Chhattisgarh: Dense forests sans wildlife

Senior wildlife officials in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have no convincing answer to the lack of wildlife in the dense forests of this scenic hills south of capital Raipur. According to them there had never been any wildlife in these sal and teak forests. Still it is hard to believe as to why the animals did not take advantage of this paradise to flourish. Is it a normal natural phenomenon? - may be. After driving for hundreds kilometres on the jungle track near Jagdalpur and Dantewada of Bastar region there was only a snake to be seen. The locals too have succeeded in spotting an occasional a rabbit or a rare fox. During the moist monsoon evenings in the thick vegetation spanning across hundreds of kilometres, one would at least expect chirping and tweeting of exotic birds. But for some reason the nesting creatures of the region too don’t find this a good enough place to dwell. A possibility of the negative effect of human conflict, due to the left-wing Naxalite movement in the area is also rejected by the experts. In fact the second-hand reports filtering through their local staff tells them that in the Indrawait National Park – a tiger reserve – and other wildlife sanctuaries, that remains out of bounds for the government employees due to the influence of Naxalites, the wildlife is growing. Hunting had always been a favourite sport of the local tribes but according to the information available, under the orders of Naxals they have largely given up the habit. One species that has taken advantage of the wildlife-devoid forests are the once-domesticated bulls, which were let loose few years ago during the resettlement of interior villages to counter the Naxal movement.