A day out in the adjoining village of a Black buck Sanctuary - 18th Sep. 2011

In the dry plains around Mydanahalli are small villages like Talekere, Id halli, Puruvara  and Hosalli which have communities that have really faced the brunt of the Black buck population.  With an inquisitive mind we went to meet the people and know the nitty-gritty of conservation of blackbucks.

We drove into a small village called Uttarahalli with some 160 house holds.  The adult population of about 565 was secular enough by all Indian standards to have more than a dozen castes among them-the Bovi, Vokkaliga, Kuruba, Bhajantri, Kumbara, Kuruba, Sunnadakallara Banajiga, Madivala, Golla and Lambanis- who traditionally had a nomadic existence. Uttarahalli was under the jurisdiction of Kudlapura Panchyath along with twelve such villages.

 Though Uttaralli was basically agrarian, there were potters, Sheep herders, Black smiths, lime stone burners and folk singers; a variety of occupations thrived here half a century ago. Today all occupations and traditional skills have become redundant.

Muthappa, a potter is the last in their generation to practice pottery. The pots he used to make have become non functional and is used only during rituals. As a result his son Ramesha has not taken the pains to learn the trait. He could not even manage to place the wheel in balance on its base as much like any stranger to the profession. 

Byra only has faint memory of his father’s looms outside the village that wove woolen blankets. No one in the village waits for sunnadakallamma anymore to burn rocks in a kiln to get lime stone for white wash. They simply go in for a factory-made distemper.

The holiday had kept most men relaxed in the village. Women were busy with their daily chores.  Most  activity seemed to be around the village tap.  Some of them were engaged in preparing the harvested pulses to be put on the road for drying.  A woman sat mixing red clayey soil into a fine paste right on the road. She had some alasandhe(Cow peas ) and was coating them with fine soil. The coated seeds are sun dried for a day or two and ground under a stone to get rid of the seed coat. With the seed coat goes the soil leaving behind finely polished cotyledons.

Some young men sat under the peepal tree cutting thupra leaves to a particular size to be rolled into beedies. The leaves collected in the forests of Bastar (Maharashtra and Madhyapradesh) region, the heartland of India are dried and transported this far. Here they are soaked in water and softened to enable rolling them into beedies. Leaves were being piled up together and cut into to small rectangles. Great care was taken not to waste a single millimeter of the leaf. An old metal plate, about the size of a visiting card and an equally old scissors were the only piece of machinery that the process involved.

A local rolling thupra leaves.

There were goats, cattle and a large number of very colorful cockerels strutting in pride all over the village. There were only four small shops that sold the essentials of the community. Two of them were also tea shops during the morning but sold alcohol by sun set. There were three auto rickshaws that shuttle between Pururava and Madugiri all day and serve as the last mode of transport into the village in every night.

There was an anganavadi, the govt. run child care centre and a Govt. Lower Primary School to which the teachers come regularly. There were couple of well to do farming families who owned multiple pump irrigation  and every thing seemed perfect with the community.  But as time passed one would come across more and more people   involved in the Beedi industry - no bar for age or sex.

 A vast majority in the village were seen squatting in the front porch with a small tray on their lap. Their fingers worked non stop until their self designated targets were reached. Often the targets were in thousands and were decided by the family requirements.  For some it is only a supplementary income and they rolled out a thousand beedies by the day. But families that were full time into this profession may roll up to two thousand every day. The entire family is involved in the long chain of process ranging from soaking the leaves in water to packing finished beedies in bundles of ten. The process involves a sequence of nine handlings- each that demands the skills of highly experienced and nimble fingers. The local beedi company owners come to the village twice a week to exchange raw material for finished goods leaving behind a paltry sum as the labor costs.

Young Sushma filling tobacco into the beedies.

The community which had a glorious life just a generation ago is now completely out of business. With their skills inherited for centuries become redundant the community struggles to eek out an existence. In fact almost all the families have some decent piece of land upon which they cultivated crops during every rainy season. 

While Murthy was filming village life, Manu listened to the personal experiences of the villagers with black bucks.

Murthy with the local kids.

Except for those who had the luxury of pump irrigation or barbed wire fencing the rest of the farmers had given up cultivation. They had repeatedly lost every single grain to the invading blackbucks year after year.

An adult male buck seen in the outskirts.

The cost of night watchman ship did not match the returns from the single ‘dry-land crop’ in a year. Very few people persisted with sowing ragi (figure millet) or groundnut. They showed us how the blackbucks had made their fields their home. Dozens of them were squatting in peace chewing cud in the heat of the noon. It wasn’t difficult to believe the sorrowful words of a lanky 50 plus Meenamma “it must have been at least ten years sir, since we sowed a seed.” She burst out in grief recollecting her past “we would sow 300 kilos of groundnuts every season; today we don’t even have a few seeds at home for the kids to eat.”

By the look of things it was clear that the situation of the conflict was grimmer than we believed. Was this conflict there all through history? What did the farmers do or how did they tolerate the onslaught on their crops? Why are the blackbucks doing this now?

Biodiversity survey at Jayamangali Blackbuck reserve: 6th and 7th August 2011

It was a long standing  job of updating the biodiversity assessment of Jayamangali Black buck reserve. Prasanna Kumar of WANC (Wildlife Aware Nature club) and his team from Tumkur had taken up the initiative of arranging the event. The first week-end of August was decided to be convenient for many volunteers.  

Participants arrived at Jayamangali Forest Guest house in two batches on the 6^th Aug.

 By noon they were all in the field in small teams. Gundappa, Prasanna and Murthy lead the teams in different directions collecting plant specimen. Thejasvi, Guruprasad and Prithvi were photographing plants and the black buck. Manu stayed back at the base trying to place some of the already collected specimen. By lunch time the entire hall was filled with green leaves. Herbs, shrubs and grasses were all separately cataloged and tabulated. During the post lunch session the teams took newer transects and repeated the exercise. Specimens of the grass family were preserved in a herbarium for detailed identification.

Arranging plant specimen onto herbarium sheets.

  Arranging plant specimen onto herbarium sheets-2.  

In the night there were discussions regarding the conservation of blackbucks and Man Animal conflict in the region. Discussions were also regarding the increased conflict with the Sloth bear even in the district of Tumkur. Manu shared his observation and experiences of his friends working with Sloth bear conservation at Daroji in Bellary District.  He held a consultation about the Education materials useful in carrying out conservation of Sloth bears that he was developing with the local NGOs at Hospet.

The following day the teams were more relaxed as most of the work with regards to plants was over and took to bird watching. There were a bunch of school kids who had come on their bicycles all the way from Puruvara some ten kilometers away. Having given up cycling for long the task of pedaling up the pebbly dirt road appeared too tedious for us. But to any body’s astonishment there were only half the number of bicycles as compared to the number of boys. This meant that there was at least more than one rider for each of the bicycle. Two of the tyres had already gone flat. Our first question to them was what brought them here? Do they regularly use this place for recreation? The answer was really rewarding. It was their maiden venture. A shy boy tucking his head upon his shoulder affirmed that he was instigated by the black buck team that had come to their school.

We exchanged some goodies with them and sat them through for an interaction. They revealed a lot of issues pertaining to their daily lives and all the animals they come across in their routine. Murthy, Prasanna and Gunndappa kept on quizzing them to get some hint on the probable existence of poaching in the locality. But the innocent kids were indeed truthful and there didn’t seem to be any instances of poaching of black bucks.

Murthy and Mohan Rengan set out to nearby village to have some interaction with the local community. They had been to a nearby village and come back shocked at the state of the farmers. It seems that the villagers were all perturbed by the entry of their car into the village thinking that some Forest officials had come to conduct some enquiry.  But gradually they developed confidence and opened up.

Murthy who spoke to the villagers at length had noticed some great difference in the same characters that he had spoken to over a decade and a half ago. They had suffered a lot in their agricultural efforts in the recent past and had lost the ‘not at all bothered’ attitude about the black bucks. Every body appeared to be aware of the importance of wildlife and conservation but in the depth of their hearts they had something else to say. They were all thoroughly frustrated by the concurrent loss that they had undergone because of the black bucks. The repeated and varied approach to the Forest department had left behind disillusion and had made them feel that their battle was over. The apathy of the higher ups in the department was said to be because of the undecided state of the protected area. The blackbucks had ruined their lives.

The issue became a topic of debate for the rest of the day. After a post lunch game ride outside the sanctuary the teams set out on their journeys back home.

List of participants-

TVN Murthy , Prasanna Kumar D R, Gundappa B V, Mohen Rengan, Kumar, Mahesh, Hemanth, Guruprasad, Manu K, Prithvi K, Shankar Narayana. KP, Thejaswi Munishankerappa and Harish.

Workshops at the schools of Mysore District.

Sree Gangadhareswara High School, Konanooru, Nanjangud Taluk.

Date: 11-07-2011

            Sri. Viswanath, Head Master of the school along with their staff formally welcomed us and introduced us to the students. Around 100 students from all the 3 classes 8^th 9^th 10^th were given to us for the full day workshop.

            We started off with introducing ourselves and about the program to the students. Students introduced themselves we got the details from students and a pre-test questionnaire was given to every student. WHO AM I game was played, since it was a small village and there was no power, power was expected in the afternoon session. We've distributed the booklet and poster among the students, asked them to study and given some exercises based on the booklet & poster. When the power resumed Mr. Mahesh has given the slide show and film show on Grasslands, Blackbuck and its co-habitants giving every bit of information to the students and clarifying all their doubts.

Children going through the study material.

            The post-test questionnaire was given to the students. The Blackbuck sticker and labels were distributed among the students. Sri. Viswanath gave the vote of thanks for the workshop.

Govt, High School, Dodda Kavalande, Nanjanagud Taluk.

Date : 11-07-2011

            The work shop started off with out much fan fare as the school was in the face of transferring powers between headmasters. It began with a pre test and an introductory talk by Mr. Manu. There was no power in the school till the post lunch session and we had to restore to the out door session. Even as the talk was underway it started to pour heavily and the entire crowd of a hundred and ten students had to be shifted to a classroom. The session briskly changed over to a simple game ‘Who am I?’ Students were assigned the names of an animal from the grass lands and he had to decipher himself through logical questions.

Manu addressing the students.

            In the post lunch session Mr. Kumar made his presentations with out slides or video clippings. His oral presentations made the students realize the mistakes the students had made in the pre test. Later on the students were involved in a group activity where the teams dealt with a pre determined topic, such as the reptiles, birds and mammals of the grassland, Human animal conflict and the Wildlife Act. During the valedictory, representatives of each of the ten teams had to present their opinions. This made a very interactive session in itself. With a post test the day was called off.

Workshops at the schools of Chamaraja Nagara.

J S S High School, Ummathooru, Ch Nagar Tq and Dist.

 Date: 06-07-2011

            Sri. Bhavani Shankar, Head Master of the school welcomed us and introduced us to the students. Around 125 students from VIII & IX class were assigned to us for the daylong workshop.

            We started off with introducing ourselves and about the program to the students. Firstly we collected their details and issued a pre-test questionnaire to all the students. WHO AM I game was played in the class room. Mr. Mahesh has given the slide show and film show on Grasslands, Blackbuck and its co-habitants giving every bit of information to the students and clarifying all their doubts. The booklet and the poster was issued to the students and we asked them to study, given some exercised based on the booklet and poster. Outdoor activities were;

o   Difference between a grass and a plant, difference between a grass blade and leaf.

o   To collect different species of grass in their campus.

o   To study the blackbuck material and poster and list out different birds, carnivores, herbivores and reptiles mentioned in the booklet.

Mahesh conducting outdoor activities.

            The post-test questionnaire was given to the students. The Blackbuck sticker and labels were distributed among the students. In a simple valedictory function Sri. Bhavani Shankar gave a vote of thanks for the workshop. In turn we too thanked  the Head Master and the staff for their co-operation all through.

Government P U College, Lokkanalli, Chamarajanagara Dist.

Date: 06-07-2011

It was a newly started PU college and the headmaster requested us to take up the Pre university students of both Science and Arts faculty. There was a very small portion of students representing the high school section. Soon after the inaugural function, the students were given the pre test and divided on the basis of science and Arts class.

While the Arts student sat through the audio visual the science students were in the out doors while the rains interrupted. We had to get to the indoors to continue the nature games.  The team got inter changed with the resource persons.

Mahesh presenting a slide show.

In the post lunch session the students were given the resource materials and activities were conducted based on them. The students worked in groups to find out answers to the questions given to the groups. In the small valedictory function chaired by the lecturer in-charge of the Nature club Mr. Kantharaju, the students presented their findings.

Our team with the student group.

Workshops at the schools of Hassan District

Sri Gurusiddamallarya High School, Kuraada halli, Arasikere Taluk.

Date: 05-07-2011

            Sri. Ganganna, Head Master along with their teaching staff welcomed us and introduced us to the students. Around 110 students from VIII and IX   were given to us for the day long workshop.

            We started off with introducing ourselves to the students and got their names and signatures, later on the pre-test was conducted through a simple questionnaire. The work shop began with a audio visual presentation by Mr. Mahesh on Grasslands and Blackbuck. The students were encouraged to ask questions and take in more information and clarify their doubts.

Students engrossed in the slide show.

 

            Later ‘WHO AM I’ was played in the class room itself, Students enjoyed the game. The booklet and the poster were distributed to the students and were asked to go through the content. They were given some exercises based on the booklet and poster.

Outdoor activities were:

o   Identifying  a grass from a plant, difference between a blade of grass and a leaf.

o   To collect different species of grass in their campus.

            The post-test questionnaire was given to the students. The sticker and labels were issued to students. Sri. Ganganna, Head Master and other teaching staff thanked us for the workshop; we thanked them as well for their kind co-operation.

Sri Sadguru Siddamallarya High School, Chaluvana Halli,  Arasikere Taluk.

Date : 05-07-2011

            This residential school is situated in a beautiful location, far from the village and main road. Mr. Jagdish the head master of the school arranged a formal inaugural function under a large Tamarind tree in the school field. To begin with he welcomed us and insisted the students to properly utilize this unique opportunity that has come to their doorstep.  Mr. Kumar gave a brief introduction about the workshop and the need for it. Soon after the pre test, we tied up the banner and revealed the picture of the black buck.  This exercise gave us a better insight into what the students knew about the subject. Mr. Manu elaborated the issue of black back and the reason we need to preserve them. He emphasized how grass perform the same function as the forests and provide us ecological services to Mankind.

            As Electricity was to be restored only for the after noon session the whole of the day was in the out doors. A lot of the confusions about the environmental issues were clarified orally. Soon after lunch the audiovisual presentations were made by Mr. Kumar. Later on the students were distributed with the education materials and activities based on them were carried out. They worked in groups and came out with oral presentations about various topics.

Shrikanth distributing the questionnaire.

       

      In a simple valedictory the staff thanked the workshop team and promised to carry out such activities suggested by the resource team.

Workshops at the schools of Tumkur District

Govt. PU College (High School Division), Puravara, Madhugiri Taluk.

Date: 04-07-2011

            Sri. Prakash, Head Master welcomed us, introduced us to the students and addressed the gathering. Around 120 Students from class VIII & IX participated in the daylong day workshop.

            We started off introducing ourselves to the students and got their names registered, later a pre-test questionnaire was issued to be answered individually.

The group of 100 students was split in to 2 batches. While the 1^st batch had the slide show, the second was engaged in outdoor activities facilitated by Mr. Hemanth. Mr. Mahesh made the slide show and film show on Grasslands, Blackbuck and its co habitants.

The outdoor activities were; 

o   Difference between a grass and a plant, difference between a grass blade and leaf.

o   To collect different species of grass in their campus.

o   Playing the game WHO AM I.

o   To study the blackbuck material and poster and list out different birds, carnivores, herbivores and reptiles mentioned in the booklet.

            During the post lunch session 2^nd batch was given slideshow and film show. The post-test questionnaire was given to the students. The sticker and labels were issued to students.

Kumar explaining about the poster.

            Sri. Prakash, Head Master and other teaching staff thanked us for the workshop; we thanked them as well for the co-operation.

Govt. High School, Ittige Dibbana Hally, Madhugiri Taluk

Date : 04-07-2011

            The workshop began with a simple introductory note by the head master Mr. Laxman singh. Mr. Manu had to restore to the chalk and talk method of teaching since there was no power supply in the whole of the morning session.  After an elaborate lesson on grassland and blackbuck he took a lot of questions from the students.

 

Manu answering the queries.

            In the post lunch session the students were divided into two groups and one group was attended slide the show by Mr. Kumar.  Mr. Manu distributed the materials for another group and made them to inspect the materials. After the session the groups were exchanged and the same process repeated. Then all the students were gathered on the stage of the open air theatre and made to sit in groups. Each of the group was assigned with some topics for group discussion. Using the material they were asked to prepare a short essay which they presented later on.

      At the valedictory function, a few students expressed their experience of the workshop in their own way. Every body felt happy to know more about blackbucks which they almost saw every other day and they did express that they enjoyed the day long workshop because of the friendly nature of the teachers.

Workshops at the schools of Mandya District

Govt. High School, Katteri, Pandavapura Taluk.

Date : 01-07-2011

            This day marked the beginning of the series of workshops to be carried out over five districts. The event was inaugurated by Mr. Kempugowda, member of Zillapanchayat, Mandya and long standing leader of Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha. In attendance were Mr. Thimmegowda, Head Master and his staff. Mr. Kempugowda appreciated the idea of sensitizing the rural children about local environmental issues and mentioned how both the central and state governments had identified lakhs of Acres of agricultural lands for establishment of Special Economic Zones and questioned how could farmers survive in the leftover land and share it with wildlife. Such policies are detrimental to wildlife as well as farmers, If we need to protect wildlife it is not just the farmers who have to sacrifice, the urban riches need to cut down their consumption he said.

            Soon after the registration and pre-test the students were taken through a slide show in which Mr. Kumar enumerated the story of blackbucks. After a small break the students were shown a film on grasslands. With intermediate stops he explained the issue in local language to make the show meaningful. Until lunch time questions by the students were duly answered. 

Kumar addressing the children about Blackbucks.

            In the post lunch session Mr. Manu involved the students in nature games. The resource materials were distributed and the students were grouped in dozens and encouraged to inspect the materials and have group discussions. Each group was assigned with a topic for which they found substance in the materials provided. A few students presented their learning during the valedictory function.

Govt High School, Jakkanahalli, Pandavapura tq, Mandya Dist.

  Date : 01-07-2011

            It was a small informal function in the school where Mr. Mohan Kumar, Science teacher invited and introduced us to the students. Around 100 Students were chosen for the daylong workshop who were pooled in from all three classes in the high school.  Sri. Kamalesh, Head master of the school addressed the gathering and said how lucky the students were to have such a workshop in their school.

            We started off with a pre-test questionnaire and the 100 students were split in to two batches. While the 1^st batch had slide show the other batch was engaged in outdoor activities, Mr. P. Hemanth conducted the outdoor activities. Mr. Mahesh gave the slide show on Grasslands, Blackbuck and its co habitants. He gave every bit of information to the students and clarified their doubts after the show. 

Mahesh giving a slideshow on Blackbucks.

The outdoor activities were:

o  Playing ‘WHO AM I ?’ with names of particularly grassland species.

o  Learning to differentiate grass from a plant by observation.

o  To study the different species of grass in their campus through collection.

o  To study the blackbuck material and poster and list out different birds, carnivores, herbivores and reptiles mentioned in the booklet.

           

            In the post lunch session a film was shown alternately in two batches. Later a post-test questionnaire was given to the students. At the end of the day we thanked one another for the cooperation extended and before we parted blackbuck stickers and labels were distributed to students.

Students reading the Material.

Some Documentaries on grasslands and Black buck.

In our pursuit of putting together some useful documentaries about black bucks we scanned hundreds of them.  Our intention was to learn more about the species and of course to use them in schools to communicate with children. 

i.           Human planet part-6: Grasslands-the roots of power

        Production: BBC   English : 58 mins

Human Planet is a 8 part documentary series produced by the BBC and narrated by John Hurt. The 6^th episode is a brilliant piece on Grassland and an eye opener about how Grasslands paved the destiny of Mankind and his survival that still clings on to them. It describes several rare stories never filmed before but will happen in the grassland ecosystem almost every day. The story of the tribal boys who are guided by the honey guide to a bee hive, the Kuruve hunters who track their prey for weeks to run them out to make the kill or the Cambodian fisherman who takes his five year old boy to pick snakes from the Marsh are all fascinating. But the nail biting the Sequence is that of the Derabo tribe of the African Grassland who drive out a pride of Lions to pinch some flesh off a large kill is spell binding. 

A lion in the midst of a wildebeest herd.

Domestic cattle being herded.

Grassland ecosystem, unlike the Tropical rain forest is not in its climax and the grazers have evolved to keep them a young ecosystem forever. Together the grazers and grasslands thrive. Like all animals of Grassland we humans mastered the art of harvesting grass. We not only control the grass but  its consumers and their predators for our own benefits.

ii.           Land of the tiger part-4 Desert Kingdom

       Production: BBC    English :48 mins

This is a 5 part documentary series produced by BBC. Narrator Valmik Thapar takes you through a journey across the tiger habitats in the Indian subcontinent. The fourth episode, Desert Kingdom deals with the wildlife of arid zones of the tiger country and very vividly visualizes the symbiotic life of blackbucks and demoiselle cranes with certain tribes of north western India. The documentary is a good choice for classroom viewing especially while talking of blackbucks and grassland habitats. In the rare footage you can see the Indian grassland in its perfect shape without much of the invasive species in them. The shots of the black buck are taken in Velavadar and the specimen are strong, black and bigger in built than the their south Indian cousins.

 

A blackbuck pair in Velavadar.

iii.       Point calimere-Little Kingdom by the Coast

Production: Shekher Dattatri              English : 30 mins

                This is a short documentary done by seasoned wildlife maker Shekar Dattatri for the Forest Department of Tamilnadu. It is a brilliant video showcasing of the vivid life forms of Point Calimere, the tiny sanctuary situated in southern tip of India. The blackbucks here share habitats with many rare creatures- the feral ponies, colourful crabs and migratory birds.  Being on the sea shore it attracts thousands of migratory birds and breeding turtles. Small patches of open scrub adjacent to the beach houses fairly good number of blackbucks.  There are some rare footages of the way blackbucks survive against the onslaught of domestic cows, competing feral horses and marauding dogs. In 2002 the swamps around Point Calimere were declared a Ramsar Site, a designation given to wetlands of international significance. Over a hundred species of migratory water birds visit these swamps in winter, but over the years their populations have been declining. Point Calimere. Little Kingdom by the Coast offers a glimpse into this remarkable ecosystem and the problems that confront it.