The spotted deer is the most beautiful deer species, and is usually associated with beautiful scenery, with grassy forest glades and shaded streams. However since ages it is being hunted for its beautiful coat and meat, and is also considered as perfect game animal. The contentious decline in deer population because of its illicit poaching and habitat destruction is resulting in to the ecological imbalance, which will ultimately affect the human society. Spotted deer, being a herbivores species; is a basic component of forest ecosystem in peninsular India, the species is the main food of big carnivores like, tiger, leopard, wild dogs, etc. The human society faces adverse impact of spotted deer population decline, in the form of cattle lifting by carnivores due to food scarcity. The coat and meat of this species fetches good price for hunters, which seems to be a boosting up factor for its poaching.

 Still in this miserable condition, there is a unique example, where this species is protected by village community, the villagers consider deer protection as their prime responsibility; beside this the forest protected by the villagers is proving to be an ideal habitat for deers. The villagers have not only given protection but also sacrificed some part of agricultural yield due to deer depredation; still the people at Kodbahal consider them as their associate in nature, with whom they have to share resources.

Spotted Deer: the most Beautiful Deer
Spotted Deer (Axis axis)
Common Name: Spotted deer or Chital
Local Name: Chital, Harina

Description: The spotted deer is perhaps the most gorgeous of all deer. Its coat is a bright Rufus-fawn, which is profusely spotted with white spots. Spots are present at all ages and in all seasons, still old bucks are more brownish in colour. The male chital (Stage) has graceful, branching, usually three-tined antlers (horns) up to 100 cm; the antlers are solid, which they shed periodically. An adult deer stands up to 100 cm at the shoulder, weigh about 85 kg. Lifespan is around 20-30 years.

 Distribution and Habitat: Chitals are generally found in the forest at the base of Himalaya and throughout the Peninsula and Cylon, generally it is found where ever there is jungle combined with good grazing and plentiful of water supply. 

Habits: They are “gregarious”; generally occur in herds of ten to thirty, they may rises up to hundred in suitable habitats like grasslands in “Simlipal Tiger Reserve”. The herd is dominated by hinds, generally stags leave the herd after maturity (usually at the age of two), and may live in separate herd of stags or solitarily. Generally the herd is formed of maternal sisters, and is leaded by dominant hind.

The spotted deer generally feed till late in the morning and again in the afternoon, and lie down in the interval in some shaded spots. The spotted deer feeds mainly on grass, fallen flowers and fruits of forest trees. It needs a good supply of fresh water to drink.

The Chital is the most tolerant and sociable of all deer; it inhabits the same country with Nilgai, Swamp Deer, and Samber even Wild Boar. Hanuman Monkeys appear to be the special friend of Chital. The deer gather under the trees where the monkeys are feeding to feed on leaves and fruits of wasteful drops. The waste food dropped by monkeys is particularly valuable for the deer between November and June, when grass is sparse. During the monsoon season, when other food is more plentiful, the monkey/deer associations decline noticeably. The deer also feed on waste dropped by fruit-eating birds and on wind-felled foliage.

Chital are prolific breeders, the gestation period is 210- 236 days (7-7.5 months). Usually the mother gives birth to a single fawn. The “rutting stag” has a loud harsh bellow and combats between stags for hinds are fierce and frequent.

Source: 1. Prater, S. H., “The Book of Indian Animals”, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), 1971.

2. Deal, S. H., “Wildlife & Natural Resource Management”, Thomas Delmar Learning, 2002.

3. (http://www.haryana-online.com/Fauna/chital.htm)

 The Village: Kodbahal

 Village History 

In pre independence era, there was dense forest in this area. Patch of forest land was cleared to set up habitation in this area. Since the patch of forestland cleared was lowland (Bahal) the village was named Kodbahal (Kod-Bahal). There was acute food scarcity due to unavailability of agricultural land. Wildlife was abundant and there were animals like Tiger, Bear, and Deer. People used to cultivate paddy and millet in their land. Because of food scarcity people were depending upon Bamboo shoots, Mahua flower, forest fruits and tubers. The village was under feudal (Jaminadari) system where the administrative control of the area used to be under the Jamindar/Landlord. The system of Bethi (Bonded labour) was prevalent in those days. The village was completely cut off from the outer world with no connectivity.  

The Kodbahal Forest

The Kodbahal V. S. S comes under Kodbahal beat of Kodbahal section, situated in Hemgir Range of Sundargarh Forest division. The V. S. S. was formed on 29.01.2000, there are 205 V. S. S. members, out of this 28 are S. C. member and 42 are S. T. members. The area assigned to V. S. S. is 200ha. It includes four blocks viz. Makritunguri Reserve Forest, Khesra Forest Jaraikela DPF (P), Kodbahal DPF and Khutipani DPF, the forest area is legally classed into Reserved and revenue forest of which 547.801 Acers are covered under reserved and 321 Acers under revenue forest, the forest distribution is as follows: 

Land type              Forest type                                   Size in Acres

Revenue Forest       Patra Jungle                                             1.38

                                Habitable wasteland (Patra Jungle)         320.48

Reserve Forest        Gramya/ Village Forest                           03.94

                                Large Jungle                                            201.89

                                Sal Forest                                                 341.971

 (Source: Microplan of Kodbahal, by PRAYAS, 2004)

 Forest Characteristics

The general topography of the area is hilly and undulating, at some places is flat. The soil varies from red gravelly to red sandy, at some places (low lying area) it is clayey & in upland area it is gravelly. Soil thickness varies shallow to medium. The area harbors mixed deciduous forest, dominated by Sidha and Karala in Makritunguri Reserve Forest and Sal in Khesra Forest of Jaraikela DPF (P), Kodbahal DPF and Khutipani DPF. The associated species are given in (Anx.1).

However the villagers categorize their forest in to four categories, viz. Patra jungle, Gramya Jungle (Village forest), Sal forest and Bamboo forest. These categories are assigned due to type of vegetation present in that area. There are some portions of “Gocchar land”, assigned particularly for grazing; hence grazing in forest is prohibited by V. S. S. This ultimately promotes forest regeneration and increase availability of resources for wild herbivores.   

History of Conservation Effort: 

Spotted deer are the natural inhabitants of this area, people have developed a symbiotic relationship with deers over period of time. In pre-independence era people of Kodbahal used to accompany “Jamindars” and ex- “Rajas” in their hunting games, however this practice stopped after independence. Since last 20 years they are providing protection to deers and as stated by the President of Kodbahal V.S.S., the villagers have established a symbolic relationship with the deers, Kodbahal is famous for these deers and many people had visited their village due to deers and many will visit in future, to see deer.

As a natural inhabitant, deers were present in the surrounding forest, however, in 1945 there was a massive degradation of forest due to contractual clearance of forest which resulted into habitat destruction and ultimately in nonconducive environment for the deers. The protection measures became intense after 1998, when villagers started protecting their forest. The contractual logging (in this operation villagers also earned some income in the form of labor) caused resource degradation, villagers faced scarcity of resources, which ultimately gave them realization that they have to protect their own resources to protect their own interest. Though villagers decided to protect the forest there was a problem in the form of internal conflict, which was deterring the conservation efforts. The conflict between two hamlets was naturally hampering interest of the whole village, therefore ultimately the Forest Department and the district administration took a lead to solve these conflicts through bilateral talk and this ended with the formation of Kodbahal V.S.S. in 2000. After this deers got better protection due to regular patrolling by villagers and this also led to habitat creation and improvement.

The protection system:

 Whenever there is any poaching case or information regarding possibility of poaching the patrollers immediately inform forester for action. The forester along with other villagers moves to the place and takes necessary action against poachers. This system is proving efficient in declining the poaching cases.

The deer prefer to come in the habitation and agricultural land since they feel safe in the village, nobody try to hurt them, instead they care for injured one and try to avoid man-deer conflict through applying indigenous techniques like dangle of clothes (mostly saris) in agricultural fields to scare deer and keep them away from a crop. In Kodbahal deer depredating on agricultural yield is a common sight, still it doesn’t matter much for the people.  

The villagers have evolved the agricultural system in accordance with behavior of their wild companion. As deer prefer to stay in uplands, the upland is generally kept fallow or is cultivated with crops like “Saru”, Chilly, etc. which are not eaten by the deer, thus cropping pattern is established in consideration with presence of deer. The villagers are well accustomed with lifestyle of the deer, they are well versed with resource use pattern of deer, they can easily predict occurrence of the deer at the moment, and they know answers for all, from daily activities, diet, seasonal migration, breeding to all the requirements of the animals like, presence of dense cover to hide, water and food availability, salt leaks and “fawning ground”. According to the villagers, hilly upland area forms the best habitat for deer; this area harbors scrubland with patches of grassland. In this area they get food and vegetation cover to hide. This area is inaccessible and is protected from grazing. Last year the village committee had planted edible grass for deer in the season of food scarcity (i.e. summer), that solved many problems like straying of animals outside secure area, crop depredation and many more. Earlier villagers were protecting forest through “Thengapalli” (rotational patrolling), it was done by four members through out the year while in peak season of theft, like “Karadi”¹ season (in the season of bamboo sprouting); eight members were involved in patrolling. In this year VSS have employed three “Watchers” for daily patrolling, the watchers are employed through FDA fund. However in peak season of theft like “Karadi”(young bamboo shoots) seasonD, villagers assist to the watchers in the patrolling.  

Threats  

However this attachment with deers is becoming factor of distress for the people from surrounding villages, the Kodbahal villagers are facing anger of others, who are interested in deer poaching and logging. According to VSS President and other VSS members, deer are safe in the area of Kodbahal VSS; although straying of deer into surroundings increases the chance of loosing life.  

The land of the village is classified into three categories viz. Lowland (Bahal Jami), Upland (Guda Jami) and Medium land (Mall Jami), beside this most of the households posses homestead land (Gharbari Jami). Lowland area is mostly cultivated by paddy (in Kharif season), and generally annually two crops are grown on it while medium land is cultivated by rice and pulses, the upland area is mostly cultivated by pulses and tubers, and homestead land is used for cultivation of vegetables. However most of the villagers left their upland and homestead land, fallow due to depredation of crop in this area by deers. This difficulty is tackled by some people, through cultivation of crops like “Saru”, Chilly and likewise, that are not eaten by deer. It’s amazing how these shy animals feel comfortable in human habitations, many times as deer roam in the village freely and destroy crop in homestead.  

The land ownership based on operational land holding is as follows:

(Microplan by PRAYAS, 2004) 

It is evident that availability of agricultural land is very low in the village; the irrigation facilities are also very limited.  In this situation, people at Kodbahal are ready to sacrifice part of their crop for deer.

 Opportunities 

Due to protection and regeneration of the forest the deer population is increasing, this enhancing trend is providing space for natural predators of the deer like tiger, leopard, hyenas and jackals. According to forester Mr. K.C. Panda, sighting of Royal Bengal Tiger (Panthera tigris) in this area is very frequent. This forest is also shelter of other wild animals like barking deer, chausinga, sloth bear, wild boars, forest and water birds.

Obviously a question arises in mind, what community gets from this protection effort?

The answer given by one villager is very rational, “We believe that the tree/ bush eaten by deer sprouts more efficiently, ultimately increase the production.” However most of the up land is kept fallow due to fear of depredation by deer. Another important observation he mentioned, “Deer eat grass, fruits, etc. which helps in forest regeneration.” 

The “Forest Development Agency” (FDA) is implementing a five year programme, for the year (2002-03 to 2006-07) under “National Afforestation Programme”.  The V.S.S. had also contributed part of a fund from this project in cultivation of edible grass. The activities done under this five year programme are further accelerating the conservation efforts, through creation of habitat suitable for the wildlife. The efforts like creation of water and soil conservation structures like brush wood check dams, small and medium loose boulder check dams, natural and artificial forest regeneration are benefiting the whole community through resource conservation and resource development. There is an integrated approach for development therefore it encompasses various phases from entry point activity to implementation and monitoring. The villagers are involved from initial phase of the project; in fact capacity building of local community through awareness camps and creation of community assets was the initial phase of project. The contribution by the villagers was in the form of labor and assistance in requirement. Both villagers and forest department are expecting good results from the project.  At present the villages are getting various benefits through this project, in the form of water retention, increased soil fertility and accelerated forest regeneration. 

Almost all the villagers are depending upon the forest for fulfillment of their daily needs; however there are 236 M. F. P. collectors in the village who are dependent largely on collection of M. F. Ps. The details about forest produce collection are given in Annexure-II. Thus major portion of population is engaged in M. F. P collection; it supports many families in lean agriculture period and also fulfills their basic needs. After large scale destruction of forest the resource crunch has impacted villagers badly, this impact forced people to conserve resources; the forest protection is benefiting people through providing resources for sustenance while it is also benefiting wildlife through habitat creation.

To enhance the efficiency of the protection measures the villagers are hoping for formal recognition of their efforts through inclusion of this area in official protected area, as they could get fund for better management of deer habitat. The forest department is also showing interest in this process, however it is not clear, whether the department is going to declare this area as “Sanctuary”, where people have to face restriction on their fundamental rights, or “Community Reserve”, where people could exercise their right along with a stake in management of wildlife, they adore.      

 List of major plant species occurring in Kodbahal forest:

Forest produces collection and use pattern: