Why forest dept is growing tasty grass in National Park

Leopards

aren’t picky eaters. They are known to

prey

on anything from insects and rodents to 250kg sambar deer. The big cats of

Sanjay Gandhi National Park

also prowl its boundary at night in search of an easy meal of dogs and stalk compounds of housing complexes, making headline-grabbing CCTV appearances.

To reduce incidents of man-leopard conflicts, park authorities have begun work on re-creating the

grassland

ecosystem. For starters, they are studying species of

grass

palatable to the park’s herbivores to expand the prey base of leopards. They have formally named it ‘Operation Grasses for Leopards’. They have already begun the pilot project around Tulsi lake.

“With abundant natural prey within the park, leopards will stay within its precincts and reduce instances of man-leopard conflict,” says Anwar Ahmed, chief conservator of forests and director of the park.

Ahmed has a tough task at hand, though. He points to the exotic, invasive shrub Chromolaena odorata or Siam Weed that has covered nearly 30% of the park area. The weed forms dense thickets about two metres high and it is difficult to eradicate. “The root itself has to be dug out. That can be done after the first monsoon when soil is moist and loose,” he says. Over the next five years, he plans to replace this weed with patches of grasslands for spotted deer and other herbivores. “Wherever there is weed, I want grassland,” he says and estimates a total area of around 30 sq km.

Seeds of palatable grasses were collected in November and December last year, says Shailesh Deore, a range forest officer (RFO); Deore keeps records of the collected seeds. These seeds will be planted in identified patches in the park’s Tulsi, Yeoor and Krishnagiri ranges before monsoon. The areas under the transmission lines that crisscross the park are bereft of tree cover and are being looked at as potential grasslands. The clearings are flanked by thick forests.

“These would make for an ideal habitat for herbivores. They can run for cover at the sight of a predator,” says P B Bhalekar, a divisional forest officer.

At Tulsi Lake, the envisioned grassland is already taking shape. “Around the lake, we removed the weed twice and nature took its course. Grasses have come up naturally,” says Ahmed. “Hares in good numbers are seen feeding here,” says Priyanka Barge, RFO in charge of Tulsi range.

A 2015 study conducted by researcher Nikit Surve of Wildlife Conservation Society, India Program, revealed that dogs comprise 24.5% of the total biomass consumed in leopard’s diet in the park. While that is the largest contribution by a single prey species, it is still a positive departure from the results of a 2008-09 study by wildlife researcher Krishna Tiwari which estimated that dogs made up 47% of the big cats’ diet.

Mumbaikars for SGNP, a forest department project, has been at the forefront in creating awareness about the correlation between waste management, presence of stray dogs and movement of leopards around the peripheral areas of the park. “Wherever there is open waste that attracts dogs or places where people feed dogs, we make them aware that this is something that attracts the leopards,” says Sunetro Ghosal, a wildlife researcher associated with the project.

Tiwari, who has been studying leopards in the park for more than a decade, welcomes the “grasses for leopards” concept. “But removing encroachments in the park and thus reducing human interference will really help nature take its course,” he says.