Kokkarebellur, usually shortened by the colloquial usage to Kokrebellur is a village in
Maddur taluk of
Mandya district
Mandya District is an administrative district of Karnataka, India. The district is bordered on the south by Mysore and Chamarajangar districts, on the west by Hassan District, on the north by Tumkur District and on the east by Ramanagara ...
of Karnataka, India. The village is named after the
painted stork (''Mycteria leucocephala''), which is called "kokkare" in the native
Kannada language
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native ...
. This bird nests here in large numbers every year. The village is situated near
Maddur between the cities of
Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...
and
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
. Apart from
painted storks,
spot-billed pelican
The spot-billed pelican (''Pelecanus philippensis'') or gray pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially larg ...
s are also found here in large numbers. Both are classified to be
near threatened
A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify fo ...
in the
IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...
. The village is one of the 21 breeding sites of those birds in India.
The uniqueness of Kokkarebellur lies in the long-established bond between the spot-billed pelicans and the villagers who have adopted this bird as their local heritage, since they consider the birds as harbingers of good luck and prosperity to the village. The commercial benefits derived by the villagers from these birds include the phosphorus- and potassium-rich manure obtained from the bird droppings (also known as
guano
Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
). Over the years, the story of this unique relationship between the villagers and the migratory birds has attracted many tourists to the village.
[
]
Etymology
The name of the village "Kokkarebellur" (Kannada - ಕೊಕ್ಕರೆಬೆಳ್ಳೂರು) is derived from two words: ‘kokkare’ meaning "stork" or "pelican" and ‘bellur’ meaning" white village
Geography
The village is located to the west of the Shimsa River. The area in the vicinity of the village offers large water bodies in the form of several large tanks such as the Tailur Kere (‘Kere’ means "tank"), the Maddur Kere and the Sole Kere that sustain food needs (particularly, fishes and shellfishes) of the pelicans
Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...
and other birds. The village setting at Kokkarebellur has nesting trees in the form of Ficus
''Ficus'' ( or ) is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extendi ...
(''F religiosa'', ''F bengalensis'') and tamarind
Tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is probably indigenous to tropical Africa. The genus ''Tamarindus'' is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabacea ...
(''Tamarindus indica'') trees. The Mandya district, where the village is located, has extensive agricultural fields with sugarcane as a major crop. During the season of migration of birds, large colonies of spot-billed pelicans and painted storks are seen nesting, mostly in tamarind trees.[
]
History
History of pelicans here was probably mentioned by T C Jerdon in 1853, which was further expanded by the pioneering efforts of the senior forest official S. G. Neginhal
Sethuram Gopalrao Neginhal (1 May 1929 2 May 2021) was an Indian forest official and conservationist who is credited with generating the green cover around the Indian city of Bangalore leading to the city being referred to as ''The Garden City'' ...
of the Indian Forest Service
The Indian Forest Service (IFS) is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India. The other two All India Services being the Indian Administrative Service and the Indian Police Service. It was constituted in the year 1966 und ...
. In 1976, Neginhal established viable solutions by introducing a compensatory scheme to benefit the villagers for furthering the cause of proliferation of this breed of pelicans. The birds and the villagers have coexisted now in total harmony for several decades. The Karnataka Forest Department compensates the villagers with a fixed sum of money for each tree that is used for nestling by birds, since benefits from the crops (tamarind) from these trees and from the land below the tree are lost.[
]
Fauna
Apart from the pelicans, the other birds found nestling and breeding in the village trees are the painted stork (''Ibis leucocephalus''), little cormorant
The little cormorant (''Microcarbo niger'') is a member of the cormorant family of seabirds. Slightly smaller than the Indian cormorant it lacks a peaked head and has a shorter beak. It is widely distributed across the Indian Subcontinent and ex ...
(''Phalacrocorax niger''), black ibis
The red-naped ibis (''Pseudibis papillosa'') also known as the Indian black ibis or black ibis is a species of Threskiornithinae, ibis found in the plains of the Indian Subcontinent. Unlike other ibises in the region it is not very dependent on w ...
(''Pseudibis papillosa''), grey heron
The grey heron (''Ardea cinerea'') is a long-legged wading bird of the heron family, Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but some populations from the more north ...
(''Ardea cinerea''), black-crowned night heron
The black-crowned night heron (''Nycticorax nycticorax''), or black-capped night heron, commonly shortened to just night heron in Eurasia, is a medium-sized heron found throughout a large part of the world, including parts of Europe, Asia, and N ...
(''Nycticorax nycticorax'') and Indian pond heron (''Ardeola grayii'').[
Birds are seen nesting in clusters of 15 to 20 pairs per tree and are thought to use the same tree each year. They arrive after monsoon rains ends in September when the birds create their nests, lay eggs from October to November, thereafter fledge around for three months after laying of eggs, till March and tirelessly feed their hatchlings through the summer season. As summer peaks in May, they re-migrate, year after year, except when they sense drought conditions in their colonial habitat. Village women turning sentimental about the birds returning to their homeland say:] ''For us, these birds are like a daughter coming home for delivery....''
The main species that nest in Kokkarebellur – the spot-billed pelican
The spot-billed pelican (''Pelecanus philippensis'') or gray pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia. It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially larg ...
(''Pelecanus phillipensis'') and painted stork (''Ibis leucocephalus'') are given the conservation status of " near threatened category" in the IUCN Red List
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biolo ...
of 2008.[
The birds have distinctly different large anatomical dimensions and colours but both are very active in feeding and protecting their hatchlings. While the painted stork is large in size, the pelican is half this size. Storks have snow-white plumage, lay 2-5 white dotted eggs and have a yellow tapering bill. The pelicans have grey and grayish white plumage, short stout legs, large webbed feet, flat and enormous bill with an elastic bag of purple skin hanging below the throat (that facilitates to collect fish from water surfaces), with length or height in the range of with tufted crown at the back of the head and lay a maximum of three chalk white eggs at a time.]
In addition to above birds, there are nearly 250 birds recorded around this area over years.
Conservation efforts
The spot-billed pelicans are protected by law in India and also in several other countries of the region (Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
, Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, Thailand, Cambodia
Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...
and Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist s ...
) to avert threats in the form of tree felling for agricultural purposes. A community-based project has been established to perpetuate historical links of the pelicans with the villagers.[
Kokkrebellur is not a reserved forest sanctuary but is a small village where the storks and pelicans coexist freely, mostly in tamarind trees in the middle of the village, in total harmony with the villagers. Consequently, reports indicate increased nestling activity in recent years. Thus, efforts to conserve these birds have been fruitful and hailed as a "role model" for replication at other places.]
The Karnataka Forest Department (KFD), the Mandya Zilla Panchayath, the Department of Minor Irrigation and Department of Fisheries and the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) have supported the Local Village Level Committee and NGO organizations to conserve and develop all facilities for the birds. The list of planned activities involved cover the following:[
*Establish and provide grants to the Village Forest Committee (VFC) to protect the birds by nurturing and enhancing the trees (ficus (''F. religiosa'', ''F. bengalensis'') and tamarind (''Tamarindus indica'') trees) where the birds nest, collect manure generated by the ‘guano’ or bird droppings of the nestling birds for use by villagers
*Encourage tourism to the village for bird watching and thus assist villagers by way of employment as guides, charging of parking fee for vehicles, camera fee, paid toilet, opportunity for running a restaurant or other tourist facilities
*Provide incentives to the villagers to compensate for the loss of crops (particularly, from the tamarind trees)
*Maintain hygienic environment in the village through establishing adequate water supply and drainage system
*Create food sources for the birds in the tanks (reservoirs) in the vicinity of the village by introducing indigenous fish species (banning commercial ]carp
Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
culture), discourage fishing activities and also de-silt the tanks to maintain water in adequate quantity and quality
‘Hejjarle Balaga’(ಹೆಜ್ಜಾರ್ಲೆ ಬಳಗ)(meaning "relatives of pelican") of the Mysore Amateur Naturalists (MAN), an NGO
A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
, works in unison with the villagers in providing protection to these birds. The villagers with support from volunteers of the NGOs tend to the injured hatchlings/fledglings that fall from the trees by housing them in exclusively built pens, nurse and feed them with fish caught from nearby water bodies.[
Its population in southern India, at 21 locations in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, is reported to be about 5,000 birds (2006) (its total population in an area of in various countries of Asia is reported in the range of 13,000 - 18,000). Kokrebellur, in particular, has the distinction of increasing its spot-billed pelican population by more than double in recent years.][
]
Access
It is well connected by road, rail and air transport networks. It is at a distance of from Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
on the Bangalore-Mysore
Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude o ...
highway. The branch road to the village is from the highway at the ‘Coffee day’ landmark, close to Maddur. It is to the north-east of Mandya. Maddur and Mandya
Mandya is a city in the state of Karnataka. It is the headquarter of Mandya district and is located from Mysore and from Bangalore.
Sugar factories contribute to the major economic output. It is also called Sugar city (which in Kannada mea ...
are the closest railway stations on the Mysore-Bangalore broad gauge
A broad-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge (the distance between the rails) broader than the used by standard-gauge railways.
Broad gauge of , commonly known as Russian gauge, is the dominant track gauge in former Soviet Union ( C ...
link. The nearest airport, with daily services to most cities of the country and to some International destinations, is at Bangalore.
References
External links
{{commons category, Kokrebellur
Natural History of Kokkare Bellur
Biota of India
Tourism in Karnataka
Villages in Mandya district