A group of ecologists and experts including Dr M B Krishna, have come up with a report called"Ruining the ecology of Hesaraghatta Lake – the role of bird photographers.

From the report’s introduction:

"The Hesaraghatta lake bed is facing another assault. Parts of the lake bed have become barren and have been laid waste due to heavy vehicular movement on the lake bed. In this case most of the damage is due to nature photographers chasing migratory birds using cars and SUVs.

"A rapid assessment of the impacts caused by nature photographers driving on the dry Hesaraghatta lake bed reveals a wide and extensive network of vehicle tracks amounting to about 43 km. About 136 ha of habitat was either lost or disturbed because of vehicular movement and on an average, 20 vehicles were found to be pursuing birds on weekends and holidays. If one considers the area coming directly under the wheel, it amounts to almost six standard football fields!

"The assessment was carried out in December 2012 by independent researchers and students from St. Joseph’s College using the plant line transect method, onsite measurements and imageries to assess the full-scale damage on the habitat." writes Sunil in the report.

To see the full report, click here ⊕