Kudremukh
Encyclopedia
Kudremukh also spelled Kuduremukha is a mountain range in Chikkamagaluru district, in Karnataka
, India
. It is also the name of a small hill station town situated near the mountain, about 48 kilometers from Karkala
and about 20 kilometers from Kalasa
. The name Kuduremukha (as it is known by the natives) literally means 'horse-face' (in the local language Kannada) and refers to a particular picturesque view of a side of the mountain that resembles the same. It was also referred to as 'Samseparvata', historically since it was approached from Samse village.
The town of Kudremukh is primarily an iron
ore mining
town where the government run Public Sector Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd.
(KIOCL) operated till the last decade. It is noted for its scenic beauty. Owing to the dense forests, sighting wildlife can be challenging, though the area is rich in wildlife. Nonetheless the drive through the forest ranges can be enchanting and exhilarating. Three important rivers, the Tunga, the Bhadra and the Nethravathi are said to have their origin here. A shrine of goddess Bhagavathi and a Varaha image, 1.8 m within a cave are the main attractions.
The Tunga
river and Bhadra river
flow freely through the parklands. Kadambi waterfalls area definite point of interest for anyone who travels to the spot. The animals found there include the malabar civet
, wild dogs
, sloth bear
and spotted deer.
Recently, it is declared a Tiger Reserve, falling under the Bhadra Tiger Sanctuary Umbrella. It was declared by the honourable Union Environmental Minister, Mr.Jairam Ramesh.
The Kudremukh National Park (latitudinal range 13°01'00" to 13°29'17" N, longitudinal range 75°00'55' to 75°25'00" E) is the second largest declared Wildlife Protected Area (600.32 km²) of a tropical wet evergreen type of forest in the Western Ghats. Kudremukh National Park is located in Dakshina kannada
and Chikmagalur districts of Karnataka states. The Western Ghats
is one of the thirty four hot spots identified for bio-diversity conservation in the world. Kudremukh National Park comes under the Global Tiger Conservation Priority-I, under the format developed jointly by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wide Fund-USA.
The southern and western sides of the park form the steep slope of the Western Ghat ridge line, with the altitude varying from 100 m - 1892 m (peak). The northern, central and the eastern portions of the park form a chain of rolling hills with a mosaic of natural grassland and shola forest. Kudremukh receives an average annual rainfall of 7000 mm, which has evolved forest types of mainly evergreen vegetation.
Driving through Kudremukh National Park
http://www.weedioh.com/Video.aspx?VideoId=2486
The British Government declared Kudremukh region as a Reserved Forest in 1916, to stop rampant slash and burn cultivation practices from penetrating deeper into the Ghats.
Well known environmentalist
and Tiger
expert Dr. Ullas Karanth
, undertook a detailed and systematic survey of the distribution of the endangered Lion Tailed Macaque in Karnataka during 1983-84 with support from Government of Karnataka. He observed that suitable and extensive rainforest habitat for Lion-tailed Macaque existed in Kudremukh and that the tract probably harbored the largest contiguous population of lion tailed macaques in the Western Ghats outside the Malabar region. He further suggested that Lion Tailed Macaques could be effectively used as a 'flagship' species to conserve the entire biotic community in the region and prepared a conservation plan for survival of wild population of Lion Tailed Macaques in the region delineating the present national park area as a proposed nature reserve. Based on his report, the Karnataka State Wildlife Advisory Board suggested to the Government that Kudremukh National Park be created. Subsequently, the first notification of the Kudremukh National Park was issued.
In 1987, the Government of Karnataka declared these Reserved Forests as a National Park based on the above suggestion.
, Kudremukh had a population of 8095. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Kudremukh has an average literacy rate of 80%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 77%. In Kudremukh, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
, Leopard
and Wild Dogs
. The important Tiger prey base found within the Park is Gaur
, Sambar
, Wild Pig, Muntjac
, Chevrotain
, Bonnet Macaque
, Common Langur and the Lion Tailed Macaque.
The wet climate and the tremendous water retentive capacity of the shola grasslands and forests has led to the formation of thousands of perennial streams in the region converging to form three major rivers of the region, Tunga, Bhadra and Nethravathi that form an important lifeline for the people of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Lobo house is an old abandoned house on top of Kuduremukha.
Located 32 km from the Kalasa, the water fall has water falling onto Natural rock formations from a height of more than 100 feet (30 m). Getting into falls involves some trekking. The best time to visit this place is between October and May.
The rainfall in Kuduremukh, which is perhaps one of the highest for any open cast mining operation in the world, greatly accentuates the impacts of siltation as claimed by environmentalists. The topographic and rainfall characteristics in combination with the open cast mining of low grade iron ore and other land-surface disturbances caused by the KIOCL operations resulted in very high sediment discharge, with over 60% of the total siltation in the Bhadra system being contributed by the mining area which forms less than six per cent of the catchment. With high quality practices adopted by KIOCL to mine, the flora and fauna remained intact, causing no adverse affects on the nature.
KIOCL used to send iron ore through pipes running through districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada
and converted to pellets at their plant in Panambur
.These pellets were exported to countries like China, Iran, Japan, etc. by ships.
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is also the name of a small hill station town situated near the mountain, about 48 kilometers from Karkala
Karkala
Karkala is a town and the headquarters of Karkala taluk in the Udupi district of Karnataka, India. Located about 380 km from Bangalore, it lies near the Western Ghats....
and about 20 kilometers from Kalasa
Kalasa
Kalasa is a holy temple-town located in Chickmagalur district in Karnataka. Kalasa is home to the Kalaseshwara Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva. Kalasa lies 92 Kilometres South-west of Chickmagalur and is located on the banks of the Bhadra River....
. The name Kuduremukha (as it is known by the natives) literally means 'horse-face' (in the local language Kannada) and refers to a particular picturesque view of a side of the mountain that resembles the same. It was also referred to as 'Samseparvata', historically since it was approached from Samse village.
The town of Kudremukh is primarily an iron
Iron
Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is the most common element forming the planet Earth as a whole, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust...
ore mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
town where the government run Public Sector Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd.
Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd.
Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd is a Govt of India enterprise having its head office in Bangalore. It has iron ore mines in Kudremukh on the Western Ghats and a pelletisation plant in Mangalore.The Kudremukh is known to be one of the largest iron ore mine in the world....
(KIOCL) operated till the last decade. It is noted for its scenic beauty. Owing to the dense forests, sighting wildlife can be challenging, though the area is rich in wildlife. Nonetheless the drive through the forest ranges can be enchanting and exhilarating. Three important rivers, the Tunga, the Bhadra and the Nethravathi are said to have their origin here. A shrine of goddess Bhagavathi and a Varaha image, 1.8 m within a cave are the main attractions.
The Tunga
Tunga
Tunga may refer to:* Tunga River, a river in India* Tunga, Leyte, a municipality in the Philippines* Tunga, Trondheim, a location in Trondheim, Norway* Tunga , a Unicode typeface included in Windows XP that displays Kannada script...
river and Bhadra river
Bhadra River
The Bhadra River is a river in Karnataka state in southern India.The Bhadra originates at Gangamoola near Kudremukha, Western Ghats range, and flows east across the southern part of Deccan Plateau, joined by its tributaries the Somavahini near Hebbe, Thadabehalla, and Odirayanahalla. It flows...
flow freely through the parklands. Kadambi waterfalls area definite point of interest for anyone who travels to the spot. The animals found there include the malabar civet
Malabar Civet
The Malabar Large-spotted Civet , is a civet. It is also known as the Malabar Civet and called Jawadi Veruku - ജാവാദി വെരുകു് in Malayalam and Chirathe Bekku in Kannada. The species was once common along the lowland coastal tracts of Kerala and Karnataka in South India...
, wild dogs
Dhole
The dhole is a species of canid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the only extant member of the genus Cuon, which differs from Canis by the reduced number of molars and greater number of teats...
, sloth bear
Sloth Bear
The sloth bear , also known as the labiated bear, is a nocturnal insectivorous species of bear found wild within the Indian subcontinent. The sloth bear evolved from ancestral brown bears during the Pleistocene and shares features found in insect-eating mammals through convergent evolution...
and spotted deer.
Recently, it is declared a Tiger Reserve, falling under the Bhadra Tiger Sanctuary Umbrella. It was declared by the honourable Union Environmental Minister, Mr.Jairam Ramesh.
Location
Dakshina Kannada
- Geography :The district geography consists of sea shore in the west and Western Ghats in the east. The major rivers are Netravathi, Kumaradhara, Phalguni, Shambhavi, Nandini or Pavanje and Payaswini which all join Arabian sea. Vast areas of evergreen forests which once covered this district, have...
and Chikmagalur districts of Karnataka states. The Western Ghats
Western Ghats
The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...
is one of the thirty four hot spots identified for bio-diversity conservation in the world. Kudremukh National Park comes under the Global Tiger Conservation Priority-I, under the format developed jointly by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and World Wide Fund-USA.
Geography
Driving through Kudremukh National Park
http://www.weedioh.com/Video.aspx?VideoId=2486
History
Well known environmentalist
Environmentalist
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities"...
and Tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
expert Dr. Ullas Karanth
Ullas Karanth
K. Ullas Karanth , Ph. D., is a conservation zoologist and a leading tiger expert based in Karnataka, India. He is the director of the Wildlife Conservation Society India Program. Dr. Karanth directs the WCS effort to help save the tiger, and has conducted country-wide surveys to better estimate...
, undertook a detailed and systematic survey of the distribution of the endangered Lion Tailed Macaque in Karnataka during 1983-84 with support from Government of Karnataka. He observed that suitable and extensive rainforest habitat for Lion-tailed Macaque existed in Kudremukh and that the tract probably harbored the largest contiguous population of lion tailed macaques in the Western Ghats outside the Malabar region. He further suggested that Lion Tailed Macaques could be effectively used as a 'flagship' species to conserve the entire biotic community in the region and prepared a conservation plan for survival of wild population of Lion Tailed Macaques in the region delineating the present national park area as a proposed nature reserve. Based on his report, the Karnataka State Wildlife Advisory Board suggested to the Government that Kudremukh National Park be created. Subsequently, the first notification of the Kudremukh National Park was issued.
In 1987, the Government of Karnataka declared these Reserved Forests as a National Park based on the above suggestion.
Demographics
India censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Kudremukh had a population of 8095. Males constitute 54% of the population and females 46%. Kudremukh has an average literacy rate of 80%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 83%, and female literacy is 77%. In Kudremukh, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age.
Ecology
A diverse assemblage of endangered large mammals is found in the park supporting three large mammal predator species TigerTiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
, Leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
and Wild Dogs
Dhole
The dhole is a species of canid native to South and Southeast Asia. It is the only extant member of the genus Cuon, which differs from Canis by the reduced number of molars and greater number of teats...
. The important Tiger prey base found within the Park is Gaur
Gaur
The gaur , also called Indian bison, is a large bovine native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 1986 as the population decline in parts of the species' range is likely to be well over 70% over the last three generations...
, Sambar
Sambar Deer
The Sambar ' is a large deer native to southern and southeast Asia. Although it primarily refers to R. unicolor, the name "Sambar" is also sometimes used to refer to the Philippine Deer and the Rusa Deer...
, Wild Pig, Muntjac
Muntjac
Muntjac, also known as Barking Deer and Mastreani Deer, are small deer of the genus Muntiacus. Muntjac are the oldest known deer, appearing 15–35 million years ago, with remains found in Miocene deposits in France, Germany and Poland....
, Chevrotain
Chevrotain
Chevrotains, also known as mouse deer, are small ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, the only members of the infraorder Tragulina. There are 10 living species in three genera, but there are also several species only known from fossils...
, Bonnet Macaque
Bonnet Macaque
The bonnet macaque is a macaque endemic to southern India. Its distribution is limited by the Indian Ocean on three sides and the Godavari and Tapti Rivers along with a related competing species of rhesus macaque in the north....
, Common Langur and the Lion Tailed Macaque.
The wet climate and the tremendous water retentive capacity of the shola grasslands and forests has led to the formation of thousands of perennial streams in the region converging to form three major rivers of the region, Tunga, Bhadra and Nethravathi that form an important lifeline for the people of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Lobo house is an old abandoned house on top of Kuduremukha.
Hanumana Gundi Waterfalls
Trekking in Kudremukh
There are about 13 trekking routes in Kudremukh ranging from easy to tough. The most know ones among them are:- Samse - Kudremukh - SamseSamseSamse is a village in the southern state of Karnataka, India. It is located in the Mudigere taluk of Chikmagalur district in Karnataka.Watch a breaktaking view of the landscape on the way to Samsehttp://www.weedioh.com/Video.aspx?VideoId=2527...
. The duration fro this trek is around 4 days and 3 nights, covering a total distance of about 40 plus km. - Navoor - Hevala - Kudremukh - Navoor. The duration fro this trek is around 5 days and 4 nights, covering a total distance of about 60 plus km.
- Navoor - Kudremukh - Samse. The duration fro this trek is around 5 days and 4 nights, covering a total distance of about 50 plus km.
- Horanaadu - Sringeri. The duration fro this trek is around 3 days and 2 nights, covering a total distance of about 30 plus km.
Threats
Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) is a government run company which was mining iron ore from the Kudremukh hills. KIOCL conducted its operations on an area of 4,604.55 ha for over 20 years. Opposition to its activities built up over the years from environmentalists and wildlife conservationists who are concerned about the threat to the region's flora and fauna, and farmers who are affected by the pollution of the streams that originate in the mining area. KIOCL has been banned from operating in this beautiful Natural Reserve, according to Supreme court order.The rainfall in Kuduremukh, which is perhaps one of the highest for any open cast mining operation in the world, greatly accentuates the impacts of siltation as claimed by environmentalists. The topographic and rainfall characteristics in combination with the open cast mining of low grade iron ore and other land-surface disturbances caused by the KIOCL operations resulted in very high sediment discharge, with over 60% of the total siltation in the Bhadra system being contributed by the mining area which forms less than six per cent of the catchment. With high quality practices adopted by KIOCL to mine, the flora and fauna remained intact, causing no adverse affects on the nature.
KIOCL used to send iron ore through pipes running through districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada
Dakshina Kannada
- Geography :The district geography consists of sea shore in the west and Western Ghats in the east. The major rivers are Netravathi, Kumaradhara, Phalguni, Shambhavi, Nandini or Pavanje and Payaswini which all join Arabian sea. Vast areas of evergreen forests which once covered this district, have...
and converted to pellets at their plant in Panambur
Panambur
Panambur is the site of New Mangalore Port. It is located in Dakshina Kannada district of Karnataka state, India, north of the Gurupura river. The name Panambur is derived from 'Panam' which means Money and 'Ur' which means place or village in Tulu language.There is a Nandaneshwara temple in...
.These pellets were exported to countries like China, Iran, Japan, etc. by ships.
External links
- Kudremukh Company
- Checklist of Amphibians reported from Kudremukh National Park
- Checklist of Aquatic Insects reported from Kudremukh National Park
- Checklist of Birds reported from Kudremukh National Park
- Checklist of Butterflies reported from Kudremukh National Park
- Checklist of Fishes reported from Kudremukh National Park
- Checklist of Mammals reported from Kudremukh National Park
- Checklist of Non-Woody Plants reported from Kudremukh National Park
- Checklist of Reptiles reported from Kudremukh National Park
- Kudremukh trek
- Kudremukh Trekking - An Unforgettable Adventure
- Bangalore to kudremukh
- Tryst With Kudremukh: A Travelogue