Four sites in one of the hot springs of Shalla werernselected for the study. The water from the sites merge to formrna stream lqhich forms a temperature gradient. In this sttldy four'rnmedia were compared for the cuI ti vation and isolation ofrnaerobic heterotrophic bacteria. The pH of the hot spring wasrn8.7 with a temperature of 96-560C. The formulated media werernadjusted to pH values of 7.0-13.0. However,high counts ofrnbacteria (lxl03-7xl01 cfu/ml) was only registered when the pHrnlqas adjusted between 8.0 and 9.0. A medium containing normalrnconcentration of Trypton Soya Agar (TSA) was effective inrnsupporting the growth of bacteria than a medium containing onequarterrnstrength of TSA or supplement of tl'ace minerals.rnReplacing trace minerals ld th hot spring water improved therntotal number of bacteria growing and also the number ofrnisolates.rnThermophiles were numerous (lxl03-7xl01 cfu/ml) thanrnthermotolerants (2xl02-2xlOI cfu/ml) at all si tes. Thernpopulation of Bacillus brevis, Bacillus sphaericus, Bacillusrnstearothermophilus and Hicrococcus sp. was found to be low atrnlOlqer environmental temperatures than at higher environmentalrntemperatures.rnIn the course of this study a total of 44rnmicroorganisms were isolated and characterized. Twenty ninernwere identified. to the species level and were found to bernmembers of genus Bacillus. Three isolates were Gr~n-positive cocci identifiedrnto the genus level - Micrococcus. The remaining 12 isolatesrnwere either Gram-positive, filamentous or non-filamentous rodsrnwhich need a detailed biochemical analysis for identification.rnTo identify if any of the isolates may havernindustrial applications, they were checked for production ofrnamylase and protease. Fifteen of the isolates producedrnprotease, 18 amylase and eleven produced both amylase andrnprotease.