• Bhadra wildlife sanctuary is a part of western ghats, it’s a moist deciduous forest with amazing shola forest and grasslands, In bhadra bamboo species is unique, it’s big bamboo comes under family poaceace, bamboo is a type of grass which can grow more then 120 feet, big bamboo grows in a clumps .bamboo is the special feature in bhadra wildlife sanctuary.
  
  Between 2001 to 2004 big bamboo flowered in all the 4 ranges of bhadra ,its life time is 60 years ,once in sixty years bamboo flowers , flowering indicates bamboos death ,after death of bamboos ,bamboo seeds disperse near the dead clumps and again it takes rebirth in existing place .
  
  Bamboo mafia:
  In bhadra between 2001 to 2004 bamboo flowered and started to dry, then some locals and some timber merchants planned to remove the dead and fallen bamboo from bhadra. It’s a huge mafia to smuggle and transport the dead bamboo shoots to paper industries, this was opposed by wildcat c and nature conservation guild a groups fighting from several years to save wildlife and wild areas in chikmaglur district, these organizations highlighted the importance of dead and fallen bamboo in regeneration of new bamboo clumps along with other benefits to the forest. And they informed it to the central empowered committee. According to central empowered committee and Supreme Court order 2002 and wildlife protection act 1972, they cannot remove any type of dead and fallen tree or bamboo from the sanctuary, this order saved the big bamboo in bhadra. due to this in 2004 bamboo mafia and timber lobby set a fire to bhadra sanctuary to take revenge against department and wildlife lovers, the fire destroyed some parts of the sanctuaries flora and fauna ,it was a huge fire in the history of bhadra .
  But luckily the most of the dried bamboo survived and regeneration of bamboo happened
  
  After 2005 rainy season lots of changes happened , in the sanctuary big bamboo started growing, bamboo grows nearly 1 feet in a day during rainy season. Bamboo covered the whole sanctuary, and we could see bamboo clumps coming up. And from then onwards we are witnessing bamboo growing abundantly in all 4 ranges of bhadra, it’s a good sign for the forest. And now we can see bamboo regeneration in big healthy clumps every were in bhadra.
  
  Importance of bamboo in bhadra eco system:
  
  Bamboo is a natural weed controller:
  Bamboo grows in groups, it need lots of space and it’s a natural weed controller, in other important sanctuaries like bandipur national park and Rajeev Gandhi national park there ,lantana, and eupatorium weeds have occupied the open spaces grasslands and grown every where in the park as undergrowth this weeds are exotic and serve very little to the wildlife and causes a major eco logical imbalance, but in bhadra this weeds are not abundant , because of bamboo, bamboo which needs lots of space occupies open space and prevents these exotic weeds from taking over.
  
  
  Good Habitat:
  Insects, reptiles, birds and other wildlife creatures are depends on bamboo clumps , it’s a good habitat for small animals. Nearly 15 to 20 species of birds depends on bamboo for shelter, king cobra use dead and fallen bamboo leaves to build nest during reproduction period and lays eggs. And bamboo pit viper and other small snakes are depended on bamboo clumps. Small mammals like spotted deer, mauntac jac, mouse deer, hares, wild pigs, use bamboo clumps as camouflage to hide from prey animals, lots of insects colonies depend on bamboo clumps.
  
  
  Food source for animals:
  so many wild animals depends on bamboo for food, elephant use bamboo as a major food, elephant need nearly 250 to 300 kg of food per day, bamboo its one of the favorite food for elephant .after the bamboo flowered bamboo seeds were used by birds and insects as food. Even large mammals like gaur, sambar and wildpigs, relish on bamboo shoots
  
  Outstanding beauty of bhadra:
  Bhadra bamboo looks very beautiful, it’s a only the place in India having such nice bamboo forest .upcoming shoots are really nice to see during rainy season.
  
  
  Need conservation:
  Bhadra bamboo need to be conserved, locals and other timber mafia people are involved in cutting bamboo, for various uses .government should take several steps to save bhadra bamboo, protection should be tightened. , forest department and local ngos should put more efforts to save bhadra s unique bamboo.
  
  
  Veeresh G
  Wildlife conservationist
  Chickmaglur –bhadra wildlife sanctuary
  
  Contact;
  Ph: 98447-05994, 97429-49745
  
  veereshwild@gmail.com
  veereshwild@yahoo.com
  veereshgbhadra@gmail.com