CHEETAH GUFA, Nandia

Herbert Daniel Gebauer - 06/01/2018

No autochthonous, indigenous or locally known name has been identified for a talus cave (note 1) in slidden / gravitationally dislocated granite boulders which somewhat -scaled off- the local hill. An irregular shaped, almost 40 m wide garland of associated cave entrances (separated from each other by fallen boulders) give –at various heights– access to a three-dimensional, crescent shaped rift (dipping on average by 35° towards east). The cave entrances (2 to 4 m high and at various heights) lead to a wide room which soon decreases in height and runs after some 10 to 15 m into a subvertical and north-south running crack (up to 1 m wide, 5 m high to daylight). Beyond this crack, the inclined rift continues and offers several rough belly crawls to a terminal crack (again about 5 m high but dipping by 50° to east) parallel to the first one. The floor exposes some bare rock but is mostly buried under a cover of dusty coarse sand, wedged and loose boulders, and thousands of animal bones, ften with bits of gnarled tendons and mummified flesh still attaching: A cursory 10 minute survey of the easiest accessible part of the cave (23rd January 2001) resulted in counting 46 skulls which gave witness to one or more cheetahs feasting on cow, goat and dog. SITUATION: High up on the eastern side of Risheshwara Pahar, the hill ESE of –>Nandia village.ften with bits of gnarled tendons and mummified flesh still attaching: A cursory 10 minute survey of the easiest accessible part of the cave (23rd January 2001) resulted in counting 46 skulls which gave witness to one or more cheetahs feasting on cow, goat and dog. SITUATION: High up on the eastern side of Risheshwara Pahar, the hill ESE of –>Nandia village.