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EXPLORATION TEAM: SUBHASHISH PANJA,
DWAIPAYAN GHOSH AND ARNAB BASU
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Story: Arnab Basu
Photography: Dwaipayan Ghosh & Arnab Basu
Call of Corbett
Exploration Series – 10
© All the Information and Photographs published in this report are the properties of Exploring
Nature and cannot be used for commercial or research purposes without prior permission of the
explorers.
CALL OF CORBETT:
EXPLORATION TEAM: SUBHASHISH PANJA,
DWAIPAYAN GHOSH AND ARNAB BASU
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“Tiger is a large-hearted gentleman with boundless courage and that when he is exterminated—as
exterminated he will be unless public opinion rallies to his support—India will be the poorer,
having lost the finest of her fauna.”
― Jim Corbett, Man-eaters of Kumaon
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Content
Page No. Chapter : 1
Diary of Tiger Trio 4
Annexure – I List of Identified Species 23
Annexure – II
Explorers’ Profile 28
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Chapter – 1: Diary of Tiger Trio
13th and 14th April, 2018: Call of Corbett
Jim Corbett National Park is the oldest national park in India and was established in 1936 as
Hailey National Park to protect the endangered Bengal tiger. It is located in Nainital district of
Uttarakhand and was named after Jim Corbett who played a key role in its establishment. The
park was the first to come under the Project Tiger initiative. The park has sub-Himalayan belt
geographical and ecological characteristics. An ecotourism destination, it contains 488 different
species of plants and a diverse variety of fauna. The increase in tourist activities, among other
problems, continues to present a serious challenge to the park's ecological balance.
Corbett has been a haunt for tourists and wildlife lovers for a long time. Tourism activity is only
allowed in selected areas of Corbett Tiger Reserve so that people get an opportunity to see its
splendid landscape and the diverse wildlife. In recent years the number of people coming here
has increased dramatically. Presently, every season more than 70,000 visitors come to the park.
Corbett National Park comprises 520.8 km2 (201.1 sq mi) area of hills, riverine belts, marshy
depressions, grasslands and a large lake. The elevation ranges from 1,300 to 4,000 ft (400 to
1,220 m). Winter nights are cold but the days are bright and sunny. It rains from July to
September.
Dense moist deciduous forest mainly consists of
sal, haldu, peepal, rohini and mango trees. Forest
covers almost 73% of the park, 10% of the area
consists of grasslands. It houses around 110 tree
species, 50 species of mammals, 580 bird species
and 25 reptile species.
A total of 488 different species of plants have been
recorded in the park. Tree density inside the
reserve is higher in the areas of Sal forests and
lowest in the Anogeissus-Acacia catechu forests.
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Total tree basal cover is greater in Sal dominated areas of woody vegetation. Healthy
regeneration in sapling and seedling layers is occurring in the Mallotus philippensis, Jamun and
Diospyros tomentosa communities, but in the Sal forests the regeneration of sapling and
seedling is poor.
Some areas of the park were formerly part of the princely state of Tehri Garhwal. The forests
were cleared to make the area less vulnerable to Rohilla invaders. The Raja of Tehri formally
ceded a part of his princely state to the East India Company in return for their assistance in
ousting the Gurkhas from his domain. The Boksas—a tribe from the Terai—settled on the land
and began growing crops, but in the early 1860s they were evicted with the advent of British
rule. Efforts to save the forests of the region began in the 19th century under Major Ramsay, the
British Officer who was in-charge of the area during those times. The first step in the protection
of the area began in 1868 when the British forest department established control over the land
and prohibited cultivation and the operation of cattle stations. In 1879 these forests were
constituted into a reserve forest where restricted felling was permitted.
After considering the immense significance of Cornett Park in Tiger conservation initiative of
India, we, the explorers of Exploring Nature, thought our journey of biodiversity exploration
and information dissemination effort to increase awareness on nature, would remain incomplete,
if we do not pay tribute to the oldest national park of the country.
Hence, we (Subhashish, Dwaipayan and I),
boarded at Ranikhet Express from old Delhi
railway station in the evening of 13th April, 2018.
The train which started at 10:30 PM of 13th,
reached Ramnagar at 5:30 AM of 14th April. Our
guide cum driver, Nabi, who would be part of our
exploration for next seven days was waiting for us
at station with his safari gypsy. However, when we
met this sixty plus year’s old gentleman for the
first time at Ramnagar station, we had no idea,
what was waiting for us in the forest of Uttarakhand, in his company.
After reaching Ramnagar, we proceeded towards Dhikala, on the way we filled our bean bags
with rice. We generally carry our bean bags empty and fill them with the material of our choice
such as beans, rice, buckwheat shells or plastic or styrofoam beads. An obvious advantage of
this is for travel. It keeps the size and weight to a minimum until we need it, the heavier the fill,
the more stable it can be. However, we try to avoid using plastic or Styrofoam as they are non-
biodegradable and not environment friendly. Therefore, we bought rice from a local shop.
We reached at Dhangari gate of the park at 7:30 AM, and after finishing all entry formalities,
verification of permits etc. we arrived at the forest rest house of Gairal zone, where
accommodation for two nights were arranged in the dormitory.
Corbett National Park is divided into the five
ecotourism zones for the proper management of the
tourism activities in the tiger reserve area. These
zones are Dhikala zone, Bijarani zone, Jhirna Zone,
Dhela zone and Durga Devi zone. Dhikala zone keeps
the celebrity status among all the tourist zones of the
Corbett National Park. Being the most celebrated
ecotourism zone of the Corbett National Park, the
Dhikala zone is well endowed with the spectacular
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wildlife which can be a pure bliss for any wildlife lovers. Dhikala forest rest house and Gairal
forest rest house are two such FRH, situated within zone, where visitors can stay for the night
and enjoy the wilderness.
The Gairal Rest House is the best forest house after
the Dhikala rest house in the Dhikala zone. This
place is a precious gem situated cozily in the lap of
nature away from the crowd and chaos of the city. It
is located around the 13 km from Dhangarhi, the
entry gate of Dhikala zone and around 40 km from
the Ramnagar city. The FRH compound is
safeguarded by the solar electric wire to ward away
wild animals to enter the premises. As the Gairal
FRH is located deep in the forest so an amazing
tranquility envelopes the whole surroundings, making it an enchanting place to calm our mind
from all the chaotic thoughts and invigorate it while staying here. Situated on the Ramganga
river bank, the FRH offers an astounding view of the river bank along with a chance to sight
many animals and witness their activities near the river bed. More often than not, the king of the
forest, the tiger gets sighted near the river bank who visits either for drinking water or in search
of its prey. The herds of elephants can also be seen around the river drinking water or bathing
and playing in the water. This place is also a paradise for bird lovers as one can get amazing
birding opportunity nearby the forest home.
After reaching the FRH, we were welcome by frequent warning call of barking deer from the deep
inside of forest, confirming movement of big cat or at least carnivores nearby.
After keeping our rucksacks in the reception, and
grabbing a quick breakfast we started our first safari of
the series. We entered main forest through Gairal zone
and continued till FRH of Dhikala zone. Morning safari
ended at 10:30 AM. After that there were 4 hours of
rest and lunch break. Afternoon safari started at 2:30
PM, now in reverse direction, i.e., from Dhikala to
Gairal, which continued till 6:30 PM.
The most exciting part of the afternoon safari was getting chased by elephants, and our first
exposure to Nabi’s philosophy of jungle survival, “This is forest, and anything could happen at
any time!” Till end of this series, he would put us in such “threat to survival” situation and
repeat this statement in number of occasions.
At around 3:30 PM, near Rongigarh area of the forest, we
saw two adult female elephants with a calf. They were
coming from the Ramnagar river side. Once our gypsy got
close to them. The matriarch looked at us and raised her
trunk – that was the first level of warning by an elephant –
people who are trained in jungle survival and understand
animal’s warning sign – can understand this behaviour of
elephant.
We cautioned Nabi, but he uttered his survival philosophy
and kept moving on towards them. She shook her head and flapped her ears – second level of
warning. The next level would be nothing but chasing, and that’s what exactly happened when
we ceased to stop. The matriarch started chasing towards us, and now we had no option but
retreating. Parade of elephants with cub, are always dangerous as they are extremely concerned
about their calves’ safety and don’t like any other animals or human to come close.
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Once we started moving back, the herds started moving in opposite direction into bushes. As we
were stopped and observing the movement from a distance, we saw an adult tusker (male
elephant) appeared from the river side and started following the herds.
Again we started following them, after sometime, the
other female in the group noticed us. Now it’s her turn
to warn us. She raised trunk and started flapping ears.
This time we didn’t let it reach at next level,
unanimously we decided to leave the place keeping the
herds undisturbed. That was a typical behaviour
pattern of elephants. All the female members are
equally concerned about the safety of youngest member
of the family.
While coming back to our FRH in Gairal, we spotted a marsh crocodile basking on the river bed
of Ramganga.
Species spotted on Day One:
Mammals: Rhesus Macaque, Terhai Langoor, Spotted deer, Sambar deer, Grey Mangoose,
Elephants, Muntjack (barking deer), and Wild Boar.
Birds: Large billed crow, Common kingfisher, White breasted kingfisher, brown headed barbet,
Streak throated woodpecker, Grey wagtail, Magpie robin, White browed wagtail, River lapwing,
Jungle babbler, Common Myna, Indian pea fowl, Green bee-eater, Red jungle fowl, Himalayan
Griffon, Egyptian vulture, Brahminy Kite, Serpent Eagle, Plum headed parakeet, Indian roller,
Red whiskered bulbul, Black drongo, Paradise Fly catcher (white, female and juvenile).
Reptiles: Marsh Crocodile
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15th April, 2018: Conflict over dominance
We started our second day’s safari at 6:00 AM from Gairal FRH and at around 7:30 AM near
Dhikala grass land, we observed another fascinating behaviour pattern of Asiatic elephant in
wild.
Imagine the great grandmother of a traditional Indian family always picking which restaurants
the sisters, aunts, and mother will go to while the teenage brother leaves the family and joins a
group of other men…In context of elephant family, the adult male elephants leave their herd and
form a separate bachelor herd. We encountered a similar bachelor herd in the morning of 15th
April at Dhikala grassland.
Like many animals, elephants form a hierarchy within their social structure, thereby reducing
conflict over resources (such as food, water, and space). In elephants, a matriarch (the oldest
and wisest female) leads her bond group of related females to find food and water and to avoid
predators. If the herd becomes too large for the available food or water supply, some of the
females might split off from the herd and form their own groups, each headed by an older
relative. In this way, we know that elephants live in fission-fusion societies. However, scientists
are still investigating the complexities of elephant social structure.
Dominance in males is a little different than that in females, or cows. Males, or bulls, form
bachelor herds when they reach sexual maturity.
For example, while the dominant cow is the herd
leader, the dominant bull is usually the individual
that mates with the most females and beats out
other males in contests of strength. Interestingly,
dominant bulls who are in musth tend to remain
in musth (and maintain a higher production of
testosterone) longer than younger, less dominant
bulls.
In the Dhikala grassland, we observed conflict
between three tuskers over dominance for quite a
good duration. We saw the biggest among them
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were not allowing the smallest one to be part of the herds. Initially we thought the smallest one
is not related to other two, so they are resisting him in joining the group. The smallest one was
trying to climb over a ridge, near a dry river body at the grassland. But the biggest one was
resisting him in doing so. He was shaking his head vigorously to express his unpleasantness.
After a while they challenged each other and with a huge trumpet they locked their trunks and
started pushing each other. The smallest one gave up after some time, but didn’t leave the
group. All three of them started moving together, and started disappearing in distant grassland.
After few minutes, again we heard trumpet, and all
three of them reappeared. Now the medium sized
tusker, started pushing the smallest one. Again two of
them got engaged and started pushing each other. The
biggest one joined them after a while, and both of them
started pushing the smallest one. It continued for some
time, eventually the smallest one submitted. Then they
started moving together and got disappeared in bushes.
We suspected it was a conflict between them to
establish dominance over the bachelor herds.
The sun of early summer in the forest of Uttara Khand started become brighter as day
progressed, we left that grass land and after moving few kilometres, we saw couple of gypsies
were waiting near a water body. People on the gypsies were whispering ‘tiger’. This word in a
forest has different significance for the tourists, photographers, and forest guide and gypsy
drivers – and becomes more nerve-racking, when you know this is forest of Corbett Park. Bengal
tigers, although plentiful, are not easily spotted due to the abundance of foliage - camouflage - in
the reserve. Thick jungle, the Ramganga river and plentiful prey make this reserve an ideal
habitat for tigers who are opportunistic feeders and prey upon a range of animals. The tigers in
the park have been known to kill much larger animals such as buffalo and even elephant for
food. The tigers prey upon the larger animals in rare cases of food shortage. There have been
incidents of tigers attacking domestic animals in times of shortage of prey.
After few minutes of waiting we spotted a female
tiger, the tawny coat nicely camouflaged in
matching sub Himalayan foliage, appeared in dense
bushes and slowly moving into further deep in the
forest. This was our first tiger sighting in Corbett
Park after our previous encounter with the gorgeous
animal in the forest of Tadoba – Andhari in
Maharashtra.
At 10:00 AM, we concluded our morning safari and
arrived at Dhikala FRH for breakfast and rest for
next 4 hours. After that we started our afternoon safari at 2:30 PM, again from Dhikala to Gairal.
When we were driving through Thandi Sarak, we spotted one female elephant with calf. When we
were deciding to follow them, we heard sounds of breaking of branches from our left side.
It was not good idea to have elephant at both front and behind of gypsy. In the case of chasing,
we would not have any escape route. Therefore, we reversed our gypsy and waited at a distance
from where we can keep eyes on the sources of the sound. Soon after two elephants were
appeared at uphill, they were climbing down while braking branches. We let them go and then
turned towards Kalichar. Nabi told us, Thandisarak is known for elephant movement. Because of
tree coverage the place always remains cool, and elephants prefer this part of forest for
movement. That is another reason, why less number of tourist gypsies use this path in forest.
We were thinking, in spite of knowing that fact, why he had brought us there.
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When we asked this question to him, he replied, “This is forest, and anything could happen at
any time!”
After 4-5 km of driving, we spotted a parade of
elephants were walking slowly, in a single file,
towards water body of Kalichar. At least 20
elephants were there including – male, female and
calves. One male was at the front, calves were in
the middle, surrounded by female or cow
elephants, and the matriarch at the end. This is a
typical formation of a parade of elephants in
movement. Disney wasn’t lying in The Jungle Book
– elephants actually do walk in single file when
they are on the move, for instance while in search
of food and water. The calves will sometimes hold
on to their mother’s tails with their trunks to keep up, while other female elephants surround
them to protect them from danger.
Elephant families have a matriarchal head, meaning that an older, experienced lady elephant
leads the herd. A family usually consist of a mother, her sisters, daughters their babies (calves).
Occasionally, non-related elephants join to form families. Female family units range from three
to twenty five elephants. Sometimes herds of female elephants combine with groups of bull
elephants to form larger clans. Herd aggregations of 500 to 1000 elephants have been recorded
around watering holes and other sources of food and water. Herd aggregation has also been
documented in areas where poaching is rampant.
The parade was going for drinking and bathing.
Within few minutes another parade was appeared
from the river side, coming back after finishing
their bathing and drinking. The leading male of
the retreating parade stopped, the whole parade
followed him. He raised his trunk towards the
approaching parade. In a moment the
approaching parade changed their course and
took a different route to reach water body. None of
the parade wanted to bump into each other for
unnecessary commotion and conflict. Amazing
display of discipline and mutual respect in wild.
There was also a possibility that two herds were interrelated. Although they tend to be close, an
elephant family can split. This decision is influenced by ecological factors, such as the
availability of food and water in the area, and social factors, such as how well the elephants get
on, the size of the group or the death of a matriarch. As such, different herds living over vast
terrain can be interrelated. These ‘bond groups’ keep in touch with each other through rumbling
calls and usually stay within a mile of each other. We believe, in the vast grassland of Dhikala,
there should be existence of few interrelated herds there.
We followed the parade which was approaching water body and observed their bathing activities
from a distance. We witnessed how female members of the group were taking care of calves.
Pushing them to water and submerging them, so that they can get their whole body washed and
cooled. Pulling them out of water, when the herds were leaving. Babysitting is an important
aspect of elephant behaviour. Female elephants (cows) help look after each other’s calves.
Babysitting other female’s calves is important for elephant development; young females learn
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how to look after the young, and the calves are shown how it’s done. The survival rate of a calf
greatly increases when more females are present and willing take care of it.
Bathing together is another typical behavioural
pattern of elephant, which shows strong family ties.
They love to have river bath, the trunks are used
like a hose to spray water across the body. To help
protect the skin from parasites and biting insects,
elephants wallow in mud or spray dust on their wet
skin. Once the mud and dust dry, elephants
scratch their body with rock or trees to remove
parasites. Elephant family have great fun in the
river.
While leaving the place, we saw another parade
were walking towards the water body.
While leaving the forest for the day, we found one huge tusker was taking bath alone in water,
near the place where we saw marsh crocodile
on first day. He saw us too, raised his trunk
and soon after left the water, climbed uphill
and started walking towards nearby grass
land. Clearly we interfered in his privacy. We
waited there for some time and watched his
movement. He was a full grown adult and his
male reproductive organ suggested that he was
in musth and ready for mating. Most likely, he
was going to join a female herds, as we saw a
group of cow elephants and another tusker too,
in distant forest. The previous one joined them.
When we were about to exit, at around 6:00 PM, there was sudden intermittent warning call of
burking deer and pea fowl. The elephants were also found little restless and started trumpeting.
Presence of tiger was suspected. But it was time to leave forest.
Later in the evening, at around 7:30 PM, when we were at our dormitory in Gairal zone, frequent
warning call of burking deer was heard from close by forest and that continued for at least 10
minutes. That was our last night in Gairal FRH. Later in the morning Dwaipayan said, he woke
up at 3:30 AM, and heard desperate warning calls from forest.
That time we didn’t know what surprises were waiting for us in our next day’s morning safari.
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New Species spotted on Day Two:
Birds: Tawny fish owl, Blue headed barbet, Brahminy starling, Bush chat, Grey headed fish
eagle, Red vented bulbul, Rock pigeon, Collard dove, Spotted dove, Indian grey hornbill, Red
wattled lapwing, Crested king fisher, Rose ringed parakeet, Paddy field pipit, Crested lark, Grey
headed wood pecker
Mammals: Indian Fox, Bengal Tiger (female)
16th April, 2018: The day of surprises
16th April, morning we packed our rucksacks and loaded in gypsy, as we had to leave Gairal FRH
and the night accommodation was booked in Dhikala FRH. Around, 6:00 AM, we started our
day’s safari. The normal or commonly used route to enter forest from the FRH, was turning right
from the solar powered electric fence. But Nabi wanted to try something different and turned left.
This is another speciality of Nabi, he doesn’t want to follow the conventional route of eco-
tourism, marked for tourists. That sometime increases the risk along with the thrill factor
associated with exploration.
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After 200-300 meters on that route, we saw something
was sitting on the road, its back was towards us and it
facing to the direction of our course. Therefore, it didn’t
see us, initially it looked like a rabbit, as two ear like
shape were visible on its head. But colour and size was
not clear, as it was just first dawn of the day. Whatever
it was, we stopped. In few moments we realized it was
a tiger sitting on forest road, probably waiting for the
prey. As we exclaimed, it noticed us, and stood up
suddenly and ran into deep forest adjacent to that
road. We could see a full grown adult female tiger. We
took her in surprise as well, so she was bit scared. We decided to stay there for some time. After
waiting for good 5-6 minutes, we started hearing strong warning call of barking deer, jungle
fowls joined that call soon after. All these confirmed, the tiger was still nearby and on move.
Eventually the tiger appeared from our left side part of the forest, where she entered a while ago.
The female tiger came out in the clear area, looked at
us and started observing us. We were observing her
too, through our camera lenses, and our right index
fingers were busy in clicking shutters. She was just
100 meters away from us. She lowered her upper
body a bit, slightly leaned towards us, for a moment
we thought she was going to chase. But then she
changed her mind probably, crossed the road and
went to other side of the forest. There were still
vigorous warning calls from both side of the forest.
There were quite a few spotted deer roaming around.
We could sense, the tiger was hungry and preparing
for kill. If we could stay there for some time, probably we could witness and capture that breath-
taking moment in our cameras. But, at the same time we thought, that would be creating
disturbances in her morning forest work and interfering in the natural phenomenon of her
survival process. Nabi also appreciated that thoughts and we left that place leaving the prey and
predator in the lap of nature, for their natural faith.
After this, we went to Jharana Jhari, and after a kilometre of journey, we found our road was
blocked. We found one Rohini (Mallotus philippensis) tree was uprooted and blocked the path.
Couple of other gypsies were also waiting there.
Apparently, the tree was uprooted by an elephant, sign of
elephant de buckling and also fresh elephant poop were all-over
there. Nabi got down form the car, so did us. It is not allowed for
tourists to get down in forest, unless it is a designated stoppage
area. But that was an emergency situation. Nabi, asked other
drivers to help in clearing the branches. Few other tourists also
came forward to help. Now, we were on our feet on forest, three
gypsies, parked at one side of the path and then the huge
uprooted Rohini tree with all branches. We were somewhere
between the gypsies and the tree. The other side of the path was
open, which was connect to Dhangarhi gate of the park. Now, if
the elephant in question, which apparently uprooted the tree,
appeared again from that side, we didn’t have any escape route.
Another guide of the park, Kaleem, pointed out this situation and
also instantly came up with the solution. Which was nothing but
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climbing the steep uphill, from which the tree fell.
What an excellent survival idea, we tried to visualize, a wild
elephant behind us, and we were trying to climb an uphill
slope, covered with thorny bushes, with camera and lenses in
hand!
Nabi again created another adventure opportunity for us.
Anyway, we tried clearing loose leaves and branches and cut
the thick one. But it was not easy task, as we didn’t have
adequate tools for that job. We took out chain saw and Swiss
knife from our survival kit. But cutting thick girth of a Rohini
tree trunk with such tools, was a childish idea.
Most of us were agreed, it was not possible to cut the whole tree to clear the path, with available
tools. It would be rather wise to wait for the forest department lumberjack, who were anyway
had been informed by then. But, Nabi was in disagreement as he had a teaspoon size of faith on
department. He kept motivated and encouraged everybody to continue the tree cutting job,
before department people had arrived.
We had famous fashion and fine art photographer Mr. Akash
(or Akashendu) Das, available with us, as part of the tourist
group, who is also a nature and wildlife photographer by
hobby and works for National Geography as freelancer.
Apparently, Nabi and Mr. Das had been in similar situation
before on a state highway. Although not in forest, but the
situation was more alarming, as they were on road and a
tornado was approaching. Nabi claimed, he and Mr. Das cut
a tree, much thicker than the tree in question in Corbett
Park, and they just used Mr. Das’s swiss knife to finish the
job. Mr. Das indeed was carrying a swiss knife with him,
which he took out during conversation with an attempt to
cut the Rohini tree. But, the knife didn’t appear impressive
enough, in fact it was hardly better than the one we were
carrying in our survival kit. Mr. Das, himself sounded less
confident, and not as sure as Nabi was, as far as the size of
girth of the tree on state highway was concerned, which they
cut in previous occasion. However, looking at his enthusiasm
and confidence, no body objected Nabi. After all, he was the
senior most and most experienced forester present there. Hence, tree cutting job continued for
some time, yielded in braking of chain saw, but not before we successfully removed one thick
branch of the tree.
After the chain saw was broken, we ceased our activity and started
waiting for the lumberjack and officials of forest department. But Mr.
Akash Das, continued his effort with his swiss knife, and kept saying the
swiss knife he used in previous case was better than the current one. As if
his whole objective was, not to cut the tree, but to prove that previous
swiss knife was the better one.
This whole drama was going on for more than two hours, and ended when
department people arrived, and cut the tree and removed it by a tractor.
After that, there was not much left in our morning safari and we headed
towards Dhikala FRH, where our night accommodation was arranged in a log hut dormitory.
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Dhikala forest Lodge is located in the core area of Corbett
national park, it is enclosed by the effective solar fence to
keep wild animals away. Dhikala FRH in the Dhikala zone
has the maximum amount of facilities for the guests
which includes canteen, jeep and elephant safaris, trained
guides etc. the FRH is one big stretch of flat land on the
edge of a ridge facing the Rāmgangā reservoir and
therefore a great place to view wildlife from a safe place.
Amongst the choice of rooms Hutment is on the extreme
end of the FRH land and very secluded with an extremely
good view, cabins in the centre and
the new FRH on the entry side which has a parking lot in front. All of them
have attached bathrooms and fairly well kept with the limited resources the
staff has access to. Dormitory is right behind everything with a common
bathroom facility built under a thatched roof about 20 meters away from the
Dorm. The two Dorms are side by side in one log hut and are very small.
There is just about enough space in the middle for two people to stand and
surrounded by four 3-tier railway sleeper like bunk beds.
Our afternoon safari of the day started at 3:30 PM, towards Kamal
Patti and then we turned towards Chuha Pani. Elephant population
is very high in this part of the park, and also infamous for elephant
attack. At around 4:00 PM, on Sambar road, a herd of elephants
with female and calves were spotted. They were found crossing a
water body.
Our day was ended with another incident of elephant chase at
Thandi sarak. A herd of four elephant was crossing road, there was another gypsy ahead of us,
and all of a sudden that one speeded up and crossed the herd, which caused annoyance for the
leading female of the herd. As a result, she chased our gypsy and we had to reverse and run
away from the place.
New Species Spotted on Day Three:
Birds: Common rose finch (male and female), Pied bush chat, Sriated prinia, Palm swift.
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17th April, 2018: The drama in the park
17th April, we started our safari from the log hut of Dhikla zone at 6:00 AM, towards Jharna
Jhari, and then to Fulaichar. On the way we spotted two elephants on both side of the road. As
we wanted to cross that stretch quickly, we speeded up and then took a turn. While taking turn,
at the curve of the road we were almost head on with another female elephant. The safety
protocol of the forest is, whenever you are close to elephant, never stop the gypsy, run fast and
cross the animal quickly. So did we, charged the elephant back and escaped. The elephant got
scared made a trumpet and ran into bushes. We saw she rushed to a herd of adult female
elephant. The adults looked at us, we were expecting a chase, but nothing such happened and
we escaped.
At 7:50 AM, we reached at Ringora, spotted a huge lone
tusker. Moment he saw us, started walking towards us.
We were observing him, holding our breath, he increased
his speed, looked like going to charge us. We moved from
that place, the tusker was turned back and started
walking in opposite direction. He was still not
comfortable, repeatedly raising his trunk. Probably
smelling something, that was not safe or secure for him,
probably smelling presence of a predator. He trumpet
couple of times, another tusker was spotted coming from
other side. After some time, both disappeared deep inside forest.
Around 10:30 we came back to our log hut to finish breakfast. We packed our bags and other
belongings and left Dhikala zone. For next three nights we would stay in Bijrani zone. To leave
the Dhikala zone we had to reach Dhangari gate first and then from there to Amdanda gate,
which was close to Ramnagar railway station. Our accommodation was arranged in the Forest
Rest House of Bijrani gate. It took more than an hour to reach there.
Among the six safari zones, Bijrani zone is considered as the best zone after the Dhikala zone to
spot the tiger. The picturesque landscape of this zone, which consists of large grass fields known
Page | 17
as Chaurs and dense Sal forest, plenty of waterholes and river streams is no less enchanting
than the Dhikala zone. The chances of tiger spotting in this zone are almost similar to the
Dhikala zone and the tiger sighting is reported often by the safari tourists. Along with the big
cats like Bengal tigers and leopards, several types other animals like wild elephants, black bears
as well as different types of deer and antelopes namely Chital, Sambar, Hog Deer are found in
this zone. Also a perfect place for the birding, there are around 600 species of resident and
migratory birds are seen here.
Aamdanda gate is the entrance to the Bijrani zone, which
is located at the distance of around 1 km from the
Ramnagar city. There is a buffer zone of 5 km after
entering the gate, which you have to cross to get into the
core zone. There are two forest rest houses located in this
zone and are available for tourists to stay here after
making a booking for the night stay. One is the Bijrani
forest rest house and the other is Malani forest rest
house. The day safari is not allowed to stay here for the
night, but the day safari can enjoy the elephant ride from
here. The elephant safari is only available in the Bijrani
and Dhikala zones and is subject to availability as there are limited numbers of elephants used
for the safari ride.
Our safari in Bijari zone started at 3:00 PM. Nabi got an intelligence that one tigress was spotted
at a particular point of forest. We rushed towards forest, and started waiting at that point, where
she was seen in morning. We waited there for an hour. After some time one gypsy came back
and informed us that an old tigress was spotted lying on the ground near Chital more.
When we reached there, at least 5 gypsies were already there, and more and more were coming.
Within a minute, an absolute chaotic situation got created, around 30 gypsies were there, and
tourists in all gypsies were in competition on who will reach to a convenient spot, from where
they can see the animal properly. The impatient tourists, were desperate to see the tigers and
take photos of her, as if they got a lifetime opportunity, and made the situation in complete sixes
and sevens.
They were ready to do anything from pushing each other,
jumping from one gypsy to another, walking or running on
forest ground to reach close to the tigers, even if that risked
their lives. Probably they forgot, they were in wild forest and
dealing with wild animals, not in zoological garden, where
animals were in captivity. The superiority feeling and ego of
being human were in display shamelessly. The thoughts of
non-human being cannot cause any harm to human being,
were started becoming prominent, and if there had been a
counter attack by the animal, whose peace was getting
destroyed and patience was in trial, then that would have
been the fault of the animal herself, in the law of human
court. As a consequence punishment would have given to
her by the so called superior species of this plant.
Anyway, nothing happened from her side. She was
completely indifferent and enjoying her afternoon nap on
light sunlight. Apparently, she was old and injured, and
couldn’t hunt for some days, which made her week and
slow. However, there was a potential that such situation might turn her into a man eater.
Page | 18
Tiger attacks are an extreme form of human–wildlife conflict which occur for various reasons
and have claimed more human lives than attacks by any of the other big cats. The most
comprehensive study of deaths due to tiger attacks estimates that at least 373,000 people died
due to tiger attacks between 1800 and 2009, the majority of these attacks occurring in South
and Southeast Asia. Over the last five centuries, an estimated 1 million people have been eaten
by tigers. In Southeast Asia, attacks gradually declined after peaking in the nineteenth century,
but attacks in South Asia have remained high, particularly in the Sundarbans.
Near Corbett Park and surrounding areas of the park in state of Uttara Khand, every year there
were lot of news of tiger attack get reported.
On 17th March, 2017, two persons were killed and a boy was injured by a tiger in the Ramnagar
area of the Corbett tiger landscape in the morning. The forest department personnel reached the
site of the incident after some efforts were successful in immobilising and caging the male tiger
aged about five years. According to information received, Muradabad (Uttar Pradesh) native
Ramdas and his family work as labourers in the Dabka river in the Terai area of Kumaon in
Uttarakhand. On Thursday morning during a break in the quarrying activity on the riverbed, at
about 8 AM Ramdas and his wife Bhagwati Devi went to the woods of Dabka in Belpadao range
of Terai west forest division to collect firewood. His son Sachin and other persons had also gone
along with them into the jungle. It is reported that when all the persons were coming out of the
woods with collected firewood, a tiger attacked the group near the Dabka river. The big cat lifted
Bhagwati Devi and carried her into the woods as the shocked persons accompanying her started
to shout and raise the alarm. Instead of scaring the tiger away, the noise had the reverse effect
as the tiger returned to the spot and attacked the group of persons injuring Sachin.
Statistics released in 2017 by India’s environment ministry reveal that 1,144 people were killed
between April 2014 and May 2017. That figure breaks down to 426 human deaths in 2014-15,
and 446 the following year. The ministry released only a partial count for 2016-17, with 259
people killed by elephants up to February of this year, and 27 killed by tigers through May.
India’s population of 1.3bn is still growing, and as it does it is increasingly encroaching into the
country’s traditional wild spaces and animal sanctuaries, where people compete with wildlife for
food and other resources. The growth of human settlements is often seen as economic
development. But for some who are living on the edge of wildlife borders, this development can
come at a high cost.
We have taken away spaces from wild lives, and now we are visiting national parks, what does
not provide enough space to them, to show our so called love for nature and wild lives. At least
we should know how nature and wild lives expect us to behave when we are at their space.
Unfortunately, it seemed the tourists in Bijari zone, on that afternoon, were ignorant about
behavioural requirements in wild forest and didn’t know how to respect wild animals and nature.
Therefore, they started behaving violent, as if their million dollars are in stake and needed to be
recovered by seeing the tiger. In all these doldrums, one tourist jumped on our gypsy and
damaged the bonnet of it. Nabi got furious and then decided to leave the forest immediately, but
not before verbally thrashing that mature adult man in front of a full house tourists and forest
guides.
Hundreds tourists, drivers and forest guides on that afternoon showed, we human being are only
concerned about our own amusement, and have least respect and empathy for nature and wild
lives.
New Species spotted on Day Four:
Birds: White crested laughing thrush, Blue whistling thrush, Blue tailed bee-eater, Crested
Hawk eagle (male, female and juvenile), Intermediate egret, Brown fish owl.
Page | 19
18th April, 2018: The Company of Nabi
The last afternoon’s experience had shaken us no doubt, Nabi was visibly
upset, but he told us, it was not just because of tourists’ behaviour. He
was also feeling bad for abusing that gentleman (who jumped onto our
gypsy) in front of his family members and other tourists and guides in the
forest. He decided, it would be better to see some of the relatively
unexplored part of the forest, rather than going to general route, where all
tourist gypsies go. Probably that was another way to avoid unruly tourists
in forest.
We noticed some pug marks of tiger
and started following that and
reached up to Ringori. Afternoon
safari started at 3:00 PM, we went to waterhole number 6
and 8, then Fire Line and then up to Malani FRH. Whole
path was covered by dry sal tree leaves, suggesting hardly
any gypsy movement happens there. On one side there was
sharp and thorny uphill and on other side, steep sloped
ditch. Almost impossible to reverse gypsy. In case any
encounter with elephant, the only means of escape would
be leaving the vehicle and climbing through uphill. That
was apparently the most dangerous route of the forest.
Single road, only one gypsy can somehow pass through.
Elephant movement, especially lone tuskers who left herds,
was quite common on that route. The sign of elephant
debuckling was observed many times en route.
While continuing driving through that place, when we were
counting every moments to end the route. After reaching a particular point, Nabi told another
chilling story related to that place. He told us how two forest department staffs were killed by a
male tiger. They couldn’t escape as their path was blocked by a tusker. We asked Nabi, if we
were in such situation, what we would do. He said, as usual: “This is forest, anything can
happen!” At around 5:10 PM, when we were near water hole number 4, we heard strong warning
call of barking deer. But nothing more than that.
While coming out of the forest we witnessed two amazing natural phenomena – killing attempt of
a Bengal Monitor and hunting of Indian Earth Boa by a Crested Serpent Eagle.
The Bengal monitor (Varanus bengalensis) or
common Indian monitor, is a monitor lizard found
widely distributed over the Indian Subcontinent, as
well as parts of Southeast Asia and West Asia. This
large lizard is mainly terrestrial, and its length can
range from about 61 to 175 cm from the tip of the
snout to the end of the tail. Young monitors may
be more arboreal, but adults mainly hunt on the
ground, preying mainly on arthropods, but also
taking small terrestrial vertebrates, ground birds,
eggs and fish. Although large monitors have few
predators apart from humans who hunt them for
meat, younger individuals are hunted by many predators. Bengal monitors are usually solitary
and usually found on the ground, although the young are often seen on trees. Bengal monitors
Page | 20
tend to remain active the whole day with different activities such as feeding. Large adults may
ascend vertical tree trunks, where they sometimes stalk and capture roosting bats. Their normal
prey consists of beetles, grubs, orthopterans, scorpions, snails, ants and other invertebrates.
Vertebrate prey are comparatively rare, and includes frogs, fish, lizards, snakes and rodents.
Bengal monitors are also scavengers. They sometimes feed on dead animals. In areas where
livestock are common, they often visit dung, where they forage for beetles and other insects.
During morning safari, when we were entering forest, we
saw one Crested Serpent Eagle, swooped into ground
and then started walking slowly. We suspected probably it
spotted a snake. Nabi, also reiterated our suspicion by
pointing out the bushes where the eagle landed, and
saying that such bushes are known for habitats of
snakes.
Crested Serpent-Eagle hunts from a high perch at
clearings’ edges. It watches for prey, motionless during
long moments at tree top, with flat crest. When a prey is
located, it drops almost vertically, and it catches
arboreal snakes, reptiles, small birds and mammals. It
takes its preys on the ground, and also takes dead
snakes when it finds one.
End of the morning safari, when we were coming out we
saw another eagle dropped vertically in similar fashion
into a bush and then again took off rapidly, and when it
took off, we saw one Indian Sand Boa was hanging from
its strong grip of claws. It landed on a tree and sat there
for some time, and when it saw us again flew away to
another distant tree and sat there for some time. We could still see the bird of prey for few more
time.
Crested Serpent-Eagle is able to twist and turn easily, while chasing prey at high speed among
trees. It is often seen soaring over treetops in the morning, enjoying warm thermals for rising in
the air. It is a very good flier. When it soars, broad wings are held in shallow V.
New Species spotted on Day Five:
Birds: Lesser flame back woodpecker
Reptiles: Bengal Monitor, Indian Sand Boa
Page | 21
19th and 20th April, 2018: The Oldest Tigress of Bijrani
19th April, we started our safari at 6:00 AM, we went to Ringora again, via Jal Pahari. There was
a rumour that a young female tiger is roaming in forest and was also sighted by few tourist
vehicles. It was speculated that the young female was after the territorial dominance over
another oldest tigress of Bijrani zone. Nabi told us, there could be a possibility of sighting the
young tigress in Ringora.
At around 7:30 AM, strong call of burking deer was heard, we waited there for some time and
then moved towards chital road, which was the territory of oldest tigress. At 8:00 AM, near Nalah
of chital road, the old tigress was found walking on road and gradually going inside of forest.
Females are likely to stay within fairly close proximity to their mother, despite not necessarily
having a relationship with her in the
future, while males are likely to go
further away. Therefore, there was also
a speculation that the young female
was actually daughter of the oldest
one, whom we saw at chital road.
A female tiger reaches sexual maturity
at between three and four years old,
and will likely have her first litter then.
Males are about a year older than their
female counterparts when they reach
sexual maturity; that is, between four
and five years old. Females usually
wait about 2.5 years between
Page | 22
pregnancies. However, if she loses a litter, she can produce another one within five months.
The oldest tigress was found very weak and slow in movement. Her skin was loosen and darken.
Naturally, tigers live longer when they are in captivity, since they are not under threat from
poachers, starvation or fires. They receive protection and medical assistance as and when
necessary. Therefore, tigers in captivity have been known to live for about 26 years. Those in the
wild must fight a hard fight to survive. For this reason, their life is shorter, at an average of 10
years.
At around 9:15 AM, near water hole number 6, at machan chowk, we heard few calls of spotted
deer. In afternoon, safari started at 3:00 PM, we went towards badi fire line. At 3:30 PM, again
we hard few warning calls of macaque. One great Indian horn bill was also seen. Then we moved
towards Ringora again. At 5:40 PM, warning call of jungle fowl was heard. We also saw one black
stork and one soft shell turtle. That was the end of safari on the day which was marked by death
anniversary of Jim Edward Corbett.
20th April, morning was over casted and there was little drizzling as well. At 6:00 AM we went to
Jalpahari and then to Ringora as our last attempt to spot the young tigress. We saw pug marks
and also heard light warning calls of sambar. We left forest at 10:00 AM and then after an hour
or two we checked out from Bijrani FRH and headed towards Ramnagar to end our exploration.
New Species spotted on Day Six and Seven:
Birds: Honey Buzzard, Red Avadavat (female and juvenile), Changeable Hawk eagle, Black
shouldered kite, Pied Bush chat, Siberian stone chat, Great Indian Hornbill, Black Stork,
Eurasian Thick Knee with nestlings.
Reptiles: Soft Shell Turtle, Earth Boa
Page | 23
Annexure – I: List of Identified Species
Sl.
No. Name of Species Scientific Name IUCN Status Photograph
Mammals
1 Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta Least Concern
2
Terhai Langur
Semnopithecus entellus Least Concern
3 Spotted Deer Axis axis Least Concern
4 Grey Mongoose
Herpestes edwardsii Least Concern
5
Asian Elephants
Elephas maximus Endangered A2c ver 3.1
6
Northern Red Muntjack (barking Deer)
Muntiacus vaginalis Least Concern
7
Wild Boar
Sus scrofa Least Concern
8
Sambar
Rusa unicolor Vulnerable
A2cd+3cd+4cd ver 3.1
9
Bengal Tiger
Panthera tigris Endangered
A2abcd; C1 ver 3.1
10 Indian Fox Vulpes bengalensis Least Concern
Page | 24
11
Golden Jackal
Canis aureus Least Concern
Birds
1 Large billed crow Corvus macrorhynchos Least Concern
2 Common kingfisher Alcedo atthis Least Concern
3 White breasted Kingfisher
Halcyon smyrnensis Least Concern
4 Brown headed barbet Psilopogon zeylanicus Least Concern
5
Streak throated woodpecker
Picus xanthopygaeus Least Concern
6 Grey wagtail Motacilla cinerea Least Concern
7 Oriental Magpie robin Copsychus saularis Least Concern
8 White browed wagtail Motacilla
maderaspatensis Least Concern
9 River lapwing
Vanellus duvaucelii Near
Threatened ver 3.1
10 Jungle babbler Turdoides striata Least Concern
11 Common Myna Acridotheres tristis Least Concern
12 Indian peafowl Pavo cristatus Least Concern
13 Green bee-eater Merops orientalis Least Concern
14 Red junglefowl Gallus gallus Least Concern
15
Himalayan Griffon
Gyps himalayensis Near
Threatened ver 3.1
16
Egyptian Vulture
Neophron percnopterus Endangered
A2bcde+3bcde ver 3.1
17 Brahminy kite
Haliastur indus Least Concern
ver 3.1
18
Serpent eagle
Spilornis cheela Least Concern
ver 3.1
19 Plum headed parakeet
Psittacula cyanocephala Least Concern
ver 3.1
20 Indian roller Coracias benghalensis Least Concern
Page | 25
ver 3.1
21 Red whiskered bulbul Pycnonotus jocosus Least Concern
22 Black Drongo Dicrurus macrocercus Least Concern
23
Paradise flycatcher (white), female and juvenile
Terpsiphone paradisi Least Concern
24 Tawny fish owl Ketupa flavipes Least Concern
25 Blue headed barbet
Eubucco glaucogularis Near
Threatened ver 3.1
26 Brahminy starling Sturnia pagodarum Least Concern
27
Pied Bush chat
Saxicola caprata Least Concern
28 Grey headed fish eagle
Icthyophaga ichthyaetus Near
Threatened ver 3.1
29 Red vented bulbul Pycnonotus cafer Least Concern
30 Rock pigeon Rock pigeon Least Concern
31 Eurasian Collard dove Streptopelia decaocto Least Concern
32 Spotted dove Spilopelia chinensis Least Concern
33
Indian grey hornbill
Ocyceros birostris Least Concern
34 Red wattle lapwing
35 River lapwing
Vanellus duvaucelii Near Threatened (IUCN
3.1
36 Crested kingfisher Megaceryle lugubris Least Concern
37 Paddyfield pipit Anthus rufulus Least Concern
38 Crested lark Galerida cristata Least Concern
39 Grey headed woodpecker
Dendropicos spodocephalus
Least Concern
40 Rose ringed parakeet Psittacula krameri Least Concern
41
Common rose finch
42
Striated prinia
Prinia crinigera Least Concern
43 Asian Palm swift Cypsiurus balasiensis Least Concern
44 White crested laughing thrush
Garrulax leucolophus Least Concern
Page | 26
45
Blue tailed bee-eater
Merops philippinus Least Concern
46
Crested hawk eagle (juvenile)
Nisaetus cirrhatus Least Concern
47 Intermediate egret Ardea intermedia Least Concern
48
Brown fish owl
Ketupa zeylonensis Least Concern
49 Lesser flame back woodpecker
50
Eurasian thick-knee with nestlings
Burhinus oedicnemus Least Concern
51
Oriental Honey Buzzard
Pernis ptilorhynchus Least Concern
52 Red Avadavat (female and juvenile
Amandava amandava Least Concern
53
Pied Kingfisher
Ceryle rudis Least Concern
54
Great Indian hornbill
Buceros bicornis Near
Threatened (IUCN 3.1)[
Page | 27
55
Black stork
Ciconia nigra Least Concern
Reptiles
1 Earth Boa
2 Bengal Monitor Varanus bengalensis Least Concern
3 Soft shelled turtle Nilssonia hurum Vulnerable
A1cd+2d ver 2.3
4 Marsh crocodile Crocodylus palustris Vulnerable
A2cd ver 3.1
Amphibian
1 None
Insects
1 None
Page | 28
Annexure – II: Explorers’ Profile
Dwaipayan Ghosh, Founder Member of Exploring Nature
Born in Kolkata on 27th September, 1978 and currently based out of
Guwahati, Assam.
An Electrical Engineer by profession and holds B. Tech in Electrical
Engineering from 2004 batch of University of Kalyani.
Has been working for Construction, Renovation & Modernisation of EHV
Electrical Sub-Stations; Erection, Testing and Commissioning of Power
Transformers and Equipment (Like Transformer, Circuit Breaker, Current
Transformer, Potential Transformer, Isolator, Control & Relay Panels etc.) for
last twelve years.
Worked for Sapurjee Palonjee; ALSTOM T&D India Limited (Systems
Business); Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. (Electrical Contract Division); and
Utility Powertech Ltd. (A Joint Venture Of Reliance Energy Ltd. & NTPC) etc.
Currently working as Manager – Execution in Genus Power Infrastructure
Limited (ECC Division).
Holds Certificates in Nature and Wildlife from Wildlife Campus, South Africa (Affiliated to Field Guides Association
of South Africa) on Wildlife Management; Anti-Poaching; Animals Tracks & Signs; Trails Guiding; Birding by
Habitat; Snakes & Reptiles of Lowveld and Digital Wildlife Photography.
Participated in about 24 biodiversity expeditions, which include Corbett National Park, Uttara Khand; Palkot Sloth
Bear Sanctuary, Jharkhand;Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserves, Maharshtra; Jawai Dam and its surroundings,
Rajasthan;Tiger Reserves of Satpura, Pench and Kanha (Madhya Pradesh); Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary
(Karnataka); Nagarhole National Park (Karnataka); Bandipur National Park (Karnataka); Eravikulam National Park
(Kerala) and Periyar Tiger Reserve (Kerala); Kaziranga National Park (Assam); Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary (Assam);
Clouded Leopard National Park/Sipahijala Wildlife Sanctuary (Tripura); Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary (Tripura);
Bandhabgarh National Park (Madhya Pradesh); Sundarban Tiger Reserve (West Bengal); Gorumara National Park
(West Bengal); Jaldapara Wildlife Sanctuary (West Bengal); Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary (West Bengal);
Rollapadu Wildlife Sanctuary (Andhra Pradesh); Mahavir Harina Vanasthali National Park (Telangana) – for
Butterfly Photography; Gir National Park (Gujarat); Wild Ass Sanctuary (Gujrat); and Urban and Sub-Urban Bird
Photography in West Bengal, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh etc.
Page | 29
Arnab Basu, Member of Exploring Nature
Born in Kolkata on 17th June, 1978 and currently based out
of Bengaluru.
A Sustainability Consultant by profession and holds
B.Sc with major in Botany and Zoology from 2000 batch of
University of Calcutta; MBA in Environment Management from
2004 batch of Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business
Management (IISWBM), Kolkata; Diploma in Chemical
Engineering and Industrial Safety.
Has about 15 years of experience in overall
management and supervision of Sustainability, Safety
Transformation, Industrial and Construction Environment,
Occupational Health & Safety and Quality Systems;
compliance assessment, assurance, verification and evaluation
of EHS legal requirements and Corporate EHS management
system; implementation, evaluation and assurance of
Corporate Sustainability Reporting and GHG accounting; training and consultancy for
Quality, Health, Safety, Social Accountability and Environmental Management Systems.
Worked with National and multinational EHS consultancy farm like EQMS, Deloitte etc,
currently working as Principal Consultant in ERM.
Participated in about 16 biodiversity expeditions, which include Corbett National Park,
Uttara Khand; Palkot Sloth Bear Sanctuary, Jharkhand; Speyside and Cairngorm
National Park, Scotland, UK; Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharshtra; Gunug Leuser
National Park, North Sumatra, Indonesia;Tiger Reserves of Satpura, Pench and Kanha
(Madhya Pradesh); Kruger National Park in South Africa, Ranganathittu Bird Sanctuary
(Karnataka); Nagarhole National Park (Karnataka); Bandipur National Park (Karnataka);
Eravikulam National Park (Kerala) and Periyar Tiger Reserve (Kerala); Pobitora Wildlife
Sanctuary (Assam); Gir National Park (Gujrat); Wild Ass Sanctuary (Gujrat); and
Biodiversity study of Ghatshila and Jhargram (West Bengal), Araku Valley and Vizag Port
(Andhra Pradesh), Forest of Bankura and Midnapore (West Bengal) etc.
Conducted assessment of urban and sub urban biodiversity at Kolkata, Salt Lake
Wetland, South Bengal (West Bengal).
Conducted Study on Joint Forest Management and Wild Life in South West Bengal under
the supervision of Department of Forest, Govt. of West Bengal and under the joint
guidance of Environment Management department of IISWBM and National Afforestation
and Eco-development Board, Govt. of India.
Page | 30
Subhashish Panja, Member of Exploring Nature
Born in Kolkata on 1st December, 1977 and currently based
out of Mumbai.
An engineer by profession holding Diploma in Mechanical
Engineering
Currently working as Procurement Specialist in energy
sector with an US MNC in Mumbai
Has been working in energy sector for about 15 years now in
various capacities including Gas Turbine Maintenance, Power Plant
Operations, Supply Chain and Contract Management.
An enthusiast in wildlife expeditions.
Participated in tours to Corbett National Park, Uttara Khand; Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharshtra;
Sundarban, Bauxa Forests etc.
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