Sahyadri Tiger Reserve: The prologue

The Sahyadris boast a splendid milieu of landscapes; an amalgamation of spectacular mountain peaks, thirst quenching rives, picturesque waterfalls and serene woods. Not only does it house rare and endemic flora and fauna, it provides the much needed escape to drab city-dweller. To find an opportunity to spend a substantial amount of time here is an incredibly humbling feeling.

After spending one night in Karad, we visited Chandoli National Park, the next day, where my team had already been staying for about two weeks. Our project study site was  the Sahyadri Tiger Reserve which is formed by combining two important protected areas in western Maharashtra - the Chandoli National Park and Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary.

The next morning was reconnaissance survey time or as we call it recce time. We had a month to complete it. My team had already completed surveying one of the ranges and we had four more to survey. We spent two nights at Chandoli range and then visited Koyna range for our next recce survey. This was my first field day in Sahyadri and I was full of enthusiasm for the trek. The first beat we surveyed in Koyna was the Navja beat. A beat is the smallest administrative unit in most Indian protected areas.

On a cliff top at Navja

It took me a while to familiarise myself with the the undulating terrain, although this exactly what I was expecting based on my background internet research of the landscape. The whole of Sahyadri is full of such forests, the terrain - some gently, some steep and some 'really' steep. After a brief stay at Koyna range, we moved to Patan, the nearest town. We rented two flats as our field base camp in Sahyadri. Without much rest, we visited the next range called Helwak. As all teammates fondly but very correctly recall, 'Helwak was one hell of a walk'. During the week in Helwak, we had walked about 40 kilometres (to and fro) to survey the whole range. The vehicle initially issued to us was not a 4WD vehicle, hence it could not reach remote forests. So we had to complete the recce survey mostly on foot. It was a tough yet rewarding trip because of the stunning landscape views and the rich wildlife we were fortunate enough to encounter. It also made me realise that some of the most difficult things in life become easy, if we persist, be patient and put a lot of hard work into it. And it was awesome opportunity to bond with my amazing teammates (one from Tamil Nadu, one from West Bengal and one from Pune).

After a long day in Helwak