The Vanishing Wetlands & Swamp Deer in Central India

Vanishing Wetlands a Historical Perspective

The swamp deer at Kanha had to adapt for its survival on the hard rugged ground and it did. It is the only sub-species (c.d.branderi) found in India at Kanha. Also known as the hard ground barasingha due to the development of a hoof little less splayed, unlike its Northern and Eastern Cousins. The deer is an exemplary evolution miracle that saved the animal from an assured extinction. Barasingha is a grassland dweller and avoids dense forests, a graminivore that sometimes adds aquatic plants to its diet. It is an ecologically sensitive herd animal and cannot survive near human habitation with extensive instrusion. The majestic deer is the pride of Kanha National Park and denotes conservation success not the tiger mind you. 

The swamps and marshy grasslands have turned into hard ground due to geological changes over the centuries.  But this is not the end of the story most of the wetlands and marshy grasslands have become extinct due to our lack of understanding of natural lands.  While we have usurped most of the natural lands during human expansion, wetlands and marshy grasslands were overtaken without guilt as we failed to understand their ecological value and labeled them as wastelands. 

The story of abject destruction continues even if we have come to understand the ecological values of these "wastelands". Greed has overtaken ignorance and most coastal cities in India are devouring estuaries, mangroves, lakes, and ponds to name a few. But the takeover of wetlands has not been restricted to coastal areas the destruction has been equal in the case of hinterlands as well where the ravage has been in form of silent encroachment by local industries and agriculture. Brick kilns for example are universally spread across the country thanks to a boom in construction in nearby towns and cities. Such enterprises though seem to be inconsequential are detrimental not only to swamplands but the tropical forests as well. Along with small-scale mining they are overlooked by the authorities as means of subsistence?    

Swamp Deer 

Barasingha 

India is expanding and urbanizing at a rapid pace and dispensations are unable to control intrusion on remaining natural lands comprising great ecological value. In haste, there is no stopping.     

The focal point of this rare and endangered swamp deer is Kanha Tiger Reserve and National Park. The gene pool once spread far and wide, the constriction came due to the geological changes at places, but extensive intrusions, hunting, and poaching have taken a heavy toll on this species. In spite of effective conservation measures, the numbers have risen within the core but the herbivore has not stepped out into the buffer or neighboring forests. This speaks a lot about the absence of wetland ecosystems outside the core. 

In order to spread the pocketed species, the authorities had to translocate a herd to Satpura Tiger Reserve and Van Vihar Safari at Bhopal the capital of Madhya Pradesh.  This is an effective conservation measure against the extinction of species and the gene pool that could likely occur due to disease or a natural calamity. This is the logic behind the conservation of the Asiatic Lion in Gujarat, but parochial loyalties are thwarting the distribution. The predator is susceptible to feline panleukopenia (FPL), a deadly disease capable of wiping out the whole population in an area.  The swamp deer too is susceptible to foot and mouth disease and rinderpest like the gaur. These pathogens can easily be spread by massive livestock populations in the periphery and the buffer. 

Conservation Initiatives 

There were some conservation initiatives taken during British rule. Subsequently, the Halon and Banjar River Valleys were accorded protection post-independence. The valleys now comprise Kanha Tiger Reserve, and the swamp deer thus survived. It was reduced to sixty-plus heads in the sixties whence they were put in an enclosure to ward off predators.  The well-planned tactic by George Schaller et.al worked and the population now stands over 600 heads at present. Incidentally, the deer is one of the components of the prey base of the tiger our National animal. 

Wetland

The red deer may survive for eternity in pockets, but the wetlands outside the protected areas are vanishing and so are many species associated with them. Will these precious ecosystems hitherto neglected be included in conservation planning and accorded protection long due or will the remaining ones die or lose to a suffocating death. For most cities like Mumbai, these are invaluable open spaces that harbor enchanting marine life as well as provide the metro with fresh unpolluted air. We have to thwart all enterprises big and small from their confines including the menacing real estate if the invaluable ecological units have to survive.

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Uday Freelances as Naturalist in Central India. He is an avid birder and tiger enthusiast. He blogs on tigers, wildlife, and birds. He also writes on the environment and conservation.

Uday also provides SEO Services and Website Contents in English. He teaches Digital Marketing in Jabalpur in Summer Holidays.--------Contact: pateluday90@hotmail.com09755089323 

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Kundwara Forests Victim of Agricultural Expansionism

Agriculture in any form in India has never been seen as a malady thanks to teeming uncontrolled population with billion mouths to feed. Its status is akin to the holy cow whether productive or not. The biotic stress is difficult to manage and the environment is crumbling under the pressure.  But little do people realise that the same life saving agrarian benevolence has wreaked havoc on our ecosystems all over the country. 

Agriculture has made inroads into the heart of nature in India and remote places are remote no more, they have been recklessly invaded by humanity completely degrading habitats and wiping off nearly all life forms. The negative impact of encroachment and subsequent land clearance for settlements and urbanization has been further enhanced by large-scale livestock rearing. Both have made rapid strides all over India in order to feed the people and establish local economies. It is time now to increase the productivity of land in an organic manner and free as much land as possible for regeneration by reducing dependence on traditional farming. Even livestock at places are unproductive but weigh down heavily creating biotic pressure. More productive stock and alternative eco-friendly income is the need of the hour.            

                                                            Kundwara Forests 

In my quest for understanding nature in India, I have noted with much sadness the wide-scale loss of our ecosystems and the near extinction of our precious wildlife. This though has not drawn much concern among the people as well as the administrators and politicians to a large extent. Lost habitats with lone trees and past zoo geographical status may find mention here and there but for us, the living suffering from amnesia nothing is lost. But surely whence environmental impacts broil down our throats the absence of precious ecosystems will become conspicuous. 

                                                                Kundwara Rest House

The impact is already in effect due to global warming and pollution. In spite of public outcry, the negative fallout of unplanned development at places has not made any impact. Although this is not happening in remote rural confines the ecosystems are being nipped in the bud by constant abiotic and biotic pressures. Infrastructure development in remote confines is limited but encroachment or stripping of land for economic purposes and settlement albeit slow cannot be ruled out.        

                                                    Brook at Kundwara Forests

Driving down to Kundwara Forest Rest House is one fine way to discover the damage agriculture has brought about. The RH is situated near Baghraji (Bagh=Tiger) a hamlet named after the tiger. And this nomenclature is not due to a fig of imagination, in the past, this destination was full of big cats and diverse wildlife in large extant forests that were part of the Central Indian Highlands. Most of the forests in Central India and elsewhere are pockmarked with settlements and the fallout on surrounding forests is evident. The crown cover is absent and so is the wilderness.  

                                                                           Nursery

Even to the uninitiated, the strip of forest on the hills and its absence in the plains nearby rings an alarm bell, the sordid saga of degradation brought about by humans. Twenty years back I had seen tigers on the descent before the RH. Then throughout the night in the Scary darkness of the Dak Bungalow, I heard the mating calls. The sound made in heaven and the sighting were instrumental in the discovery of tigers where they had lost ground a long time back.       

Kundwara RH is now a hub of picnickers and enthusiasts on nature trails. The romantic British-built RH has been replaced by a modern construction that does not gel with the surroundings. The path leading to the brook in the middle of the forests is good enough for nature walks but the tigers and other animals are missing replaced by a bunch of picnickers and nature lovers. The nearby Laver River was inhabited by marsh crocodiles, pythons, and other aquatic life. This exotic rivulet is devoid of wilderness and completely dependent upon humanity that prevails in the precincts. Spotted Deer though scarce are sometimes visible on the drive and the chinkaras which I used to see often are much scarcer their meat is easily available leading them to near extinction here perhaps. 

"Nothing much here except the chitals," the guard informed me. "Even the tigers you have seen are not here anymore. Migrated perhaps." 

I remember very much the big cats were attracted by the water in the nursery in the summers. A well-armed Thakur from a nearby village used to score the jungles in search of a game. He told me of his escapades whence hunting was not illegal, and for a small fee, VIPs used his services to bring down already beleaguered wildlife. This should have stopped post Wildlife Protection Act 1972 but as he told me he cannot let go of hunting even if it is illegal. I am told he was brought to the book by a vigilant and daring officer. 

Post-booking criminals and wood loggers the administration is often pressurized by local political goons to let go. The brave resist and are subsequently punished by the local politicians reminding us that democracy has not been able to dilute the power of feudal and the local bigwigs. Anyway, the reserve forests notified as such do not hold much clout as the Protected Areas and National Parks do. Belonging to lower conservation rung they are subject to much exploitation, encroachment, and wildlife crimes with the criminal getting away using bribes, using powerful contacts, and the weak laws that prevail.    

Central India abounds in reserve forests beside a few PAs of repute. The reserve forest like Kundwara suffers from neglect even the local nursery beds were rotting with neglect and half-grown plants are left to die without any plantation efforts being made. This is a precious waste of public money and plantation exercise should be conducted only under responsible supervision or not at all.  

Anyway, the RH is well-maintained and the staff is polite and welcoming. A day can be well spent here on holiday and Kundwara is excellent for bird watching. Bring your own food or else ask the staff to cook for you if you have enough rations. The strip of forests will remain and the corridor it forms with other reserve forests and with Bandhavgarh though weak may last for quite some time.   

These rest houses surrounding small eco-units should play an active role in ecotourism in India. Kundwara already popular with tourists could fetch revenue for the development of the nursery, protection of the forests, and upkeep of the RH. The administration should follow suit with RH prevailing in scenic local or eco-units and use them for revenue generation while at the same time dispersing holidaymakers from already crowded tiger reserves.   

Kundware is about forty km from Jabalpur Airport on the Kundum Shahpura Highway. While driving from Jabalpur you have to turn left from Tilsani township (30Km) towards Baghraji in order to reach the RH. Permission should be availed from the DFO Jabalpur. RH facilities are provided on basis of permission availed.

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Uday Works as Freelance Naturalist and Blogs on conservation, tigers, and environmental issues.

He also provides SEO and Website Content in English.

He can be contacted at:

Mail: pateluday90@hotmail.com
 Mob: 09755089323