May 31st, 2010
The shy and rarely seen Ruddy Mongoose has been found to be living in the high hills of the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary. Previously this Jungle dwelling mongoose has never been reported this far west in the world. Dr. Sumit Dookia confirms that this pocket population survives due to the high elevation and sub-tropical deciduous forest eco-system found only in this area of the high hills of the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary in Western Rajasthan, India. Dr. Sumit Dookia says “most of the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary is dry semi-arid scrub forest and savannah grasslands except for the high granite hills and mountains found in the center of the sanctuary where lush forest made up of mostly deciduous trees survive with misty weather.
It is amazing to see the diversification of the species we are discovering live in the sanctuary because of so many climate zones in one small locale. Ruddy Mongoose live in sub-tropical regions much further to the West and East of the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary.” Ravindra Singh Chouhan commented that he saw the Ruddy Mongoose family at two different times and counted a total number of five members. More studies will continue on this rare species and the hope of all who are involved with the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary is that more Ruddy Mongoose famliies will be surviving in the same area.
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May 31st, 2010
Two critically endangered Long-Billed Vultures have been discovered in the interior mountain area of the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary. The two immensely rare birds (listed as critically endangered by the IUCN red list of endangered and threatened species) were discovered on a scientific journey to the interior by Dr. Sumit Dookia (Zoologist) and Ravindra Singh Chouhan (chief warden).
It was early morning this spring (2010) when the first Long-Billed Vulture was spotted accidently while on a mission to find the nests of another rare bird, the endangered Imperial Eagle, which also makes the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary its home. Dr. Sumit Dookia and Ravindra Singh Chouhan followed the flight of the vulture back to its nest which is inside a rock niche high on a granite cliff (photo attached). A second Long-Billed Vulture was spotted within two hours of finding the nest but the Dr. and Ravindra were unable to determine the sex of the two birds but assume one is male and the other is female since they are occuping the same nest. Further studies will continue. This newly explored area of the Jalore Wildlife Sanctuary will be open to advanced wildlife safaris by trekking in the autumn of 2010 for wildlife enthusiasts and eco-tourists who visit the sanctuary.
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March 15th, 2010
..so got in the jeep and off we went, five of us, myself, Gajendra, Ravi Chowdhary, Kaniwara Ravindra, and Suraj (Gajendra’s cousin) there was a lovely breeze and it was not hot or humid which is amazing this time of year, the sky was completely clear and the stars packed in, hundreds of peacocks were singing as they do at this time of night and the atmosphere was just lovely…the last guests that were here a week or so ago had seen Asian Steppe Wildcat kittens which I have once before and they are so amazing. I asked where the sightings were, so we went to that side of the jungle in the 4×4 with search light in hand scanned the savanah, no Asian Steppe-Wildcat but Gajendra has an amazing ability to spot wildlife at huge distances, even at night, so caught a glimpse of something so sped off to the spot…it was a a few months old Desert Fox running about the savanah having a great time, they are beautiful as they are grey with white tails and fluffy…did you see one there? Followed it for a bit and then brought our attention back to searching for Asian Steppe, kept looking and did not spot any so decided to go down one of the three valleys (the largest one)…came across a desert hare that just hopped along, they have really big and long ears…and he sat down for a bit and we were able to get really close, was pleased by this time with our safari and then we decided to keep going to the end of this valley, which is fairly wide and then narrows into a deep rocky canyon of granite and thick trees and grasses…you have been in this part…we are going slow as we are in 4×4 and Gajendra spots something and we have to reverse a bit to get to a clear view point and cannot spot anything for a minute and then we proceed deeper into the narrow part of this valley and then spot what he saw, a huge male Indian porcupine going at high speed as it has spotted us, we finally catch up with it and at first he is nevous then gets courage up and spreads his back and quils, just great to see as indian porcupines that are large and old are not easily found now, first time I have seen one in the sanctuary although workers have seen a couple but not this size…so I am thinking to myself, what a nice impromptu night safari when Gajendra says, Shanane look to the right and up….so I look carefully and see nothing then finally climb in the back and stand on the back of the jeep and half a kilometer away eyes are peering at us from a granite rock on a steep incline on the valley wall…we know from its movement style it is a cat and again not a Asian Steppe so assume it is a Jungle cat, we have a good number of them for the first time this year in the sanctuary which is wonderful as the eco-system gets better and better…so I say let’s get closer, the terrain is very tough now and we go over rocks and across shrubs until we are near the spot and search upwards and then all five of us in unison say, Oh my God, Leopard…now we know we have about nine of them but never get closer than about 100 yards from one, or its cubs, and this very rarely as they are really smart and clever cats in the jungle and you can have one near you and never know, their stealth abilities are amazing…we are just 15 feet from it, a female about 2 and a half years old sitting grooming herself, I am getting shivers as I recall each detail now…they almost never charge humans unless provoked so we are feeling fairly ok as we assume she is one of the two cubs born to a mating couple 2 and a half years ago. They stay with their mother until two and sometimes longer so this comes into our head and we cautiously look all around for signs if the mother is nearby…we don’t see any so bring our full attention back to her, she was much higher up the valley wall when we first saw her and amazing again that she got to this point in the time it took us to get there, she’s not too bothered by us and Gajendra has developed this suckling sound which makes carnivores come out to see what’s for dinner and we are a bit wary to use it but decide to…he makes the call and she instantly sits up and looks intently at us, drops and pushes her head out in front of her and then turns herself in a circle, so beautiful, no words can describe, shiny thick fur that has deep rich black and cream coloured spots and patterns. Gajendra stops the call and she keeps standing and then walks a few feet to a grass area and lies down, by this point she decides we are not dinner, and not a threat, so lazes about cleaning her paws and coat and every few minutes looks back at us. This goes on for 30 minutes…and we finally leave her alone and let her get on with her day (our night…) and we decide to not look for any other species as how could we top this safari and return to the campsite and discuss more points in our efforts to make the sanctuary the best it can be….oh, it was in the highlights of my journeys into the jungle and I know it will most likely never again happen that we could be this close for so long to a Leopard. Thought to share this with you!!
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