I recently visited
the Periyar Tiger Reserve and even though I wasn't exactly trekking, the boat
service which I took was enough to mesmerize me. The dense forest, engulfed
with mist the beautiful man-made lake at its heart. If you are seek peace, this
is the place to be.
I will go on and on
if I were talk about this place, but my intension of this blog is something
else. Hundreds visit the sanctuary every
day, but how many of them truly are here to see the fauna found here ? Out of the
people who seek the wild sighting, how many understand the do's and don’t of
the place ? I would say, only very people who come to the place actually
maintain the rules that is required within a forest.
There was this 5
member gang in the boat I took who were constantly chatting and laughing loud
for the entire duration of the trip. The primary rules while visiting any wild
or bird sanctuary is to maintain salience.
The forest is home to these animals who seek safety within its dense
vegetation. Human voices alerts them and they will move away from the source of
noise.
But not everyone
understands it or bother to understand it. The above mentioned guys in boat
were laughing so loudly that even humans would be scared off, let alone poor
animals. How I wish I had power to throw
them off the boat. It wasn't just this group, there were others as well. Two
women sharing their stories of latest episode of TV Serial, kids who were left
to make noise by unconcerned parents and the list goes on.
Here is a small list
of do's n don'ts I really wish people maintain during such trips.
Don’t expect to see
animals - Ironically that's the first
rule. Expectations can frustrate you and
can lead to do things which you aren't supposed to do. You need to be extremely
patient.
Maintain
silence - Avoid unnecessary chats . Its
going to scare away the animals. Keep your mobiles in silient mode. Remember,
Unnatural sound and natural wonders don't mix.
Leave kids at home -
This might be cruel, but kids too young are better to be left at home. They get too excited or scared at wild
sightings which will again scare away the animals.
Don't wear flashy
dresses & Don't wear anything that smells unnatural - Animals have a
better sense of smell than us. Anything
unnatural and they would prefer to seek safety of wild.
Don't use Flash when
taking photos - Avoid usage of flashes when shooting animals.
Don't feed animals -
Animals know to look after themselves. Please don’t trouble yourself to feed them, it might hurt them.
There are many
websites in the internet which provides you detailed description of does and
don'ts in wild. If you really enjoy the forest and want to see animals in their
natural habitats, make sure you read them before go in.
