Men of The Mist – The toils of staff patrolling and conserving Kudremukh National Park

Kudremukh - A place that most people will recognize as a mining center, from where iron ore was extracted. Today, however, this mining has been extracted from this biodiversity hotspot restoring the region to becoming one of India's most spectacular and biologically rich tropical rainforest landscapes. This film documents the routine and hardships of the men responsible for conserving Kudremukh National Park. With meagre facilities and limited resources, these men are laden with the responsibility of conserving one of the most important wilderness zones, that provides water and resources to millions of people in the state of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Kudremukh National Park is more than 630.sq km area of montane grasslands and tropical rainforests which forms the largest protected block of its kind within the western ghats. There are many perils of season and wildlife for any human foot that may dare to step into this natural reserve. For the forest department staff, there is a call of duty to look beyond these concerns. Their effort to preserve and protect the ecology of Kudremukh requires a lot of hard work. From making and living in remotely located anti-poaching camps, patrolling through thick forest in rain or shine, day or night, the forest department has its work cut out. Direction and Filming Dilan Mandanna Filming Pradeep Hegde Nikil Virdi Bhargav Shandiya Aerial Cinematographer Dheeraj Aithal Camera Trap Photography P Francis H N Dharshan Additional Footage Kalyan Varma Prasenjeet Yadav Script Ananth Shankar Editing and Design George Thengummoottil Narrator Savanakumar Salem ( Sara) Recording Evanescence Studios Concept and Coordination Maria Christu Raja D (IFS) DCF Special Thanks Shri. Punati Sridhar, PCCF (HOFF) IFS Shri. Jayaram, PCCF (Wildlife) IFS Sanjay S Bijjur, IFS, CCF Ganesh Bhat IFS, DCF Bhaskar ACF Produced By Kudremukh Wildlife Division, Karkala Karnataka Forest Department