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A few rural and urban
communities in Maharashtra have worked hard to create some
wonderful peacock sanctuaries and jungle habitats, making them a tourist’s
delight, writes Vimla
Patil
Within a short distance from Mumbai, stand a couple of magnificent peacock sanctuaries of India. The jungles around Ahmednagar district and the wooded areas of Pune, both in Maharashtra, resound with the cries of peacocks as the rainy season draws near. With the first showers, the forests become verdant and cool, making them a perfect background for more than 6,000 dancing peacocks that live in the hills and valleys of these regions. On rainy evenings, they dance with their plumage spread like a halo, creating a magnificent spectacle of nature. Not only does this scenario recur each monsoon, it is also invariably woven into India’s folksongs, literature, music, dance and miniature paintings. The peacock, which is the national bird of India, is often wrongly associated only with the northern states of the country. The arid deserts of Rajasthan, the riverbanks of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttar Pradesh and the forests of Haryana — these are considered to be the major and commonly known habitats of peacocks in India. However, in recent decades, the monsoon-dependent state of Maharashtra has suddenly hit the headlines for being home to magnificent peacock sanctuaries that have been nurtured by the communities living in this area. The site of this sanctuary, given the status of a wildlife reserve in 1994, is among the forested hills of Ahmednagar district, which is just a 50-km drive from Pune. Along the Ahmednagar-Pune road, vast tracts of hilly forestlands have become home to the largest single population of peacocks in India. Newly discovered by tourists and wildlife lovers, the Morachi Chincholi Peacock Sanctuary has almost 3,000 birds, which live in the sprawling jungles with monsoon streams flowing through them. The entire area covering these villages and valleys is thickly forested offering a suitable breeding haven for peacocks, and also teetars, neelkanth, bharadwaj and robin birds. Small animals of the cat family, monkeys and reptiles also inhabit the jungles. Additionally, the 500 deer and stags ambling around in the jungle give the sanctuary a rare appeal and beauty. The sanctuary acquires its name from the village of Chinchoni, meaning tamarind. The sanctuary is supported by the Mauli Krishi Paryatan Kendra formed by the village community. It presently has the largest population of peacocks — 3,000 birds. In other surrounding villages, which are called Nirgudi, Pimpalgaon, Dhasla, Nalwadi and Domri, there are 3,500 peacocks and each year, this figure is growing. There are mainly two reasons for the burgeoning peacock population. The hills around Ahmednagar are formed by a stone and soil mixture known as Deccan Trap and the red soil, mixed with gravely-textured rock chips, keeps the monsoon moisture locked under the top soil layer for many months after the last rains have fallen. The air is humid and warm and the tree cover remains thick throughout the year. This environment is ideally suited to the growth of peacocks. Secondly, though the ever-increasing number of peacocks often invade farms and grain fields and destroy crops, causing serious damage to the income of the local farmers, the villagers believe that these birds are divine and belong to the temples in the area. Therefore, whatever nuisance they cause, the villagers protect the birds from poachers and do not harm them. However, every February, at the end of the winter, the birds shed their feathers in the natural course of their growth, and forest folk collect these to sell to tourists. Today, Morachi Chincholi has gained such popularity among visitors, that the locals offer camping facilities, bird watching safaris, picnics, farm meals, harvest feasts, jungle treks, a taste of rustic life and games for visitors to enjoy their day with the peacocks. Various websites offer route maps, activities and facilities in this wonderful location. More recently, yet another experiment in breeding peacocks has resulted in success, right in the urban complex of Pune. Dr Ajay Kulkarni (34), a nature lover, has made Herculean efforts for 15 years to create a sizeable population of peacocks in midst of Pune, near the Paud-Taljai areas, where there are forests. He has also been feeding peacocks on the hill behind the guesthouse of the Maharashtra Institute of Technology. Dr Kulkarni has walked many miles in the hills, providing foodgrains and water to peacocks in the hot and humid jungle. His and many other citizens’ efforts have borne fruit as the peacock population has increased from a mere three to several hundred. A city-based NGO called Prabodhan also provides water trays to senior citizens, who wish to join the community effort to increase trees and keep the peacock and other bird populations safe and growing. Kulkarni’s idea first took seed when he saw three peacocks while walking along the hill. He decided to feed them. Well fed and cared for, the birds laid eggs and their number expanded gradually. Today, more than 350 peacocks can be seen along the hill, in addition to other birds. "Looking at the success of the project, we can hope to create a tourist destination if we get the required permissions," says Dr Kulkarni. Meanwhile, residents and regular walkers around the Taljai forest have not only planted and watered trees but also created water reservoirs and fed the peacocks. Such community efforts are unique and must be emulated by all so that similar miracles can happen all over India to save many species of animals and birds and to make India a nature-and-wildlife-rich nation.
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