Rat-ta-ta-ta-tat! A sound like that of rapid ricochet fire pierces the winter air as the rays of the rising sun drench the wooded Bhamragad taluka in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district. It has not come from a gun. A giant squirrel called ‘shekru’ in Marathi is calling out from its iron cage. In another enclosure, a herd of spotted deer comes prancing towards a group of children who empty a crate of raw vegetable waste before them for the day’s meal.

Bhamragad’s creatures are not used to such ready meals. In the Dandakaranya forest, which covers the town and stretches beyond to neighbouring Chhattisgarh, survival is a daily battle.................Read more

Source: The Hindu