Mayureshwar Wildlife sanctuary is comparatively lesser known but very unique wildlife sanctuary located at a distance of about 75 km from Pune city. The sanctuary is so less popular that when I visited the sanctuary even the google map could not identify the exact location of the sanctuary. I had to take the help of a forest department official to find out the exact location of the sanctuary. However if you really want to learn photography this is the place to go. With comparatively less crowd and wildlife density one can learn the concept of composition and also learn to have patience which is a very important skill in wildlife photography.
Mayureshwar wildlife sanctuary is unique in the sense that this is probably the only wildlife sanctuary in India where you can take your own vehicle inside the sanctuary for safari purpose. Walking inside the sanctuary is also permitted so one can take a walk in the sanctuary and spot various kind of birds from up close. There is a dedicated watch tower inside the sanctuary from where one can get a birds eye view of the surroundings. However the only menace inside the sanctuary are street dogs. You can find them in good numbers in the sanctuary roaming around and they can be very scary.
The sanctuary is dominated by semi arid grasslands and dry deciduous scrub forests. Acacia catechu (Khair), Dalbergia latifolia (Sissoo), and Ziziphus mauritiana (Ber) are the primary tree species found in the sanctuary. These trees are interspersed with grasslands. This makes spotting the wildlife very easy inside the sanctuary.
The sanctuary is famous for Indian gazelle (Chinkara) who are found here in herds. However if you are lucky then you can also spot Indian gray wolf, striped hyena, Indian fox, jackal, and Hares. During my visit to the sanctuary I was able to spot a big herd of Chinkara running across the sanctuary however I could not properly photograph it.
The sanctuary is also famous for many different kinds of birds. The bird species include Indian roller, short-toed snake eagle, Bonelli’s eagle, and Grey Francolin. There are certain winter visitors also like European Roller and Montagu’s Harrier.
Population pressure on nature is rising day be day in India. However these small efforts to create the sanctuaries for preserving the population of certain species gives us hope that our future generations will be above to see these species in wild.
The best time to visit the sanctuary is from November to March as the weather is pleasant at this time. I visited the sanctuary in the month of September which was probably not the best of times. The Forest department has a small guest house also at the starting gate of the sanctuary. One can stay there if he wants to spend a peaceful night in the nature not for away from Pune. The morning and Evening walk inside the sanctuary feels really refreshing.
Wizards of Life! 