Participants:
1. Ritumoni and Biswajyoti
2. Wife (Chumki) and Myself
Date: 23th December, 2012
Mode of Transport: Swift Dzire
A lot have been written about the place but still we had not had a chance to visit to the place. But alas, D day arrived and we had a chance to visit the place.
Jayamangali Blackbuck Conservation Reserve is Tumkur District’s only notified protected area. It neighbors Maidenahalli, a small village in Madhugiri Taluk, at the north-eastern tip of Tumkur district of Karnataka state, India. It is a 798-acre (3.23 km2) patch of grassland with Eucalyptus and Acacia auriculiformis. It has the largest contiguous population of Black buck (Antelope cervicapra) in Karnataka, apart from Ranibennur Black buck Sanctuary.
The open grasslands is an ideal habitat for a lot of reptilian species and birds as well.
Route Information:
There are two ways of visiting the place, but in either case 40% of the roads are very bad. Not sure due to rains or what. This had consumed most of our time. We explored both the routes in order to get good roads.
Hebbal -> Yelhanka -> Doddabollapur -> Tondebavi (ACC Cement Factory, Take left) -> Alipur -> Chikkapalya -> Kodagadala (Take right here).
From there it is around 8.9 kms to the mud road which leads to the entrance. From the main road it is again 2.5 kms to the entrance.
Kodagadala (Take left) -> Holvanahalli -> Koratgere -> Devaranyadurg -> Dobbaspet -> Tumukur Highway
Best time of the year: Winter seasons or on cloudy skies.
Best time of the day: Mostly around morning hours (7am – 9am) and later in the evenings (4pm – 6pm)
Nearest source for food: No food source near the place. It is good to carry own food.
Must: A good camera and a pair of binoculars.
Camping: Camping inside the forest area is possible but you need to take prior permission from the forest office. There is a forest office out there.
Black bucks are very shy animals. They move at the very slightest noise and movement. Unless you have a good vision/binoculars, it is very difficult to site them. We were able to notice only 2 herds from a distance of about 50-60 meters. As we tried to reach near they moved away behind the thick bushes with their athletics spring jumps.
Courtesy:
http://arunthetraveller.blogspot.in/2011/09/blackbucks-in-vast-grasslands.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayamangali_Blackbuck_Reserve
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