For any wildlife aficionado, Daroji Bear Sanctuary strikes a familiar note. Daroji is a favourite haunt for Sloth Bears and wildlife enthusiasts alike. But there is another little-known bear sanctuary – Gudekote Bear Sanctuary – which lies about 50 kms to the south of Bellary city which is getting more popular.

Gudekote Bear Sanctuary spreads over an area of about 40 sq kms and was notified and designated as a Sloth Bear sanctuary in the year 2013 by the Government of Karnataka. It is rich in fruiting trees like Sitaphal (Custard Apple, Annona sp.) and Jamun (Java Plum, Syzygium sp.) which are ideal for bear populations to flourish.

The rock strewn hilly terrain that Gudekote encompasses supports dry deciduous and thorn scrub forests. This habitat is very similar to what is seen in Daroji and presents a suitable habitat for the bears. Though small in terms of area compared to many other sanctuaries, it still supports at least 50-60 bears apart from leopards, jackals, porcupines, civets, wild boars, Rusty Spotted Cats and many more. There is also an impressive diversity of birds recorded from the sanctuary – about 130 species! Apart from the expected species that reside in this habitat, birds like Crested Hawk Eagle, Indian Pitta, Black Eagle and Verditer Flycatcher, that are uncommon to this region have also been seen here. Snakes like Russell’s Viper, Indian Cobra, Red Sand Boa and Common Krait have been sighted here. An impressive assemblage of dry land flora and a plethora of smaller creatures can also be seen here. All this goes to emphasize why it is important to save every little piece of such wilderness.

The Forest Department has done a great job of protecting this habitat, although man-animal conflicts do occur occasionally. They are also planning to start safaris to showcase the abundant flora and fauna in this region. An inspection bungalow is being constructed for researchers and wildlife enthusiasts.

Since the bears as well as other animals of this sanctuary are mostly nocturnal, spotting them in this boulder-strewn landscape is rare. It is also important to record and document the species that the sanctuary supports.

I had the opportunity to install a camera trap at Gudekote with the permission of the Forest Department and was pleasantly surprised with the number of species I could document through these photographs. Here are a few of them.

Sloth Bears are cave dwellers. In such a rocky terrain, caves offer the right kind of shelter for the bears to rest and to raise young ones.

A Panchalingeshwara temple deep inside the sanctuary attracts people from the surrounding villages, especially on Mondays. The offerings that villagers leave behind near the idols after worship are an attraction and the bears turn up late at night to feed on them, when there is no disturbance.

Leopards are the apex predators in this sanctuary. Summers in this region are very harsh; rains are scanty and there aren’t many sources of water. This tiny waterhole in the heart of Gudekote sustains most of the animals through the dry season.

This is one of the two jackals that I followed through the sanctuary for almost a year or so, and finally managed to photograph it on camera trap. Jackals are the other large predators of the sanctuary; they feed on Black-naped Hare and small rodents.

The Crested Hawk Eagle is a forest bird and was an unexpected find in the dry scrub forests of Bellary district. This happens to be the first photographic record of the bird in Bellary, which tells us how unpredictable wildlife is.

The Indian Star Tortoise is one of the flagship species of Gudekote and Daroji. It is mostly herbivorous and can be seen in such dry scrub forests. The tortoise is highly vulnerable to being poached as it faces high demands in the exotic pet trade.

The Asian Palm Civet is found in plenty in these parts. It is nocturnal and is rather tough to sight during the day.

The Indian Porcupine is a nocturnal, large rodent and is quite common in the region.

The Red Sand Boa is a non-venomous burrowing species of snake that can be seen in this region. Its wedge-shaped tail looks like its head, and because of that feature, it is believed to be two-headed. This has led to many superstitious beliefs about the snake being lucky and it is captured for exotic pet trade.