Humans of Hazaribag 

Gajo Yadav ( The man who spent more than 45 years in the jungles of canary hills)

Gajo Yadav is the caretaker of the guest which is located at Canary Hills. He has been looking after the guest house since 1965 when there were wild animals all around and nobody used to visit the canary hill. Gajo Yadav was a young boy in 1965 when B.N Singh asked him to look for the 'Bhanj' (the footmarks of tigers). Gajo Yadav did that and took B.N Singh (the range officer at that time) to the spot where he spotted the footmarks of the tiger. Gajo Yadav Along with Krishna Yadav and B.N Singh prepared the trap for the tiger and the officers took photographs from the tower at the canary hill. During those days, Gajo Yadav used to get 1 rupee and 80 paise per day. B.N Singh then gave them the task of arranging 'Bakri' (Goats) for the tiger. Gajo Yadav and his friend KRISHNA arranged goats from Jhumra and Ichak and the cost of 'bakri' at that time used to be 2 rupees, 3 rupees, and 5 rupees. They altogether fed around 300 'Bakri' (goats) to the tiger and trapped the tiger and sent it to Hazaribag National park.

Gajo Yadav has been looking after wild animals and protecting them since the 80s. Along with that, he has also saved many people from the attack of wild animals. He has seen Bears (Bhalu), Tigers, Elephants, and many animals roaming just in front of him. He reiterates an incident when once a Bear (Bhalu) attacked two gentlemen of 'Badasi' and 'Singhani' and has hurt them badly. It was the villagers who saved their life. He further says that Ramphal Mahto and Degan Gope are still alive who were attacked by Bear (Bhalu).

Gajo Yadav is sad these days as he does not get pensions from the government because he was never appointed officially by a forest officer. He explains his dismal state and pleads for help from forest officers for his son at least. 

Gajo Yadav has given his whole life in canary hills and rarely visits town areas.

While sharing his experiences of his first day in the canary forest, he was a bit scared when spent his first night among the dark jungle in between wild animals. As time passed by, he got adapted to the situation and has been looking after the guest house since then.

Here is the video interview of Gajo Yadav in the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGg6EtyAfHA