There is a reason for the wildlife lovers to smile this year. While Rajaji National Park and Tiger Reserve were closed down on June 15 for its annual monsoon maintenance Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve, in its first, is open till 30 June. However, the scientists have expressed concern over the increasing anthropogenic activities near the Jheel area which, in their view, might affect the swamp deer population.
Spread over around 3,734 hectares in the eastern part of Ganga riverbed under Haridwar forest division, Jhilmil Jheel Conservation Reserve has its swamp area of around 149 hectares. The State Government having opened Jhilmil lake for safari four years ago, the tourists from across the country keep flocking to it in large number to sight swamp deer in their natural habitat.
Swamp deer, also called Barasingha, is in danger here with its population declining alarmingly since 2013. According to the forest department officials, while around 350 swamp deer were spotted before 2013 in the lake area the number has now come down to less than 250.
After conducting a research on swamp deer, a team of scientists from Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalay headed by Dinesh Bhatt said that the number would continue to decline unless human activities are rightly controlled to stop the swamp area from shrinking.
Antlers differentiate the swamp deer from other species of deer found in India. A fully mature swamp deer has antlers many times longer than those of other species of Indian deer, something that lends it its uniqueness.
Speaking to The Pioneer, head of Zoology department and environmental science, Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalay, Dinesh Bhatt said, “Habitats of swamp deer are being disturbed by the increasing human activities surrounding the lake area, reducing them to vulnerability. Swamp deer are grazers which feed themselves on grass and other aquatic plants in the wetlands. Many residential colonies having now come up near the Jhilmil reserve, the locals are cutting grass for their cattle. The marsh land area is also facing threat due to such human activities.”
However, the foresters feel that the swamp deer inclined to change their habitats accounts for their dwindling number. SDO Haridwar forest division Sant Ram said, “As per the recent census, there are nearly 250 swamp deer in the conservation reserve. The number was 350 around five years ago. This decline in the number might be because of their tendency to migrate from habitat to habitat. Many of them migrated to Hastinapur in Uttar Pradesh through Muzaffarnagar route via Jhilmil lake. It is possible that they have not yet come back. The area is free from poachers. Besides, its grass land and swamp area are in good condition. There is thus no perceptible threat to them, contrary to the apprehensions.”