Deer grazing on lush green grass; herds of elephants leisurely crossing the road to the other side of the forest unmindful of the roar of approaching vehicles and excited cries of the passengers inside; peacocks in flight — the Wayanad wildlife sanctuary has these and many more fascinating sights for visitors.
The 344 -km Wayanad wildlife sanctuary is considered one of the richest in terms of density of wildlife. “But its beauty is deceptive. This sanctuary is now under great stress, and in danger of rapid decay — all because safe tourism practices are not being enforced”, says Badusha, wildlife enthusiast and a spokesman for Wayanad Prakriti Samrakshana Samithi.
Insufficient transportation
A glaring threat to its eco-system are the private vehicles, which hurtle up and down the muddy roads inside the tourism zone of Muthanga and Tholpetty forest ranges of the sanctuary. For a safari through the jungle, one of the major attractions of the sanctuary, the visitor has to depend on one of the 60-odd private jeeps there.
“The sanctuary is no longer animal-friendly; the authorities are interested only in keeping it tourist-friendly”, complained Badusha.
Plastic waste is another major threat. Since getting inside the sanctuary is easy people from far and near reach there; and when they leave, the place lies littered with plastic bags, bottles, food waste and liquor cans. “People passing by in cars and buses also contribute to the pollution throwing used water bottles out,” said Badusha. Plastic bottles and bags can be seen in ponds and stuck on bamboo clumps.
On hartal days when road traffic grinds to a halt, drivers of a large number of vehicles that enter the State at Muthanga park, cook their food a few feet away inside the forest; when they leave the whole place is littered with waste matter. “Plastic waste is a serious health hazard to wildlife. Often plastic materials are found in the excreta of wild animals” admitted a retired forest official.
Many roads pass through prime forests endangering the lives of wild animals. The inter-State highway from Kozhikode to Mysore passes through Muthanga and the forests of Karnataka restricting movement of wildlife to watering holes.
Though a ban on vehicles has been enforced at night through NH 212 passing through the sanctuary, the problems due to heavy road traffic have not diminished. Because of the ban at night from 9.00 p.m. to 6.00 a.m., there is usually a heavy rush of vehicles along this road before night.
The sanctuary is also imperiled by human habitations found both within and in the periphery of the sanctuary. These settlements are home to nearly 10,000 people belonging to 2600 families. Their livestock also exert considerable pressure on the bio resources of the area.
Says Mr V. K. Sreevalsan, Wildlife Warden of Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary, “with so many people inside the sanctuary there are bound to be problems. These can be solved only when the government's scheme to shift them out of forests is implemented.”
Poaching had also been effectively checked by regular surveillance by forest staff. In the past poaching for elephant ivory and tiger skins was a major threat.
Mr Sreevalsan admitted the private jeeps used for safaris in Muthanga and Tholpetty were not ideally suited for forest conditions and might even be a nuisance to wildlife. The forest department would be introducing its own vehicles shortly for taking visitors inside forests. The Wildlife Warden said an intensive awareness programme had been launched to educate visitors about the need to avoid dumping of used plastic bottles inside forests. Two persons had been already deployed to collect plastic materials from roadside inside the sanctuary every day. An arrangement was being worked out with an agency in Kozhikode to dispose of the plastic waste collected from inside the sanctuary.
Housing many
The Wayanad wildlife sanctuary, though under threat from plastic pollution and human interference, continues to be one of the best in terms of density of wildlife and natural beauty.
Wayanad is still one of the last strongholds of Asiatic elephants, being close to the vaster wildness of the neighbouring forests. The critically endangered white rumped vulture still breeds in Wayanad, and nowhere else in Kerala. If carefully managed Wayanad can be a safe refuge for the tiger, elephant and a host of other plants and animals.
Because of its contiguity with the protected areas of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, Wayanad has its inherent strength of being part of a large tract of rich biodiversity. Straddling the south-west part of the deccan plateau, Wayanad once had good connectivity with the forests of Nilgiris through the Nilambur valley at its south-east and Lady Smith reserved forests and Kakkayam reserved forests at its south west end.
Years of forest encroachment and human settlements have degraded the natural landscape to such an extent that at present the wildlife sanctuary exists as two non - continuous blocks — one Tholpetta range in the north and the other comprising Kurichiat, Bathery and Muthanga ranges in the south.
Unless drastic conservation measures are put in place the condition of Wayanad wildlife sanctuary would deteriorate further. The warning signals about the impending crisis are already there.
