Daroji Bear Sanctuary | Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary

Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary is the only place where one can spot these Sloth bears, who are the honey-lovers endemic to India. The sanctuary is located in Ballari District. The Sanctuary has a rough terrain and during the visit, tourist can spot animals like jackals, wild boards, mongoose, black-naped hares, leopards etc.

The major attraction is the sloth bear that is abundantly seen in these scrub-covered topographies. The sanctuary maintains a good number of sloth bears who are hidden in the caves in the green-covered hillocks.

Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary. Image courtesy Paul Williams

The sanctuary provides a watch tower view to the location where these bears are normally seen in the forests, opposite to the Karadikallu Gudda. The view from the watch tower is amazing and one can enjoy the overall terrain from the top using a binocular.

It is a spectacular watch to witness animals living in the natural habitat. The big black bears that come out the shady bushes and go hunting on their own to curb their sugar cravings are an ideal watch during the visit to the Sanctuary.

QUICK FACTS

Visiting hours: 6 am to 6 pm

Entry Fee: INR 50/- per person (Indians), INR 300/- per person (Foreigners)

Parking: INR 500/- per car

Estimated visit duration: 2 -3 hours

Area: 82.72 km

Website: https://www.bellary.nic.in/bearpark.htm

Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary: Sight Sloth Bears

Daroji Bear Sanctuary is abundantly filled with sloth bears, which shelter themselves in the rock-strewn areas hidden under the bushy forests. The bears are fond of sugar and hence most of the areas are covered in sugarcane, Ber fruits, Mahuva and even other crops. The sanctuary is in close proximity with the inhabitants in that area. The bears are experts in climbing trees too. The bears usually hunt in the late evening and then rest throughout the day

The sloth bear has a long and dark coat like covering of hair around them. Their forelimbs are longer than the hind ones. Since they have small ears and eyes, their sense of hearing and vision is quite poor, but with an impeccable nose for smelling.

Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary. Image courtesy L. Shyamal

Establishment of Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary – Building a Home for Sloth Bears

The Sanctuary is spread over 82.7 square km and is exclusively for the preservation of the giant sloth beat, which are now swept away from the phase of earth. The Sanctuary comes under the governance of Kamalapura wildlife subdivision of the Karnataka Forest Department.

Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary contains dry evanescent scrubs and thorny forests. Initially, the land was a barren hillock land which was converted into the present luscious green bushy area filled with lush greenery with the constant efforts of the Karnataka forest reserves.

The area in Bellary, between the Daroji in the Taluk of Sandur and Ramasagar located in Hospet, contained many sloth bears. With lots of illegal mining coming up in the forest area, the continuous human appearances threatened the existence of the bears. Hence this Sanctuary was put up and the area where they were abundantly found were declared as the Sanctuary.

Mythology Connection

It is believed that during the mythological period of Ramayana, the empire Kishkinda (today’s Anegundi), which was the monkey empire of Sugriva was located on the banks of Tungabhadra river. During the en-route to Sri Lanka, King Rama, and his army had crossed the Hampi location, when Jambavantha, a bear joined the army. The mythological story depicts the existence of the sloth bears as early as the reign of Ramayana.

Hampi Wilderness Resort

The Sloth bear resort located nearby gives you ample experience to enjoy the natural habitat of the sloth bears. The resort also exercises many workable plans for the tourists visiting Hampi. Tourists can enjoy bird watching and experience the enchanting flora and fauna of the Sanctuary. One can spot the rare species of birds in the forests.

Daroji Bear Sanctuary. Image courtesy Paul Williams

How to Reach Daroji Sloth Bear Sanctuary

By Road

The easiest way to reach the sanctuary is by road from Bangalore -Chitradurga which is around 199 km and then from there to Hospet close to 135 km. From Hospet to Kamalapura and to the sanctuary takes almost 12 and 10 km respectively. The historic hamlet, Hampi is hardly 20 kms away from the sanctuary.