Untamed India: In search of the elusive wolf

I have developed a great liking for discovering new wildlife or birding heavens. The visit to Nauradehi Wildlife Sanctuary was my fourth. Two of the visits where a short survey one was on a birding trip. The recent one was as a nature guide for our esteemed guest a fellow wild lifer, birder and a photographer of repute Mr. Ujjal Ghosh. 

Though much publicized as a wolf sanctuary which it is, the sightings are difficult perhaps at times. It is yet too early to comment as an extensive survey is required. The forest guards seem to come across the wolves frequently especially along the Cheola Lake. This is a small lake but large enough to support the prey base and water birds. But the animal is encountered all around the sanctuary as informed.

We spent little time, only a day and a half which is not enough for searching carnivores like wolf. The animal is  local migratory by habit and sometimes forced by circumstance. It's persecution continues as it is misconstrued as a vermin all over India. 

Most of our excursions took place in the neighborhood of Mohali Rest House in Mohli Range. The mixed forest zones are a unique habitat for the Blue Bull, Fox, Black Buck and Chinkara or the Indian Gazelle. The crocodiles are found aplenty though we could not see one thanks to the approaching summer. From the rivers they have spread to lakes small and big. The forest department has done commendable work in the up keep of the water bodies in the wildlife refuge.

Our focus was the wolf and the sloth bear and the bird life. We could not see the sloth bear as well but came across ample evidence in the sanctuary. The forest are mostly mixed type with dense cover prevailing in undisturbed areas on the hill ranges. The sanctuary encompasses diverse habitats in an area of 1197 sq.km.  The two major river systems are Vyarma and Bamner besides other rivulets.

The reserve is slotted to house Cheetahs in India thanks to extensive grasslands and ideal prey base. Nuaradehi is an interesting wildlife refuge and offers good wildlife watching and birding opportunity. The ecosystem differs much from tiger safari destinations like Kanha and Bandhavgarh National Park in MP. The prevalence of open scrub, dry deciduous forests, grasslands etc makes it an ideal habitat for open country animals like chinkara, wolf and hyena. The reserves has a good population of Chital, Sambar and Nilgai, of which the latter is widespread. Wild Boars, Jackal, Gray Langur and Rhesus Macaque are seen often.   

Bird life is interesting and for more information visit: Indian Birding Blog  

If you wish to travel to Nauradehi, Indiana Safari an MP tour package service organizes the trip. You can visit Nauradehi for wildlife watching and birding. The sanctuary is open from Mid October to June end. Climate wise the best period is up to March end but one can visit in all seasons depending upon the time available. The distance to the Gate is approximately 86 km from Jabalpur and about 56 km from Sagar.    

Wolf in Seoni Hills - Pench Tiger Reserve

Extremely rare due to persecution everywhere the wolf in India is still considered as vermin. The animal is a livestock killer by circumstances. The wolf in India is an open country scrub animal. It is less found in dense habitats. Most of the protected areas as tiger reserves cover only the forests, the open scrub country in the periphery is neglected. This brings the animal in direct competition/conflict with live stock, dogs and their keepers. There are many myths around the animal which create an impression of being dangerous and a bad omen.     

Indian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) is an extremely endangered carnivore. There are about two to three thousand wolves in the country. The animal survives in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharastra, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Karnataka. It is known by local name in each state. There have been cases of attack on young children the reason being loss of prey base. Most of the attack has taken place in UP and Bihar where habitat damage has been extensive. 

In MP the carnivore is rare and survives in few areas.  It is found in Pench Tiger Reserve in the periphery. Its known habitat in Kanha was Moccha where a number of resorts flourish now. I have not seen the animal there since a long time. The animal is subject to prosecution everywhere, and hence the animal migrates locally in case of disturbance.     

I have seen the animal in Pench two years back. This was the time my friends hotel in Pench was being built. The luxury accommodation was some distance away from Khawasa and we could see the pack of four on the way. They are not seen anymore but I hope they have shifted habitat and not killed.

Well known Pench in Seoni Hills is an excellent tiger habitat. It is home large diversity of flora and fauna. It is a remarkable birding destination as well. Known as Kipling Country after Rudyard Kipling who penned the World famous "Jungle Book" which portrayed the exploits of the wolf child Mowgli. Mowgli is no more and so would be the wolf pack if conservation measure are not taken immediately. 

Pench tiger reserve

Nestled in the Satpura mountain ranges Pench tiger reserve is famous for being the place where Mowgli the wolf child was first discovered. He is the hero of Rudyard Kipling book “The Jungle Book” which is a world famous book and has highlight Indian jungle life to readers all over the world. Along with Mowgli, Akela the wolf, Bagheera the black panther, Sher Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear became famous as well. This book on Indian jungles offers the finest depiction of Indian wild animals. The movie “Jungle Book” is based on this book and is produced by Walt Disney Pictures.

The preserve is named after Pench a perennial river which flows through the park and is the lifeline of this National Park. Pench tiger reserve is situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh in the district of Seoni near Jabalpur which is well connected by rail and air. Numerous bus services are available to reach Khawasa which is 10 kilometer from the park gate. Pench is well connected with Nagpur by road which is 80 km and has an airport too. Nagpur offers flight services from Mumbai and Delhi to visitors on tiger tour to see Indian tiger and other wildlife. Apart from the Bengal tiger one can see large herds of Bison or Gaur, Sambar, Spotted deer and barking deer. One needs lots of luck to see the leopard, sloth bear and Indian wolf at the park. Tourism at

Pench is well organized and many resorts and lodges are available that offer luxury accommodation as well as economic fare to budget traveler. The travelers can hire jeep for tiger safari tour into the park. Tiger sighting is high at Pench and elephant rides conduct tiger show for the eco tourist to sight the magnificent tiger in the wild.

Although tourism is new to Pench tiger reserve sightings of the tigers are quite high and it ranks along with Bandhavgarh and Kanha in having a high population density of tigers as the statistics inform.