02 March,2009 04:53 PM IST | | PTI
Faced with threat of bushfires due to drought conditions, the wildlife department has closed Wayanad Wildlife sanctuary in the Nilgiri Biosphere to tourists for one month from on Monday.
The Wildlife Department was compelled to take the 'emergency step' to protect the forest and animals, which stray into the area in search of shade and food, official sources here said.
No major fire outbreak had been reported from the area so far, but severe drought and want of summer showers had caused the bamboo clusters and vast stretches of grassland in the sanctuary to shrivel and posed the threat of bushfires, Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) KP Ouseph said.
The restriction was to avoid the risk of trekkers and holidayers throwing combustible material in the forest, which could spark fires, he said. Also, since last year was almost a fire-free one, fuel materials like dry leaves and logs have accumulated in the area, which increased the danger of fire outbreaks.
This year, anti-blaze measures like fire tracing and creation of firelines had been intensified by pressing forest personnel into service in large numbers. Also, the Eco Development Committees with local participation had been stepped up, the official said.
According to Ouseph, the Chief Wildlife Warden could order closure of a sanctuary for tourists when an area faced threat of fire or outbreak of contagious diseases among animals.
As the summer this year has been rigorous right from the start and pre-summer showers quite scanty, streams and rivulets in Wayanad are fast drying up. This would make the season all the more grim for the wildlife which used to cross over to Wayanad from the adjoining Nagarhole and Bandipur in Karnataka and Mudumali in Tamil Nadu, department sources said.
While big animals like elephants and bison and boars could escape the hard times, birds, snakes and other lesser beings would be the victims of the ravages of the season, officials said.
