In our love for the tiger, are we losing the soul of the Deccan grasslands – the Indian grey wolf?

Many know of Hampi, a famed UNESCO World Heritage Centre in the Deccan, and the magnificence of its historical sites. But less known is the wildlife found in this part of the south. Right in the middle of Koppal, around 30 kilometres from the railway station closest to Hampi, is a massive hillock of fissured rock, the kind of terrain favoured by sloth bears and leopards. While sloth bears can be seen at the relatively well-known Daroji Bear Sanctuary (also near Hampi), there is still more wildlife to be discovered here. In some fragmented wildernesses and last-of-their-kind surviving habitats live river otters, black bucks, leopards, Indian grey wolves, striped hyenas and Asian palm civets, all in plummeting numbers.

Birds, which many don’t even consider wildlife, fare far worse. The Great Indian Bustard was frequently seen in these parts till almost a decade ago, but seems to have been wiped out now. The yellow-throated bulbul, though still found near Hampi, is barely hanging on, as its habitat of rocky scrub jungle fast disappears.

An hour away from Koppal lies the sprawling 100-year-old erstwhile hunting lodge at Hagedhal. Indrajit Ghorpade, scion of the former royal family of Gajendragadh, lives here. Ghorpade is the honorary Wildlife Warden of Koppal and the vision and the prime force behind the Deccan Conservation Foundation, that was set up to save the Indian grey wolf (and many other wild denizens of the Deccan).

Seated out in the open under the dappled light filtering through thick tree canopies, with free-range country fowl milling around, Ghorpade spoke about wildlife conservation in an age of unplanned and myopic development.

The DCF’s primary interest – the Indian grey wolf – is the apex predator across much of this region, and Ghorpade has travelled far and wide across the Deccan (and beyond) to understand its range and habitat and to document it through photographs. “It seems no one in India can see beyond the tiger and other iconic wildlife species when they talk of conservation,” he said. “No one really cares about scrub forests and grasslands. I was born here, I have seen wildlife teeming here...so when I noticed an alarming decline in habitats and wildlife populations, I decided to start the Deccan Conservation Foundation. If I can save the wolf, it would mean all is not lost, that there is still hope.”

Lost Grasslands

Until a decade ago, Ghorpade said one could find the Great Indian Bustard breeding close Hagedhal – the profusion of wildflowers, butterflies and quails make it evident that the entire area was pristine grasslands once, not that long ago.

Accompanying Ghorpade on a field visit, we passed through a light mist of rain. The SUV hummed ahead on a thin ribbon of a road that glinted like a wet snake. All around us were miles of green – fields of pearl millet and occasionally, some of maize and sunflower. As the SUV lurched onto a dirt track, we moved from what was once grassland to a small, “high human interference” patch of scrub forest. There were more rock outcrops than scrub, which was probably why this patch stayed wild, and why the wolves chose to live here. There were herds of goats, sheep and their herders almost every 50 metres. Ghorpade pointed out into the rain-soaked horizon, towards various clusters of boulders where the wolves were usually seen near their dens. Of course in the presence of so many humans, no wolf appeared.

That night, amid pouring rain, Ghorpade talked about how the locals (mostly Kurubas, who are traditionally sheep and goat herders) have nothing against the wolf, but in fact have an attachment for them, even referring to them as an uncle or aunt. But for local communities to be involved in conservation efforts, funds and better communication are essential.

“The wolf is the soul of these landscapes, the prince of the Deccan’s grasslands and wildernesses, a barometer of their state of health,” Ghorpade said. “Highly evolved. Intelligent. Proud. Pack animal. The wolf stands at the apex of all that is wild in nature. My respect for it stems from the fact that wolves have survived the ice age and are one of the most widespread and oldest mammals on the planet. If we can manage to save the wolf, it will help to preserve some of the last surviving wildernesses across the Deccan – an area that encompasses the oldest geological formation of the subcontinent.”

Camera traps

The next morning, in bright sunlight and humidity in the high nineties, we set out with Vinay Shankar, DCF’s field officer, to check on some camera traps. As we reached the first camera trap, the team got down to work with a professional, practiced ease – unlocking the cage holding the camera, removing the memory card to copy the images on it, checking on the battery and then replacing everything. There were many images of wildlife – wolves, foxes, civet cats, porcupines, most of them taken at night. Sadly, there were a lot more images of goats and sheep, inquisitive dogs and shepherds too.

The DCF team moved from one camera trap to another. En route, we encountered a tiny, smaller-than-a-fingernail baby scorpion in the cage of a camera trap. Yet another had images of two Asian palm civets mating – possibly the first such images to be captured.

“You can see wolves all around, if you are lucky,” said Shankar. “They primarily prey on the goats and sheep due to their highly fragmented habitats with almost no access to their natural prey – the black buck”.

Shankar added that the wolves never harm humans, and that there have been no man-animal conflicts. Whenever they come face-to-face with people, they simply melt away. Still, they are persecuted and hunted, and their kills poisoned. It is here that DCF is in the process of making an intervention, with plans to institute a compensation mechanism, and by ramping up its communications efforts.

As we walked back to the SUV, Shankar said DCF had found another population of wolves at a somewhat wilder location in the adjoining Taluk, and that this population seemed to be co-existing with quite a few leopards. But, can current government apathy – which myopically regards grasslands and scrub forests as “not very important spaces” – ensure continued co-existence for the wolf as well? If the government can’t (or won’t) save the Indian grey wolf, then who will?