Predators preyed on

In the hinterlands of North Karnataka, when a sheep or goat goes missing from its flock, the shepherd consoles himself by saying that the older brother took his share.

Earlier, the shepherds counted their flock by dividing it into three shares — one for the wolves, one for the thief, and the rest for them.

Nowadays, while the share of thieves has increased, the wolves seldom take their share. Reason: their population has declined so much that even the shepherds rarely spot them.

Not so long ago, the plains of Deccan Plateau were ruled by predators like wolves, leopards, foxes, jackals, hyenas (mostly a scavenger), jungle cats, and others. But today, a majority of these predators have reached the endangered category.

Experts blame degradation of habitat, non-availability of prey, poaching of prey and the predators, and increase in the number of feral dogs as major reasons for these predators facing an existential crisis.

Top predators

Leopards and wolves can be considered as the topmost predators in the arid region of North Karnataka stretching from Bidar and Kalaburagi in the north to Koppal, Ballari and Raichur in the northeast. But like elsewhere in the world, leopards are losing their survival battle here, too.

Except in a few forest patches of undivided Ballari and Kappatagudda of Gadag, these big cats have been hardly recorded. With scarce prey base left for these cats, which can survive in any kind of habitat and on any diet, the leopards are frequently reported of hunting cattle. Experts point out that in this human-animal conflict, it’s always the leopard at the receiving end.

Lords of grasslands

While Indian grey wolves have been recorded across Karnataka, their homes were once the grasslands of North Karnataka. This wolf was the only canine family member known for hunting deers, chinkaras, antelopes and others in the plains. Today, they have been relegated to just ‘sheep thieves’.

According to Indrajit Ghorpade, founder of Deccan Conservation Foundation, which has conducted an extensive study on the wolves of Koppal over the last 25 years, there is a direct correlation between the loss of grassland, prey base and the wolves. With grassland lost, blackbucks, which have become farmers’ ‘nightmare’, are forced to feed on farm produce, resulting in human-animal conflict. They are poached as well. These factors, coupled with the rise in population of feral dogs — a threat to blackbucks and other herbivores — are affecting the prey base of wolves at an alarming rate.

He says, not so long ago, the wolves were spotted in 83% of Koppal’s landmass. They are restricted to a few safer dens in the region now.

In Bidar too, a study by Vivek, a naturalist, shows that the conversion of grasslands into housing layouts and farmlands has affected the wolves’ ‘family structure’.

“Wolves are known to live and hunt in packs. In Bidar, except for one pack (of 14) in the forests of Chincholi, all the other packs have just two adults and a few pups,” he says. He is tracking some 11 packs in Bidar.

“As most of the time, the wolf couples fail to hunt, the pups’ survival becomes difficult. A few pups die within the first six months of birth,” adds Vivek.

Wildlife enthusiasts Kushal Adike and Amit Rao, who have been recording the existence of the predators in and around Hubballi, say that farmers have failed to understand their importance as natural ‘pest’-controllers.

These predators keep a check on the population of herbivores and rodents, and other threats to farms. “On one hand, the farmers are killing both the herbivores and carnivores using inhuman methods, and on the other, they are using pesticides harmful for humans to protect their crops,” they say.

The farmers also have to be educated that feral dogs cannot be the solution for the wild hunters.

“In many instances, we have seen 10 to 12 feral dogs attacking jackals, foxes and others. These undomesticated dogs are disturbing the food cycle,” they add.

‘Umbrella species’ method

Indrajit says there is an urgent need to save the predators for the sake of our own existence. “Just like the way tigers are important for the survival of forests, wolves are important for grasslands, which play a vital role in water conservation and checking soil degradation.”

“In wolf conservation, we should take up the ‘umbrella species’ method,” he says and adds that his study has shown that there was not much human intervention required for the revival of wolves. But all they need is undisturbed grasslands with a prey base.

“If we provide such habitats, neither herbivores nor the predators will disturb human lives. This can be achieved and we, while working with farmers and shepherds of Koppal, have proven it,” he says.

Other predators, too, face a similar threat from human activities.

Poison used on farms are not just killing rodents but also the jungle cats that feed on them. Presence of jungle cats, foxes and jackals can naturally control rodents, rabbits and other animals that destroy farm produce.