Ovitla Landga - मुख्य पृष्ठ:: महाराष्ट्र ... update Ovitla...To understand better the grasslands of Maharashtra; the Pune Wildlife Division

Ovitla LandgaOvi is the local folk poetry in Maharashtra which is even narrated by Dhangars

Our PartnersWould You Apply For The Toughest Job In The World? As Terrifying As It Sounds, Many Still Do It! | BuzzWok.com | The Best Buzzing Stories Frying In One Place (Buzzwok)

Ads by continuetosave Ad Options

OUR TEAMForest Department

Mr Sunil Limaye

Mr Sunil Limaye is the Chief Conservator of Forests, Pune Wildlife Wing who has worked on participatory projects that involve different stake holders so that a

long term solution is found to ease issue of human wildlife conÏict.

Forest Staff from Karmala | Forest Staff from Nannaj | Forest Staff from Rehekuri | Forest Staff from Supe

shepherd & dhangar in Maharashtra, wolves & grassland location india... http://ovitla-landga.in/

1 of 7 12-11-2014 17:05

Kirti Jamdade

Kirti Jamdade is the Assistant Conservator of

Forests and will lead the Îeld team of the Forest

Department.

Anuj Khare

Anuj is the wildlife warden for Pune district he is

working in the Îeld of Nature Education since last

17 years. He works closely with Forest

Department, Govt. of Maharashtra State and as an

advisor to many NGO's.

Vidya Athreya

Vidya Athreya is a carnivore biologist at Wildlife

Conservation Society - India, who has been

working on leopard ecology in human use

landscapes. She is also interested in the

interactions between wolves and the transhumant

pastoralists of the Deccan plateau.

Wildlife Ecologist

Girish Punjabi

Girish is a wildlife biologist keen to understand carnivores and their

interactions with humans and to use this knowledge in conservation

actions. He will be creating a citizen science database of locations of

grasslands and wild carnivores of the dry biome of India.

Trishant Simlai

Trishant’s interests largely revolve around protected area planning, decision

making in conservation, political ecology and human wildlife interactions. In

this project he will work on the political ecology of grassland conservation

and human wildlife interactions, speciÎcally investigating cultural, social,

economic and political drivers of human wildlife interactions in the

grassland ecosystem in Maharashtra.

Indologist

Assessing livestock losses shepherds face due to natural causes

Saili K. Palande Datar

Saili is an Indologist and historian by training and has been working on

various environmental issues in Maharashtra for past 11 years. She is

interested in exploring the religious & dwelling sites with special reference

to memorial sites of Dhangar community on their migration routes. She

seeks to study these sites in ethno-archaeological context and look at

effects on accessibility and loss of these sites due to changes in the cultural

landscape, over time.

Nitya Ghotge

Nitya Ghotge is a veterinarian and founder director of Anthra an

organisation which works on livestock development. For several years now,

she has been working with nomadic pastoral communities especially with

the Dhangars of Maharashtra.

Distribution of Great Indian Bustard in grasslands of Maharashtra

Interactions between dhangars and wolves

Pramod Patil Aparna Watve

Home Our Team About the Project Grasslands Dhangars Wolves Contact


2 of 7 12-11-2014 17:05

Distribution of large carnivores in Western Maharashtra

Vidya Athreya

Vidya Athreya is a carnivore biologist who has been working on leopard ecology in human use landscapes. She is also interested in the interactions between

wolves and the transhumant pastoralists that occur in the Deccan plateau.

Team Members

Iravati Majgaonkar

Iravati is a student of wildlife biology and conservation, with

interdisciplinary interests in the Îeld of wildlife sciences and social

sciences. Her major interest lies in understanding the relationships between

humans and their natural surroundings and how it could lead to possible

landscape or ecosytem conservation

Shweta Shivakumar

Shweta is interested inhuman-wildlife interactions, and is curious to know

about the ground realities of this system in different regions. Wolves,

hyenas and leopards are the three species that few people really know

about and this exciting project gives her the opportunity for to learn more

about them.

ABOUT THE PROJECTGrasslands - Dhangars - Wolves of Maharashtra

Grasslands are often relegated to the status of waste lands in India today. They are important ecosystems that are used extensively by pastoralist communitiesas well as wildlife, including species such as the Indian wolf and the Great Indian Bustard. India supports one of the highest livestock densities in the world with500 million livestock heads. More than 50% of the fodder for these livestock comes from the grassland ecosystem.

Pastoralists, who form around 7% of the Indian population have been using these lands since historical times going back to even 1500 BC. Even so, currently,policy efforts aim to convert the pastoral lifestyle even though pastoralism constitutes an important part of the Indian economy. There is an absence of policythat aims to prevent the loss of grasslands to development and diversion to activities that are not amenable to pastoralism.

Grasslands are maintained by anthropogenic pressures in the Deccan plateau where transhumant people as well as resident shepherds have used these areassince historical times. These areas are typically in the rain shadow regions of Sahyadri requiring the pastoralists to migrate based on fodder availability.

Grasslands because of their unique characteristics are also home to a host of endangered wild species that are adapted to the arid conditions. Species like theIndian wolf, Blackbuck, Great Indian bustard, Indian fox occur in the grasslands most of which occur outside the Protected Area matrix. These areas thereforecannot be viewed or managed in the traditional “Protected Area” method because of the extensive spread of this ecosystem as well as the presence of densehuman populations that have traditionally used these areas posing a challenge to the conservation of grasslands.



3 of 7 12-11-2014 17:05

To understand better the grasslands of Maharashtra; the Pune Wildlife Division of the Maharashtra Forest department has launched a project “Ovitla Landga”.The project aims at obtaining basic information on the grasslands, dhangars and wolves and providing this information to managers, media and the public sothat a better understanding can lead to informed future research and management actions.

SpeciËcally, the project aims to:

Assess the distribution of wolves and other large carnivores in human use landscapes of western Maharashtra.1.

Assess the livestock losses Dhangars and other resident shepherds have to all natural causes, including wolves.2.

Document the religious spaces of dhangars and the changes in accessibility of these sites in recent years.3.

Assess the potential for restoring the grasslands in Supe which have been converted to plantations of exotic species in the past.4.

Map the distribution of the Great Indian Bustard, an iconic grassland species.5.

Assess the relationships between shepherds and the wolves that they share space with.6.

Obtain information on the political ecology of human large carnivore interactions in the grassland landscape.7.

Obtain information on distribution of grasslands and their carnivores using citizen science.8.

References:

Abi Tamim Vanak. 2013. Conservation & Sustainable Use of the Dry Grassland Ecosystem in Peninsular India: A Quantitative Framework for ConservationLandscape Planning. Submitted to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India.

1.

Anon. 2007. Report of the Task Force on Grasslands and Deserts. Government of India Planning Commission. New Delhi.2.

Gadgil M., and K.P. Malhotra. 1982. Ecology of a pastoral caste: Gavli dhangars of peninsular India. Human Ecology (10): 107-143.3.

Jhala Y,V. and R. H. Giles. 1991. The status and conservation of the wolf in Gujarat and Rajasthan, India. Conservation Biology 5: 476–483.4.

Maurya, K.M., Habib, B. and S. Kumar, 2011. Food Habits of Indian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) in Decc an Plateau of Maharashtra, India. World Journal ofZoology 6 (3): 318-322.

5.

Patil D. S., Meena H. R., Tripathi H., Kumar S. and Singh D.P. 2012. Socio Economic ProÎle of Sheep Reared Dhangar Pastoralists of Maharashtra, India. JRec Adv Agri, 1(3): 84-91.

6.

Sharma, V.P., Kohler-Rollefson, I. and J. Morton. 2003. Scoping study on pastoralism in India. Centre for Management in Agriculture, Indian Institute ofManagement (IMM), Ahmedabad, India and League for Pastoral Peoples, Ober-Ramstadt, Germany. 63 pp.

7.

Sontheimer, G-D. 1989. Pastoral Dieties in Western India. Oxford University Press. New York. USA.8.

Trivedi, T.P. 2010. Degraded and wastelands of India. Status and Spatial Distribution. Indian Council of Agricultural Research New Delhi.9.

Grasslands support the livelihoods of millions of people in India, largelylandless pastoralists and marginal farmers whose main source of subsistenceis livestock rearing. An ancient occupation, today pastoralists form about 7%of the population and contribute signiÎcantly to the GDP of this country.India supports extremely high livestock densities and their food resourcesare either cultivated fodder/crop reside or fodder available from commongrazing lands. The people mainly using the latter depend almost entirely onanimal husbandry for their living.

However, with increasing irrigation and agriculture and increased grazingpressure the grasslands are a threatened ecosystem. Often they are alsoconsidered as waste lands. The Planning Commission report of 2011, statesthat India’s pastures have reduced from 70 million ha in 1947 to 38 million hain 1997. Furthermore, grazing lands are also planted with invasive specieswhich cannot be eaten by the livestock thereby decreasing the productivity

Given the complex nature of the system, its high productivity, it beingmaintained due to anthropogenic causes, the dependancy on its resourcesby a large number of people and by a variety of wildlife species,conservation of grasslands is a challenging task. This project aims tounderstand the importance of grasslands in Maharashtra from theperspective of the dhangars and wolves, both who depend extensively onthe grasslands.

References:

Abi Tamim Vanak. 2013. Conservation & Sustainable Use of the DryGrassland Ecosystem in Peninsular India: A Quantitative Frameworkfor Conservation Landscape Planning. Submitted to the Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests, Government of India.

1.

Anonymous.1988. National Forest Policy. Ministry of Environment and2.

GRASSLAND



4 of 7 12-11-2014 17:05

human populations. One example is the Deccan Plateau region inMaharashtra that spans across numerous dis-tricts and is home to a varietyof different human communities. A well known example of a transhumantgroup are the migratory dhangars who travel large distances with largeÏocks of sheep and goats.

Apart from sustaining such high human and livestock densities, thegrasslands of Maharashtra are also home to a variety of wildlife such as theGreat Indian Bustard, Indian Wolf, Indian Fox, Hyaenas, Lesser Florican etc.

Management. Constituted under the Working Group on Forestry andSustainable Natural Resource Management. Planning Commission ofIndia.

Trivedi, T.P. 2010. Degraded and wastelands of India. Status andspatial Distribution. ICAR. New Delhi.

5.

Pastoralism is an occupation that is dependant on livestock rearing andassociated activities and has been practised in India since 3500 years. Todaypastoralists constitute about 7% of the Indian population, occurring in thedrylands of Western India, the Deccan Plateau and in the Himalayas.

A pastoralist group predominantly occurring in Maharashtra are theDhangars who are a traditional semi nomadic group. They maintain largeherds of largely sheep along with goats, buffaloes, horses, dogs andchickens. The men and women share work with relation to herding, feeding,milking, assisting ewes in labour, taking care of the animals.

Despite pastoralism being an important way of life in India, there is noofÎcial pastoral policy and very little ecological or anthropologicalinformation is present on the pastoralists and the Dhangars. However,intensive work on the religion of the Dhangars has been carried out .

The reason why this project is also focussing on the Dhangars, is becauseunlike settled farmers and pastoralists, they use the entire grasslandlandscape, moving large distances in search of fodder with their large herdsof sheep and goats. Without grasslands they will not have fodder for theirsubsistence.

Dhangars are constantly interacting with the wolves who feed off theirlivestock. However, the relationship is not antagonistic as we expect it tobe. In fact, one of their ovi’s recounts how the Dhangar God made wolves inorder to keep the Dhangar on their toes.

A movie on the Hatkar Dhangars:http://www.onlineÎlm.org/en/Îlm/51111A journey of the Hatkar Dhangars.

References:

Gadgil M., and K.P. Malhotra. 1982. Ecology of a pastoral caste: GavliDhangars of peninsular India. Human Ecology (10): 107-143.

1.

Patil D. S., Meena H. R., Tripathi H., Kumar S. and Singh D.P. 2012.Socio Economic ProÎle of Sheep Reared Dhangar Pastoralists ofMaharashtra, India. J Rec Adv Agri, 1(3): 84-91.

2.

Sharma, V.P., Kohler-Rollefson, I. and J. Morton. 2003. Scoping studyon pastoralism in India. Centre for Management in Agriculture, IndianInstitute of Management (IMM), Ahmedabad, India and League forPastoral Peoples, Ober-Ramstadt, Germany. 63 pp.

3.

Sontheimer, G-D. 1989. Pastoral Deities in Western India. OxfordUniversity Press. New York.

4.

DHANGARS

WOLVES



5 of 7 12-11-2014 17:05

spanning North American, Africa, Asia and Europe. Recent studies usinggenetic markers Înds that India is home to three different clades of wolveswith the Himalayan wolf being the oldest going back to million years. Thewolf of the dry peninsular grassland landscape dates back to 4,00,000years. Wolf human interactions go back to 1,50,000 years ago when wolveswere domesticated to form our companion animals; the dogs.

Three factors are crucial for wolf persistence; habitat, prey and humans whoallow them to live. Persecution by humans was the main reason for wolfpopulations to disappear from many parts of Europe and North America andit is only recently, with increased conservation and protection that wolvesare colonising parts of their historical ranges in these areas.

Even today wolves occur predominantly in human use landscapes in India.Fortunately they are not associated negatively in Indian culture and societyas they have been in the Americas and Europe and although they arepersecuted, populations still occur throughout the Deccan plateau. Wolfdistribution in India spans Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, MadhyaPradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Orissa, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh andHaryana. Wolves are social animals that live in packs and because of largepack ranges of around 300 sq km, wolves requires large landscapes. Theirwide ranging and social nature also implies that conservation andmanagement that is restricted to only within Protected Areas cannot beapplied to wolves.

Although wild prey such as blackbuck, chinkara are important for thewolves, their landscapes are also home to dense populations of sheep andgoats which also form important proportion of wolf diet, as much as 50% inmany cases. This also implies that local herders face losses to wolfdepredation and are known to destroy wolf dens.

landscapes in India. To a large extent the focus of eco-logical studies oninteraction has been on the “conÏict” aspect.

References:

www.wolf.org1.

Agarwala, M., Satish Kumar, Treves, A. and L. Naughton-Treves. 2010.Paying for wolves in Solapur, India and Wisconsin, USA: Comparingcompensation rules and practice to understand the goals and politicsof wolf conservation. Biological Conservation 143: 2945–2955.

2.

Habib, B. 2007. Ecology of Indian Wolf (Canis lupus pallipes Sykes,1831) and modeling its potential habitat in the Great Indian BustardSanctuary, Maharashtra, India. Aligarh Muslim University.

3.

Jethva, B.D. and Y.V. Jhala. 2004. Foraging ecology, economics andconservation of Indian wolves in the Bhal region of Gujarat, WesternIndia. Biological Conservation 116: 351–357.

4.

Jhala, Y.V. & Giles, J.R. (1991). The status and conservation of the wolfin Gujarat and Rajasthan, India. Conserv. Biol. 5, 476–483.

5.

Jhala, Y.V. (2003). Status, ecology and conservation of the Indian wolfCanis lupus pallipes sykes. J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 100: 293–307.

6.

Jhala, Y.V. and D. K. Sharma. 2004. The Ancient Wolves of India.International Wolf.

7.

Musiani, M. and P.C. Paquet. 2004. The Practices of Wolf Persecution,Protection, and Restoration in Canada and the United States.BioScience 51.

8.

Sharma, D.K., Maldonado, J.E., Jhala, Y.V. and R.C. Fleischer.2004.Ancient wolf lineages in India. Proceedings of the Royal Society B.Biology Letters 271: S1–S4.

9.

Singh, M. and H. N. Kumara. 2006. Distribution, status andconservation of Indian gray wolf (Canis lupus pallipes) in Karnataka,India Journal of Zoology 270: 164–169.

10.

Title : First Name * : Last Name * : Tel No. : Address : Email * :

CONTACT US



6 of 7 12-11-2014 17:05



7 of 7 12-11-2014 17:05

About the project

It is a participatory project between the Wildlife Wing, Pune of the Maharashtra Forest Department

and members of NGO’s, individuals and other organisations.

Aims and objectives

The aim to better understand the grassland ecosystem in Western Maharashtra

It includes wild animals like the wolves, hyaenas, great Indian Bustard as well as people such as

dhangars, their interactions with other shepherds and conflicts they have with the forest department in some

of the protected areas of this region

Work…

To assess the conflict between dhangars and forest department at Supe WLS.

1

Team • 5 students from TISS Tuljapur under supervision of

Aparna Watve and Apoorva Sahasrabudhe

Activities • Collected data/mapped forest/grazing interactions,

livestock rearing communities and the interactions

1

Mayureshwar Supe Sanctuary1

Work…

To obtain data on biodiversity from four WLS from the field staff

To obtain information on problems field staff have with grazers

Sites Supe, Gangewadi, Rehekuri, Nanaj WLS

2

Study areas

Supe

Gangewadi

Rehekuri

Nanaj

2

Team • Field staff of the four sanctuaries + Akshita Pungaliya +

Vidya Venkatesh

Activities • Data sheet provided to staff to note their sightings of

grassland biodiversity pertaining to large fauna • Information gathered from field staff about conflicts

they face with local graziers.

2

Bi-Monthly meetings with field staff and researchers.2

Work…

To understand problems faced by pastoralists; Conflicts,

Changes in livelihoods, Attitude towards wolf and other carnivores

& Information regarding livestock predation in recent past

Sites Around Tuljapur, Osmanabad district.

3

Team…

TISS students - Aparna Watve and team.

3

Results

1. Disease is a major cause of loss of livestock 2. Wolf is not considered a major threat by Dhangars and

any predation by wolf is considered natural. Dhangars expressed feeling that wolf is brother/ part owner of the livestock

3. Depletion of fodder and water leading to conflicts between settled and nomadic groups

4. Low productivity of agriculture is leading to some other communities taking up nomadic pastoralism as well.

3

3 Dhangars and their sheep

3 APARNA please give title

Work…

• Identify the migration route of Dhangars across Maharastra using GPS loggers

• Map the habitat type and presence-absence of predators in their migration routes

• Understanding shepherding practices, resource use and their relationship with the grasslands

4

Team…

• Nitya Ghotge (Anthra)

• Kalyan Varma

4

4 Migratory path of one group

4 The highly productive grasslands in Ahmednagar

4 Dependency on grassland for migratory shepherds

4 Sites with ancient history and cultural attributes.

Work…

• Understanding where leopards, wolves, hyaenas occur in seven districts of western Maharashtra

• Using knowledge of field staff of forest department to map occurrences.

5

Team…• Iravati Majgaonkar and Vidya Athreya

Division Range Approximate area in sq.km.

Interviews

Pune Baramati 11Indapur 60 27

Ahmednagar

Sangamner 1 166 20Sangamner 2 126 20Sangamner 3 45 3Akole Pradeshik 73 14Akole E.G.S 68 10Rajur 81 21

Nashik west

Nashik 111 17Sinnar 144 25Igatpuri 176 21Peth 217 19Harsool 281 15Trimbakeshwar 105 7

Nashik east Dindori 130 14Kalvan 193 16

Work completed so far - 260 interviews

Photos from Indapur

Chinkara-Indian gazelle at Kadban wadi Wolf scat at Mhasobachi wadi

Fox den at Mhasobachi wadi

Work…

• Citizen science web page for public to upload their images of grasslands biodiversity

6

Team…• Girish Punjabi and Vidya Athreya

Documents

Ovitla Landga - मुख्य पृष्ठ:: महाराष्ट्र ... update Ovitla...To understand better the grasslands of Maharashtra; the Pune Wildlife Division