Loading ...Think Hampi and the images that come to our mind are the ruins of the Vijaynagar empire with beautiful monuments strewn around the erstwhile capital town. On a hot sunny day, we travelled to Hampi and beyond. Our quest was not to celebrate the Hampi Utsav, but to look for the Indian Sloth Bear in “Daroji Bear Santuary”. Located in Bellary district and just 15 kms away Hampi, this wildlife sanctuary gives the town another identity besides mining and heritage.
Pic : Gowreesh K
Karnataka state government declared 5,587 acres of Bilikallu Reserve Forest as Daroji Bear Sanctuary in 1994 to protect the bear. The sloth bear population is today estimated about 120. They live in the naturally formed caves in the rocky mountains which are surrounded by dense forest.
Pic : Gowreesh K
We climbed up to the watch tower of the sanctuary from where the entire view of the sanctuary greeted us . As we looked into the vast expanse, we saw small black dots like pepper moving on rocks.The bears were walking around , blissfully unaware of us gazing at them in awe. Identifying them is like playing a game of hide and seek as they dart behind the rocks and emerge out of a thorny bush.
Pic : Gowreesh K
We learn a bit more about the bears from our guide Pampayya Swamy . These bears which live only in India and Srilanka are one of the 8 species of bears. “Look carefully at their chest and you can see a V or U shaped white strip ,” says Swamy adding that they can smell accurately even though their eyes may not be very powerful. “But be careful, they are very dangerous.. they can smell you or even hear you, they will usually run away , but will charge if they feel threatened” he murmurs.
Sloth bears love fruits and jackfruit is their favourite, says Swamy. I am reminded of Jungle Book as Swamy continues “These guys are always noisy while eating, can hear the sound up to 100 meters.”
Pic : Gowreesh K
The mating season is just over and slowly by winter, the sanctuary will be filled with cute hairless cubs who are born blind and will remain so for at least 3 weeks. The cubs need their mother for at least a couple of years before they are on their own and interestingly we are told that the bears have a life span of 40-50 years .
Pic : Gowreesh K
The silence is punctuated by the calls of the other animals & birds. Besides sloth bear the peacocks are well populated here – you can hear a song of peacock and the other birds all the time . Daroji is also home to leopards, hyenas, jackals, star tortoise, monitor lizards, mongoose, porcupines and birds like pea fowls, partridges, painted Spur hens and quails . Swamy who helped to identify the birds told us that close to 90 species of birds and 30 varieties of butterflies flit around here.
Pic : Gowreesh K
We trek into the forest and see some bears at close quarters..they gaze at us for a while before disappearing into the caves . It is amazing and terrifying .to see the wild animals in their natural habitat , while we are on outside our turf. For a moment , I thought the world of Jungle Book had come alive and I was Mowgli coming back home..to the wild
How to reach
By Road: Bangalore to Chitradurga (199 kms) on NH-4, then to Hospet (135 Kms) on NH-13. And then to Kamalapura (12 Kms)-which is 10 Kms from the Sanctuary. It is 15 kms from Hampi.
By Rail: Nearest railway station is Hospet where trains from Bangalore and Hubli are accessible.
The famous wildlife photographer & ex MLA Y.M. Gorpade is played a major role in declaring this place as a sanctuary . Jungle Lodges is planning to develop the sanctuary into a tourist destination. There is only a guest house available which has tented accomodation . You could do it as a day trip as well from Hampi . Pampayya Swamy who is a guide and naturalist will also organise the trip and can be contacted at 09449136252. The best season is between August to April .Summer can be very hot though.
Pic : Gowreesh K
Very interesting and what Pics. Thanks for sharing.
And peacock’s calls are also sometimes referred as Pieu…Pieu… (rather a shrill version). Typically you would associate Kaav….Kaav with our friend Mr. Crow.
Stunning pictures..I particularly like the ones with the cubs ..so touching..I may be going there next month and I hope I am lucky as well
Very engaging post and pictures. So many places … and so little time to see them all!
I was not aware the bear sanctuary is so close to Hampi. The pictures are terrific, hope I am lucky too.
nice artical and very good photographs ..so touching..
lokesh mosale
http://www.lokeshmosale.com
The beauty and charm of babies…even bears !! the young one standing tall to reach and kiss its mom -such a tender moment
Thanks for sharing
rgds
vj
Captivating pictures. The peacock too is superb.
Nice photos yar, espcly that child and mom bear.. its fabulous, fantastic, mind blowing, extrardinary, outStanding…….
i have a plan to visit next month there, so that i can enjoy all these….
i think still need to improve by capturing photos in different angles..
Great, keep it up!
Regrads// Kumar
Awesome pictures and very good article, I like the picture very much which cub kissing mother.
Awesome pictures and very good article, I like the photgraphs especially the cub kissing mother. Thanks for Sharing.
Tried going there in April. The place was deserted and there was nobody around. The watchtower was being remodelled. I hope it would be better luck next time I visit it.
Good going Bro… Keep it up…
Lovely snaps… Love the one where the baby bear is kissing its mom standing on 2 feet…
Teach annaya a bit of english bro… And looks u’ve done a bit of a home work before u came up with this… All in all a good one… Keep going…
Very nice…like all the pics and the way its narrated…never heard of this place..would definitely want to go there and witness the bears myself..will contact you in a while for more details…good show bro…keep it up!!!
Very beautiful images. Thanks for sharing.
Marvellous photography!
Superb photos especially the bear standing with rock is most awesome and good article.. Thanks for sharing..
I must thank Gowreesh for making this Sanctuary known to the world. These sloth bears need protection from the unscrupulous madaaris who make money using the bears in street shows.
We need to sensitise this and seek opinion from all animal lovers.
Though I hail from Bellary now settled in Delhi, I wish I could have done much more for this movement.
Great job Gowreesh.
I could not see the pictures , on my mchine it comes as (X) .Looks like great pictures
Good photographs & write up. Thanks. Interesting place to visit.
thanks for yr information on sloth bears of daraoji, though i have in bellary very close to the sanctuary i was not aware of it.
Enjoyed this post. Last December, I went and Santosh Martin took me around…it was lovely to relive the memories with your wonderful photographs, Gowreesh! thank you.