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Ms. Niranjana Meshram, a bird guide and night patrolling guide from Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, was interviewed by YNN members Anooja A. and Rohith Srinivasan with the help of Aditya Ramakrishnan as part of our World Ranger Day initiative, "In Nature's Defence".
Niranjana from Moharli, Tadoba breaks all societal barriers to work in the jungle, not allowing people to define her solely by her roles as a mother and housewife. On completing her training, she became part of an 11-member team that documents the avian population in Chandrapur using citizen science. She guides tourists to watch not just the stellar megafauna of the region but also the remarkable birds, flora and other diverse creatures of the forest. |
I grew up in Moharli village, Tadoba but moved to Chandrapur district when I was 12 and studied there till 10th standard. When I was young, my family faced plenty of financial issues- my father passed away when I was just 5 years old, leaving my mother to take care of me and my 3 brothers. I ended up dropping out of school after 10th standard to help my mother with farming and at 18, I got married and became a housewife. Never did I imagine that I would one day work in the Forest Department.
Many people in my family have wildlife-related jobs. My elder brother is a Round Officer in the Maharashtra Forest Department, my younger brother works on tiger research at the Wildlife Institute of India and my husband is a tourist guide who works under the Forest Department. Hearing their stories from the forests and the experiences they’d had with tigers and birds made me want to work with the Forest Department in Tadoba.
In September 2019 I attended a workshop on birds by Pooja Pawar where I got to know that over 280 bird species have been recorded from Tadoba. I had seen these diverse birds but knew the names of only three of them- Chimni (House Sparrow), Kaua (House Crow ) and Bagla (Egret). Slowly, I started noticing the different features of different birds- their colours, their legs, their wings and so on. They started taking us birding from the 3rd day of the workshop and we birded daily from the crack of dawn for 2 hours. They also gave us a chart with 136 species of birds and with practice, we learnt to identify 150-200 species that were seen in Tadoba. Earlier, when we used to go birding, we would get so focused on finding birds that we wouldn’t even realise when something else approached us. Once we were so busy looking upwards and walking, trying to find new birds, that we almost walked right into a tiger’s mouth!
Even after our training, our lack of proper equipment was an obstacle- sometimes a bird would whizz past me and I wouldn’t be able to notice anything about it. Moon sir, the Buffer Zone RFO, helped by buying a pair of binoculars for me and my friend. Binoculars allow me to see birds clearly even from a distance now. We carry a notebook and pen with us while birdwatching to note down the names of species we see as well as their numbers to make checklists on eBird. By uploading this data on a citizen science platform like eBird, we get data on the birds that are common and rare. We can also assess the population trend of the birds in a particular area to help in conservation. Consistency is key to becoming a good birdwatcher, which is why I am currently the top eBirder in my region.
Oriental Honey Buzzard- Picture Credits: N. Ramakrishnan
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Scops Owl- Picture Credits: Ekadh Ranganathan
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Apart from monitoring the bird population, Tadoba's community of people is also involved in its conservation. The 625 sq. km core is an uninhabited jungle inaccessible to people. The buffer zone spanning 1200 sq. km was demarcated so that the core could be protected from all sides. Villagers live in harmony with animals in the buffer zone.
Earlier, I used to be scared of working late at night but now I don’t feel that fear. Being in the jungle can be scary because it’s a thick forest with no lighting apart from the car’s headlights. Now I have gotten used to it because I trust my coworkers and as we talk, time flies.
The Indian Roller is my favourite bird, it’s really colourful. Many migratory birds visit Tadoba, one of which is Navrang (Indian Pitta). It comes to Tadoba in May along with its young, after the breeding season, and stays till September. During the day we see sambar deer, spotted deer and tigers but night safaris present a staggering new world filled with nocturnal animals like Ratel (Honey Badger), Porcupine and four species of nightjars- the Savanna Nightjar, Indian Nightjar, Jerdon’s Nightjar and Jungle Nightjar. We see plenty of owls too, including Mottled Owls, Spotted Owls and Scops Owls.
We see tigers during the day but spotting them at night is a whole different kind of fun because of the way they shine when our headlights fall on them. Palm Civet Cat, Small Civet and the world’s smallest cat, Rusty-spotted Cat, a rare species, can also be seen here at night. We’ve grown used to working and identifying animals at night. The shine from a tiger’s eyes, the sambar deer and spotted deer- all of their colours appear different. As bird guides, we were never really trained for tiger interactions. Only later were we trained for tigers, but we’ve become used to them now as well. Sometimes people get scared of tigers and their actions further scare the tigers as well. When people ask us how we aren’t scared of tigers, I reply by saying that we are people of the jungle, what is there to fear?
Royal Bengal Tiger- Picture Credits: Ekadh Ranganathan
Most tourists come here to see the tiger or the leopard. The tiger is popular- everyone knows about it and even kids ask to see it. Not many people know about the bird diversity in Tadoba. Tigers can be seen in zoos as well but when you come to the jungle, there are a plethora of other animals- unique flora, butterflies and a range of other species you might not be able to see anywhere else. It feels good when there are tourists who ask for not just the tiger but also the other smaller species. We do show everybody the tiger when we can but if any birds were to fly in front of us, we’d point at and explain “See, this is the Oriental Honey Buzzard, this is the Mottled Wood Owl and see, this is the Laughing Dove!” When they tell us that they came to spot only tigers, we tell them that the tiger alone isn’t important, there are other species in the forest that are equally important!
During one of my night safaris, we spotted the tigress Lara’s daughter “Collar Wali”, who got her unofficial name because she wanders around wearing a collar ID. A lot of cars had stopped to watch her- it was obvious to me that she felt like hunting and she walked around for about 2-3 km. The tourists in my jeep didn’t seem remotely interested in her though. I was taken by surprise because people come to Tadoba to watch tigers. Then we showed them other species such as a Savanna nightjar. After taking a few photos, they said that they weren’t interested in tigers, they were interested in observing smaller creatures like the nightjar. I was glad to know that there are tourists who come to see birds as well and not just the tiger. On that trip, we even saw a Mottled Wood Owl catching a mouse and bringing it up to a tree to eat! After seeing the Owl and Nightjar, the tourists said that they were elated! They were so happy they got good photos at night that they asked me to take them again on a night safari.
Indian Nightjar- Picture Credits: Smriti Mahesh
80% of Tadoba’s population depend on its tourism for their work. Due to the pandemic, tourists stopped coming, the jungle was closed off, and the gates were locked because of which we could not work. We couldn’t see last year’s migrant birds or even upload much on eBird. We birded around our houses but saw only common birds.
Apart from COVID, there is another pandemic we see- societal expectations. I’m constantly faced with expectations as a woman, especially because I’m seen as a housewife by my village. They disregard the work I do as a patrolling guide at night. They believe that women must only do household chores and that working after 7 PM is taboo. People would often ask my family why I have to go out alone on night duty. My family would support me by replying that I go out to work. Some neighbours still ask my husband how he “allows” me to return home around 10 pm and whether it isn’t strange for a woman with two children to stay out so late.
People ask questions like "How will the food be cooked in the house?", simply because I’m a woman. I’ve been working since 2019 as a bird guide and night patrolling guide, working till 10 in the night. One must keep working at what they want to pursue, even if it requires fighting all that society may throw at you.
We would like to thank Sanctuary Asia's Mud on Boots Project for their assistance in contacting Ms. Niranjana for this initiative.
