Now a days, 'Live and Let Live' hardly exists between humans and animals. We have encroachedo the territory of animals and have almost driven them out of their space. However, the story of Kokrebellur defies this thought. Here the villagers have taken it upon themselves to conserve the avifauna of this place.
Painted Stork
PC: Sachin Nigam
Yes, Kokrebellur in Maddur is an undeclared bird sanctuary. 'Kokkare' means the Painted Stork in Kannada Language. This village is a home to many painted storks, hence the name Kokrebellur.
Birds in Kokrebellur
Kokrebellur or Kokkarebellur is a home to resident birds as well as migratory birds. Here the Painted Storks and spot-billed pelicans are found in abundance. The unique vegetation of this village also serves as one of the breeding sites of these birds.
Parrots, little cormorant, black ibis, black-crowned night heron, Indian pond heron, grey heron are the other bird species found in Kokrebellur (Kokkarebellur).
Indian Myna
PC: T G Santosh
The people of Kokrebellur consider the bird sanctuary as a heritage and hence, it has become a self-driven initiative to take care of the place. They take very good care of the birds in the region. In fact, these villagers have co-existed with the birds for several decades. Due to the efforts of the Forest officials and the villagers, the place is still retained.
Kokrebellur is not established as a sanctuary but the villagers have put in a lot of effort to conserve these species of birds. Fortunately, their efforts have been fruitful and today it is one among the pelican breeding sites in India. Many NGOs have also come up in support of this conservation.
Parakeets
PC: Niranj Vaidyanathan
Tourism in Kokrebellur
Here, thevillagers encourage eco-tourism and also guide tourists around the place. The surroundings are kept clean and eco-friendly which has also helped in attracting many more birds to this place. Here the visitors can look around the place and watch the birds without making any disturbance.
How to Reach Kokrebellur
Kokrebellur is around 90km from Bengaluru (Bangalore). It is a small village located around 12km from the town of Maddur in Mandhya District.
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Kokrebellur is definitely one of the interesting weekend getaways from Bangalore. It is an awesome place for bird lovers and photography enthusiasts. The co-existence of man and nature is the best to see in this beautiful village.