DH Exclusive | Indian grey wolf documented for first time in Karnataka's Chamarajanagar

Bringing cheers to conservation activities in Karnataka this summer, researchers for the first time have documented a rare Indian grey wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) in the forests of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary in Chamarajanagar. A team of researchers, led by noted conservationist Sanjay Gubbi of Mysuru-based Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), while camera trapping for a study of leopards have documented the rare sighting of Indian grey wolf in the southernmost forest landscape of the state.

Sharing the details of rear sighting in the region Sanjay Gubbi told DH that the species was camera trapped in Kothnur Range of Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary on the early morning of April 7, 2020. “This is perhaps the first-ever photographic evidence of wolf presence in Chamarajanagar district. Besides, this record also documents the southernmost limit of wolf presence in Karnataka,” Gubbi explained.

As far as the records available with Karnataka Forest Department, the wolf inhabits in isolated patches across arid regions of Koppal, Raichur, Ballari, Haveri, Tumakuru and other districts. “With this sighting, all the four canid species found in Southern India (Dhole {wild dogs}, Indian wolf, Jackal and Bengal fox) have been documented in the Chamarajanagar district,” Gubbi clarified.

According to researchers team comprising Sandesh Appu Naik, Girish MN, Gnanendra, Poornesha HC and others, Indian grey wolf mostly survives in grasslands, scrub forests and are rarely seen in dry deciduous forests. “Even though the species is distributed widely, it is threatened largely due to habitat loss and retaliatory killing. Indian wolf numbers are suspected to be lesser than that of tigers and they are protected under schedule-1 of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972,” one of the researchers said.

Previous studies in Chamarajanagara district in Cauvery and Malai Mahadeshwara Hills (MM Hills) Wildlife Sanctuaries, Biligiri Ranga Temple (BRT) and Bandipur Tiger Reserves have also not documented the Indian grey wolf. The documentation has also established that all the four large mammals belonging to the dog family in South India have now been documented in Chamarajanagar district.

The ongoing study on leopards by Sanjay Gubbi and team has yielded very valuable information about other species. For the first time in Karnataka, the study documented the presence of honey badger in 2014. Similarly, in 2015 the researchers also recorded a new population of chinkara in Tumkur district which was later notified as Bukkapatna Chinkara Wildlife Sanctuary. Later, in 2018, the team documented the easternmost limit of brown mongoose in BRT Tiger Reserve. In Karnataka brown mongoose was never recorded outside Virajpete taluk before this study by Sanjay Gubbi documented it in BRT Tiger Reserve.