Bandipur: Enough jumbos but no fodder!

Chamarajanagar: Blame it on the Lantana weed, natural causes or shortsightedness of forest officials, but the Bandipur National Park does not have enough vegetation to support its  wildlife. Home to numerous herbivores, primates and birds, the sanctuary is crying out for fruit bearing trees and bamboo.

Concerned by their disappearance, forest officials have now decided to plant  bamboo and fruit bearing trees in the park. 

Spread across 13 ranges,  Bandipur, a tiger reserve, once had huge  bamboo cover that was a good source of fodder for its elephants. 

But five years ago the bamboo dried up in the natural course and its regeneration could take a while.  To make matters worse, about 60 per cent of the park is now infested with Lantana, an invasive weed which depletes the natural vegetation, says Assistant Conservator of Forests, Bandipur sub-division, Anthony Mariyappa.

"Planting in a wildlife area is not advisable as the animals can destroy the  saplings. And so we have decided to plant bamboo and fruit bearing trees by clearing some areas of Lantana. We will be happy even if 50 per cent of the plants survive," the officer adds, explaining that the Lantana nearby will act as a fence for the bamboo stems, and the hebbevu and elchi fruit tree saplings and stop them from being destroyed by grazing animals.

A wildlife conservationist, however,  blames forest officials for the disappearance of the fruit bearing trees, claiming they were axed for logging and replaced with teak plantations in forests around the Kabini reservoir and in the Nagarahole National Park.

"Hornbills were the  most affected and disappeared from forests," they regret.