Dholes of Debrigarh

                                                                                                                              

Dholes of Debrigarh

 It was dark. We were rushing through the forest road as we had to cross the Barakhandia check post by six thirty pm which were still eight kilometer away. We were late by half an hour because of a snake, a Russell viper a few kilometers back. The snake lied down on the road after a heavy meal and could barely move. Despite of our repeated attempt to drive it away from the road the snake took thirty minutes to clear the road. When we were sure that the snake had moved enough to be smashed by some other vehicle we restarted our journey.

                                              

                                               Russell viper

Ram, our driver was moving cautiously as the road was frequently crossed by wild animals. On our way we were crossed by a pair of spotted deer, three sambars and one jackal.

Suddenly the road became very dusty and headlights of our Bolero could penetrate hardly only a few meter there and then all of a sudden the suv stopped with a screaming sound of break shoe. Our road was totally blocked by a huge black creature. Lights were reflecting from its shiny velvety skin. A huge bull gaur (Indian Bison) a few feet away from the bonnet of our bolero.

 Debrigarh Wildlife sanctuary is a 347sq km wild life reserve located about 40 km from  Sambalpur a busy town in odisha. The sanctuary stretches across the Lohara and Debrigarh Reserve forest in Baragarh District surrounded by Hirakud Reservoir and Barapahar hills. The forest type of the sanctuary is mainly mixed dry deciduous forest. Other varieties of trees found here include Sal, Asana, Amla, Dhaura, Bamboo etc.

                                                   

We reached the gate of the sanctuary at dhodrukusum at twelve noon. After completing the formality at gate we headed towards Barakhandia eco-tourism center which is located about four and half kilometer inside the forest on the shore of Hirakud reservoir. A long journey all the way from howrah made us tired but tiredness vanished instantly once we reached barakhandia. 

                                                               

                                                   Rflection on Office door

The scenic beauty was breath taking and hospitality was excellent. Here we met Mr. Sanjeeb Panda, who was in charge of Barakhandia eco-tourism center which is one of the best in the country. He is a thorough gentleman and very helpful person, always vigilant for the comfort of his guests.   After having tea at the dining space with a magnificent view of Hirakud reservoir, we entered our room for freshen up. Rooms were very cozy for a forest rest house with AC and water heater. We had our lunch with fresh fish curry caught from Hirakud and food was good.

Barakhandia currently the only place for night stay at Debrigarh Wildlife Sanctuary. It has got six cottages. Five double bedded and one four bedded. Tariff includes both food and lodging.

                

                          A memorable Sunrise at Barakhandia

In the afternoon we entered the forest on our Bolero. Within three hundred meters of the gate of eco-tourism center we saw a herd of gaur popularly known as Indian bison. The sighting was so sudden and so close that we all were stunned.

                                                          

Surprisingly these gentle giants were so calm which I never found in any other forest of India before. The gaur, also called Indian bison, is the largest extant bovine and is native to South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Bison’s are found in North America and Europe.  Bison’s are much smaller in size in comparison with Gaur and a totally different species.   Gaur is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986.
                                                

view from Barakhandia

Remaining part of our journey to Chaurasimal was uneventful. There we met Bikash a tall handsome young forester who loves his job and forest.Bikash promised us to escort us to Ushakoti a denser part of the forest, as it was already late afternoon we decided to go that place on some other day.

The Debrigarh wild life sanctuary is unique among all the wild life sanctuaries in the country in terms of sighting wild animals such as leopards, chausingha, sambar, gaur, Nilgai, Sloth bear, Jackals, wild dog etc. . Gaur and chausingha is the flagship species here. There are also migratory birds such as red crested pochard, crested grebe seen in great numbers in the winter.  

                                                  Serpent Eagle

                                         Crested grebe

                                           

Pond Heron

                                             

When we returned to Chaurasimal after one day, the morning sun was quite high in the sky. We knew that it was not a great time for wild life sighting and we were not sad also for that at all, as we knew that we had to explore some part of Ushakoti on foot. Bikash joined us at chaurasimal and we moved towards Ushakoti.

 The road was completely destroyed by heavy rainfall this year and it was reconstructed under supervision of Bikash only few days back. During the reconstruction of this fifteen km road he had to spend many nights in labor camp inside the forest. This reflects the courage of this young man. On the way Bikash informed us that last night one leopard had visited his quarter at Chaurasimal and he saw its footprint in front of his quarter in the morning. The news made us a bit uncomfortable as we had three children in our team and my son the youngest member of our team is only five years old. As we were approaching Ushakoti the character of the forest began to change a little. There were more flat land on both the sides of the road and there were more clearing beneath the trees. Vision here far less obstructed. We spotted here few peacocks, spotted deer and one jackal. Suddenly after a sharp turn we saw a pack of wild dog also known as Dhole. They were perhaps taking there sunbath and greeting each other at about fifteen meter distance from the road. 

Their red coat were glistening in the morning sunlight and it was the first time I saw Dholes in the wild. These highly social creatures are the fiercest hunter of our forest; even the tigers and leopards try to avoid them. There are reports where a tiger had been killed by dholes. Surprised by our presence, as tourists doesn’t commonly come here, most of the member of the pack hid behind a bush except the dominant male, which remained still with all his dignity.

            

                                                          END