28 spotted deer dot every sq. km of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve

Spotting wildlife at Nagarahole Tiger Reserve in Karnataka is easier due to increasing spotted deer population.

Wildlife spotting at any reserve is a matter of time, luck, and patience. But those visiting the Nagarahole Tiger Reserve in Karnataka will most likely catch a glimpse of the spotted deer. Officials of the reserve say their population has seen a steady increase in recent years. At present, there are 28 spotted deer for every sq. km of the reserve.

Nagarahole Tiger Reserve is located in the districts of Mysuru and Kodagu. It has an area of 847.981 sq. km, including a core area of 643.392 sq. km and a buffer area of 204.589 sq. km. The reserve is contiguous with the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala to the south and Bandipur Tiger Reserve to the southeast.

According to the reserve, these forests in the Western Ghats support play host to many carnivores and herbivores, including tiger, leopard, Asiatic wild dog, sloth bear, Asiatic elephant, gaur, sambar, chital, four-horned antelope, and South-western langur, among others.

Seema. P.A., Deputy Conservator of Forests and Director of Nagarahole Tiger Reserve, told The Hindu that the increasing deer population is a sign of healthy prey-predator numbers. “Deer population is good in Nagarahole compared to other tiger reserves. It has been increasing for a few years. Prey and predator - both are balanced,” she said.

Ms Seema also said the reserve had 142 tigers as of the 2023 census, the third-highest population in India. She said there are tigers outside the forest area, which have given birth to cubs outside the forest area.

Another official from the reserve explained further, saying that the camera traps are only within the reserve and are placed outside of it in case of conflicts. “We are analysing the 2024 data now. Year on year, there will be some variations. We also don’t count cubs below two years, and there are also deaths, which cause variations,” he said. “The prey density in terms of spotted deer population in Nagarahole is 28 per sq. km. Comparatively, Bandipur and Nagarahole have a higher prey and predator density,” he added.

Among the factors contributing to this is the availability of grass and food, which is good for prey density and predator base. He also said the terrain in the reserve is not entirely hilly and has a variety of forest types, from scrub to evergreen, which helps with the population.