of food and harvesting of timber, which led to the importation and settlement
of tribal and non- tribal groups to the Hadlus or swampy clearings, to provide cheap labour for forestry operations and for the cultivation of rice. In 1955 a 285 sq km area was gazeted as the Nagarahole Game Sanctuary. The same was extended in 1974 with some reserved forests from the Mysore district being added
to bring the total area to the present 644 sq km. This  was accorded the status of a National Park in 1983.
The Brahmagiri hill range provides a backdrop to the park and the park has gently undulating terrain crisscrossed by many rivers and streams. The Kabini River is the major river draining the park with the Nagarahole River lending its name to the park. The other rivers of note are the Lakshmana Theertha, the Taraka, the Hebba Halla and the Sarathi.
The vegetation in Nagarahole reflects the distribution
of rainfall over the park. The eastern parts of the park receive less rainfall with a gradual increase to the middle and western parts of the parks. The two broad forest types that dominate the park are the moist-deciduous, where the annual rainfall exceeds 1000 mm and dry-deciduous where the rainfall is lower. Substantial areas were clear felled and monocultures of teak raised, where these plantations failed secondary forests have taken over. There are also various microhabitat types such as Hadlus, which are shallow clayey valley bottoms that contain swamp savannas and short grass clearings or veiwlines created to facilitate game viewing for the tourists. There are scrub type forests wherever there is a problem of rampant cattle grazing and fires.
The moist–deciduous forest type has been classified
as Lagerstroemia Microcarpa-Tectona Grandis-Dillenia Pentagyna series. These areas have a 25 to 30 m high upper tree canopy dominated by Terminalia Tomentosa, Sterospermum Chelenoides, Tectona Grandis, Largerstroemia Microcarpa and Syzigum Cuminii. The lower story is dominated by Kydia Calycina, Dillenia Pentagyra, Cassia Fistula, Wrightia Tinctoria and Randia species.
The dry-deciduous forest type has been classified as Anogeissus Latifolia-Tectonia Grandis-Terminalia Tomentosa series. The upper tree canopy is much lower than that of the moist type with a barely discernable lower tree canopy.
There is a heavy undergrowth dominated by native shrubs like Cipadessa Baccifera, Helectersis Isora and Adrissa Humilis as well as by exotic invaders like Lantana Camora and Chromolaena Odorata.
Wet and disturbed sites are dominated by the bamboo Bambusa Arundica and the Hadlus contain a variety
of grasses and sedges.
The Kabini River was dammed in 1974 for an irrigations project, which resulted in the submergence of large tracts of forests and the creation of a huge lake, parts
of which are within the national park. During the dry season, water is let out for irrigation and the lake dries out leaving only the main river visible. The resulting open plain created supports an abundance of fresh grass more reminiscent of African savanna than tropical India. This unique microhabitat has proved to be a boom for
the park, providing fresh grass when the rest of the park
is drying out.
The Nagarahole ecosystem supports the highest density of herbivores anywhere in south-east Asia. Studies carried out in Nagarahole show that the estimated mean number of large herbivores in Nagarahole is 108 animals per sq km. Large herbivores are defined as ungulates and primates weighing more than 5 kgs and in Nagarahole these comprise of – Muntjak, Chital, Sambar, Four-hourned Antelope, Gaur, Wild pig, Asian Elephant, Common Langur and the Bonnet Macaque. This translates into a biomass of 14746 kgs per sq km. This
is comparable to the Mara in Africa, which has
a biomass of 19200 kgs.
Of these herbivores the Chital, Sambar, Gaur, Wild pig, Muntjak and Common Langur are preyed upon by the Tiger, Leopard and Wild dog. In fact, they compromise 98%, 90% and 97% of the total biomass killed by the Tiger, Leopard and Wild dog respectively. These herbivores are classified as principle prey species and occur at an estimated mean density of 91 animals per sq km. The prey species can be further divided on the basis of body weight into small (Langur, young Chital and Young Pig), medium (Yearling and Adult Chital, Adult Pig, Young Sambar and Young Gaur), and large (Adult Sambar and Adult Gaur) and studies show that Tigers preferentially selected large prey, Leopard medium and small prey and the Wild Dog medium prey. Because
the availability of prey in the appropriate size class is not a limiting resource in Nagarahole, selective predation has facilitated large carnivore co-existence in the park.
There is complete spatial overlap of areas used by these three predators in Nagarahole. Studies showed that all three species used the same space. While data suggest that both the Tiger and the Dholes are socially dominant over the Leopard there is no evidence for spatial exclusion of Leopards through behavioral dominance. However, there is some degree of temporal separation of hunting activity between the Felids and Dholes, which are largely governed, by the activities of their principal prey species and the coursing hunting technique of the Dholes. It appears that in Nagarahole temporal activity patterns of the three predators are driven primarily by prey activity rather than the need to avoid each other. Because of the dense cover and high tree density,
the need to defend kills from other predators is not
a major factor in inter-specific relationships thus further facilitating large predator coexistence in Nagarahole.
The principal reasons for large carnivore coexistence
in Nagarahole vis-à-vis the African Savanna are ecological factors such as adequate availability
of appropriate sized prey, dense cover and tree density which is absent in the African Savanna and the fact
that behavioral factors such as habitat specificity, choice of hunting sites or inter-specific dominance play
a relatively minor role in Nagarahole.
The Nagarahole National Park is divided into seven ranges for administrative purposes. The seven ranges of Nagarahole are Anechowkoor Wildlife Range (Old Arikeri Reserved Forest), Veeranahosalli Wildlife Range (Old Veerananhosalli State Forest), Mettikuppe Wildlife Range (Old Mettikuppe State Forest), Antarasante Wildlife Range (also Old Mettikuppe State Forest), B.B. Kuppe Wildlife Range (Old Kakankaote State Forest), Kallahalla Wildlife Range (Old Hatgat Reserved Forest) and Nagarahole Wildlife Range (Old Nalkeri Reserves Forest).
The administrative structure is as follows: Field Director Project Tiger - Deputy Conservator of Forests - Assistant Conservator of Forests – Range Forest Officer – Forester – Forest Guard.
Within a 10 km radius of the park there is a human population of approximately 120000, which translates into a density of 200 people per sq km. Therefore, the park is much like an island surrounded by a sea of humanity constantly lashing at its shores. It is up to us
to decide whether we should subject Nagarahole to
the savageries of a market driven world or if we should treat it as a shrine to be revered and protected for future generations to pay obedience and find salvation.