Unearthing the secrets of Indian savannas

For most of us, the word savanna conjures up a singular image: the vast plains of the Serengeti in Africa, teeming with wildlife… open grasslands dotted with trees… lots of zebra, lots of wildebeest, African elephants trudging through them, says animal ecologist and conservation biologist Abi T. Vanak at a recent lecture titled Secrets of the Indian Savanna at the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium in Bengaluru. “Instead, what you see is one forest type after another,” says Abi, who has been trying to correct the misconception that there are no savannas in India. “At some point in our history, we also had those vast herds of antelopes,” says Abi, adding that these scenes can no longer be seen in India. “But we still have a few pockets of grasslands in India.” Human-dominant now Most of these grasslands are human-dominant today, but they still manage to hide some secrets from us, says Abi, going on to play a clip from the ATREE-produced documentary Hidden in Plain Sight, which chronicles a six-year-long study, by Abi and his team, conducted in human-dominated grassland landscapes close to Baramati in Maharashtra.“They still hold wildlife that has learnt to coexist with people, species such as the Indian fox, jungle cat and golden jackal, among many others.” While these species, referred to as mesocarnivores, play an essential ecological role, he says, little is known about them. “ It cannot be burnt away and is more stable,” says Abi, who firmly believes restoring India’s savannas is essential.