The deer forest

ONE OF THE FEW ARTIFICIALLY CULTIVATED FORESTS IN INDIA , THE SAGRESHWAR WILDLIFE S ANCTUARY HAS A PLETHORA OF FLORA AND FAUNA INCLUDING A VARIETY OF DEER, FINDS OUT NASSER LALLJEE.

As the dry grass p and you get a glimpse of deer peeking inquisitively the proximity of these beautiful creatures mesmerising, you with their lure. As you look elsewhere, you realise that you are, being minutely observed by innumerable gentle and beautiful spotted deer, the always hunted amazing blackbucks, gentle sambars; not to mention a host of birds perched upon trees watching your every move, at which they will decide to either remain, where they are or run for safety.

Welcome to Sagareshwar wildlife sanctuary. As you turn off the highway and enter the protected area the first thing that strikes you, is the cluster of temples on your left which emphasise the fact that this sanctuary has a religious, cultural and archaeological significance.

This is an artificially cultivated forest in an isolated patch of forest and hills surrounded by rich agricultural land situated at the tri junction of three Tehsils, namely Kadegaon, Walwa and Palus in sangli district. The area is hilly mainly comprising of basalt rock without a sufficient supply of water and in which most of the wildlife species were in troduced.

The maximum temperature in summer is 44 degrees Celsius and minimum temperature in winter is 8 degree Celsius. The area receives the rains between June and September. The main annual rainfall is 600mm. in 1980, it had a status of reserved forest covering an area of 10.87 sq. km, and was declared a wildlife sanctuary by the revenues & Forest Department.

Flora and fauna

Despite its limitations, today after immense effort the forest boasts of about 180 blackbucks, sambar, 300 spotted deer, 10 barking, foxes, porcupines, wild boars, hares and peacocks are inhabitants of this shelter. Rat snakes, Indian cobras, monitor lizards are some of the reptiles found here.

As you take their jeep or an equally powered vehicle on the roads created by the forest departments, you find trees like dhawda, khair, teak, sandal, karanj, hiwar, neem, mango, peepal, anjan, gulmohar, subabul, sisoo, shiras, Australian species, tamarind, kushid, nilgiri and a number of other species that have been planted to protect the ecosystem.

There are no major carnivorous species like tigers, lions or panthers however species like hyena, wolf fox and porcupines are found in the protected area, so there are no real conflicts for the forest officials to worry about. The only worry is when these timid animals stray from the sanctuary which is not fully enclosed, or when the locals enter to raid food grains or fire wood.

There are no major carnivorous species like tigers, lions or panthers. However, species like hyena, wolf, fox and porcupines are found in the protected area, so there are no real conflicts for the forest officials to worry about. The only worry is when these timid animals stray from the sanctuary which is not fully enclosed, or when the locals enter to raid food grains or firewood.

It has taken extremely hard work from dedicated, workers for 20-odd years to achieve this. The road length created in the sanctuary area is about five and a half kilometers while the total boundary of the sanctuary area is thirty five kilometers. Out of this, they have managed to fence about four kilometers during last year.