Reclaiming A Haven

Daying Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary is making an all-out attempt to reclaim its past glory and position itself as a hotspot for nature lovers.

- Maksam Tayeng

It is early November, wildlife authorities are busy conducting an awareness programme—Hathi Mera Sathi at Mer, a fringe village of the Daying Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary. Villagers are being sensitized on the importance of wildlife, especially elephants and in the same vein informed of the legal consequences that entail if this Schedule-I species is harmed.

Mer in Mebo Sub-division of East Siang district has witnessed the maximum cases of crop raids in the past year or so, as it is located in the major elephant corridor of Dibru-Saikhowa National Park of Assam and Daying Ering Memorial Wildlife Sanctuary (DEMWS). Through this programme, effort is being made to protect wild elephants from being killed or harmed by men at the time of man-elephant conflict during crop raids. The initiative is part of the renewed efforts by the forest and wildlife department to protect and preserve the vibrant flora and fauna of the sanctuary which has come under severe duress as a result of hunting and poaching activities.

Nature Lover’s Paradise

Named after Arunachal’s visionary leader late Dr Daying Ering, the sanctuary sprawled across an area of 190 sq kms, is located in East Siang District. A prominent destination for ecotourism in India, the sanctuary spread over a cluster of river islands is surrounded by various tributaries and distributaries of the mighty Siang River (Brahmaputra in Assam). The grassy and forested area of the sanctuary is home to wild buffalo, deer, elephants and other rainforest species and serves as shelter for migratory birds in the winter months. Whereas, the dense wooded area is inhabited by animals like leopard, leopard cat, barking deer, civet cat, sambar, jackal, wild boar, python, and porcupine.