BBC Knowledge April 2017

I was part of a conservation initiative

where familiarisation wildlife camps

were conducted at Eaglenest with

school children. The sheer volume of

biodiversity astounded everyone,

not just the kids. There are at least

450 species of birds (if not more) found

here, including the Beautiful Nuthatch,

a birding favourite, the extremely strange

and entertaining Wallcreeper, and

the rare Bugun Liochicla, first spotted

in 2006 but now almost extinct, with only

20 individuals left in the wild. The drive

through the sanctuary is a bumpy one,

but you won’t notice that, really, not with

the different species of bamboo thickets

that change with elevations, and the

anticipation (and worry) of spotting

a wild tusker, or a Red Panda or a

Clouded Leopard on the route. Nothing

comes easy, though, at Eaglenest; it’s

remote, it has limited accommodation

and the species are tough to spot.

But the views every morning, and the

untamed heart of this forest make it all

worthwhile.

GETTING THERE

BY AIR: Guwahati Airport is 320km away.

BY RAIL: Guwahati is the nearest railhead.

BY ROAD: It’s best to get to Guwahati and

make your way on from there.

STAY

There are just two places to stay, both are

campsites with basic facilities.

LAMA CAMP, run by the Bugun tribe:

call 00-91-94362-51508 or write to

[email protected].

BHOMPU CAMP, run by the Shertukpen

tribe: http://eaglenestbirding.com/bompu-

camp/

BEST TIME TO VISIT: If you’re interested

in reptiles, visit during or the monsoon;

otherwise October is a good time to see

birdlife and still be able to see reptiles.

It gets very cold after that.

Sejal Mehta is a writer, editor and content

consultant. An old travel hack, with a self-

confessed bias towards foress, she is currently

the editor-in-chief at Nature Focus (natureinfocus.

in). She tweets as @snaggletooth_00

and is on Instagram as @snaggletooth00

EAGLENEST WILDLIFE
SANCTUARY/ PAKKE TIGER
RESERVE, ARUNACHAL PRADESH
Excellent for: Birding

I heard them before I saw them – the
sound of large wings beating the air.
As we looked up, two Great Hornbills
flew out from a tree and flew together,
high above our upturned faces. I caught
a glimpse of their majestic casques
(helmets) before they disappeared into
the distance, a mere memory of yellow,
white and black.
For a few seconds, no one spoke,
and then there was jubilation in the
vehicle, complete with a round of silenced
high-fives – this was a forest, after all,
in the middle of Pakke Tiger Reserve.
The Great Hornbill was, for most of us,
a lifer, as they say in birding circles,
a term used when you see a bird for the
first time. I wasn’t much of a birder then

• or even now – but I was rendered
  speechless at the sighting.
  I will never forget that sound, and how
  gracefully they sliced through the air
  despite their enormous size.
  As I learned more about them, I realised
  they are not endemic to these parts;
  you can spot them just as easily in the
  Western Ghats, it’s the three other species
  of hornbills found here – Rufous-necked,
  Wreathed, and the Oriental-pied – that are
  far more difficult to spot. Pakke is thus
  also the site chosen for the annual Pakke
  Paga Festival (Paga meaning Hornbill)
  that is usually celebrated in January.
  The 860sqkm reserve is an excellent
  birding spot, with many endemic
  species found here.
  The forests of the Northeast are
  different than any other you’ve visited
  in India. It’s in the way the air is pure
  and clear at that height. Or in the way
  trees fill the mountain slopes – as if
  fighting for space – so all you can see as
  you drive up the winding, narrow roads
  are thousands of canopies of varying
  green clustered close together. Or in the
  way that the jungle seems truly wild in
  comparison to the slightly managed
  forests on regular tourism circuits.
  Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in

Arunachal Pradesh is a revelation. (^) T.KRISHNA PRABAKAR
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