|
Wingfall
Gains
The Keoladeo
National Park Sanctuary in Bharatpur gets an unprecedented number of migratory
birds due to the dry spell last year. But experts feel another drought
could be disastrous, writes INDIA TODAY's Supriya Bezbaruah.
As
the Kumbh gathers to a grand finale at Allahabad, a few hundred km from
Delhi another great international mela is in full swing. Here too the
participants who have travelled thousands of miles for the show enthrall
tourists and mediapersons alike with their sheer numbers, vibrant colours
and idiosyncratic behaviour as they splash and dive in water. Here too
a whole new local economy has mushroomed around the show. At the Keoladeo
National Park in Bharatpur, Rajasthan, almost 400 different species of
birds have flocked to what has been a mecca for them for more than 50
years.
The previous year's drought, which reduced the water in the park from
500 million cu ft to only 141 million cu ft, has proved beneficial for
many species. With so many fish packed in so little water, there is plenty
of food for everyone. The drought has been a blessing in disguise, says
environmentalist and former director of World Wildlife Fund for Nature,
India, Ranjit Sinh Jhala.
It reflects in the numbers. In the last season, only a few hundred pelicans
had visited Bharatpur. This year, there are thousands of them floricking
and feasting in the water. More than 2,000 Siberian grey-legged geese
were spotted on a single day, at least double the number of last year,
say officials. Ditto for the 400-odd bar-headed geese, which flies in
from China.
The winged rush has caused the number of tourists visiting Bharatpur to
soar. Pawan Jain, tourism officer in charge of Bharatpur district, says
the tourist traffic to the sanctuary has increased by 15 per cent this
season. Many of them are staying on for two or more days, he says. Last
year, the park earned
Rs 65 lakh from tourism. This season which lasts from October to late
February the park has already netted Rs 43 lakh till December 2000.
The biggest bonanza for tourists is a concentration of birds this year.
The park normally has 11 sq km of wetlands but last year's drought shrunk
this to 4 sq km. The truncated body of water is a virtual menagerie this
year, allowing tourists and ornithologists a rare view of quantity and
variety. French ornithologist Stephane Durand, who was in Bharatpur to
film migratory birds like the Siberian crane and the bar-headed geese,
was overjoyed to see the famous visitor from the Arctic region a mere
50 m away. The lack of water may not be good for some birds but it is
great for photography, he exults.
Paradoxical though it may seem, a dry stint is good also for the park's
ecosystem. Cyclical droughts are good for wetlands because they maintain
the habitat by removing vegetation which can then be removed, explains
Asad Rafi Rehmani, president of the Bombay Natural History Society. Aquatic
weeds such as water hyacinth and apnea multiply rapidly and removing them
isn't easy. Park Director Shruti Sharma points out that hyacinth, which
can multiply from one to 4,000 plants in a year, uses the oxygen present
in the water. So there's less fish, and therefore less biodiversity, in
the park, she says. Also, birds like the bar-headed geese eat the plants
exposed by the receding water.
But the shrinking reservoir is bad news for deep diving water birds like
pochards which have all but disappeared from the park this season. The
bird census for this year is far from complete, but the red-crested pochards,
usually regular annual visitors from Central Asia, were not to be seen
on a census day recently. Singh says the deep water birds have shifted
to the nearby reservoir of the Baretha bund and may return next if there
is more water.
Ecosystems are sensitive structures and even a slightly tinkering can
cause far-reaching consequences elsewhere in the system. The fragile ecosystem
of the artificial wetland that is Bharatpur is maintained not just by
rainfall but water from two seasonal rivers, the Gambhir and the Bal Ganga,
which collects in the Ajan Bund. Every monsoon, water released from the
bund maintains the wetlands in the sanctuary. This water also brings fish
fry, which develop into small fish that provide food for the birds and
chicks.
About 15 species of birds breed inside the park, the nesting number directly
related to the amount of rainfall and water flowing in. This year very
little breeding, possibly due to the lack of water and adequate supplies
of fish fry. Normally, park authorities maintain the water at various
levels in different blocks of the park to ensure a greater diversity of
birds. This year such efforts seem impossible. Five tube wells are working
round the clock simply to maintain the current water level, which is barely
15 cm deep at most places.
But the birds that didn't breed this year are not exactly doomed. Although
a year's gap in breeding may be a setback on the recruitment of the younger
generation and there will be less adults next year or the year after,
Sinha rules out a long-term impact. That's because Mother Nature has some
trick or the other up her sleeve to compensate for the shortfall. Sometimes,
after a bad year a species may breed even more vigorously to make up for
the previous year's loss.
The greatest losers in times of drought are the sanctuary's star inhabitants,
the Siberian cranes. The cranes are totally dependant on wetlands and
marshlands for food. With only two cranes in the park this year, food
is not a problem. But with summer approaching, a pool of water with some
fish has to be maintained for the crane population in the next season.
Water holes have to be kept running for the mammals in the park too the
1,500-odd spotted deer, the 40-50 wild boars and other smaller animals.
This years drought is good, says Sharma, but the park cannot afford another
dry spell.
Another offshoot of the drought is that the water shortage makes villagers
graze their cattle in the park, the only green patch in the vicinity.
In the competition for the scarce grass in the park, it is the domesticated
animal, with man as an ally, which scores over the wild one.
|
|
|
|
|
