Big cats and bamboo enveloped silences
Cat Condo : Dampa Tiger Reserve, Mizoram
Big cats and bamboo enveloped silences
This finds place in National Geographic India Traveller August 2014 issue within the cover story :
Myth, Mystery & Unexplored Beauty
Redolent with promise of the unexpected, the seven sister states of India’s Northeast present a tableau of cultural gems.
I had spent three lovely years living in Saiha,
a town in the southern Mizoram, during 2007 – 2010. So when I returned to visit
Dampa in Mamit district in 2013, Mizoram’s only tiger reserve, I couldn’t wait
to embrace the comforting warmth of the people and the place again.
We landed at Lengpui Airport, close to Aizawl, the
state’s capital, on a Sunday. Everything was shut, so we drove directly to
Dampa on very uninviting roads and wooden bridges. I stayed in Phaileng,
headquarters of the Tiger Reserve. The evenings here are special, the green and
brown hills around seem to rise to greet the night sky. Homes along the
meandering roads, when graced by electricity, reminded me of a lovely pearl
necklace. The silence was pronounced, broken only by the occasional purring of
a cat nearby.
The beautiful tropical rainforest, that stretches over
998 sq km, is bisected by the Tropic of Cancer. There are few walking paths
inside the forest, but the terrain is mostly rugged, requiring visitors to
climb up and down small rocks—I narrowly missed slipping several times.
On our walks, we collected scat samples that were sent to research institutions
for analysis. It is one of the methods, along with camera traps, to determine presence
and approximate numbers of the several species that inhabit these remote forests.
The elusive Marbled Cat is one of the six feline
species that call Dampa home. In addition, two types of bears—including the
rare Malayan Sun Bear - Hoolock Gibbon, Phayre’s Leaf Monkey, and six other
species of primates, roam the wild.
The nights in the forest proved unforgettable. During
one excursion, we slept at an anti-poaching camp beside Sazuk river. The
setting was rendered stunning by the full-moon night. On another, we camped
alongside another river. I still recall how nervous I felt as I helped light
the fire, completely distracted by the elephant tracks I had seen earlier. But
deep inside the bamboo-enveloped silences of Dampa, I slept like I was home.
The Vitals: The headquarters of Dampa Tiger Reserve are at
Phaileng in Mizoram’s Mamit district. The closest airport is at Lengpui in
Aizawl (75 km/3 hrs), which has daily
flights from Kolkata and Guwahati. Taxis charge Rs 2,500 for the one-way
journey to Phaileng. Visitors require Inner Line Permits to visit the area.
Forms are available from Kolkata, Silchar, Shillong, Guwahati or New Delhi. These
are also available on arrival at the Aizawl (Lengpui) airport on payment of a nominal fee and showing of a ID
card.
The stunning images are courtesy the Forest Department at Dampa Tiger Reserve.
Thanks are also due to National Geographic Traveller India, Neha, Chirodeep, Mizoram Forest Department, Pu Tlana and the team at Dampa Tiger Reserve.
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