Thursday, May 2, 2013

Bhadra Reserve completes 1 year of intensive monitoring of big cats


DC | Amit S. Upadhye | 01st May 2013
 


Bengaluru: In the last 12 months, the foresters inside Bhadra Tiger Reserve in Chikma­g­lur District have been able to step up their monitoring of every nook and cranny of the Reserve, tha­n­ks to a tech-aided monitoring system for tigers that works as well as for the predator as it does for their human protectors.
The Bhadra Tiger Reser­ve is one among some eight tiger reserves in the country where the project M-STrIPES (Monitoring of Tigers —Intensive Patroll­ing and Ecological Status) has been implemented over the last year by the National Tiger Conserva­tion Authority (NTCA).
The programme enables Park Directors countrywide to assess the patro­ll­ing areas covered by the field staff using GPS. Similarly, field staff during their monitoring of the areas inside the Reserve, are able to record the sightings of animals and any signs of intrusion or anything that seems out of the ordinary.
The officials from the Bhadra Reserve said that post the M-STrIPES programme, the forest staff are now familarised with taking photographs of animals and crime scene and are now adept at uploading it all on the software. The software developed with help from the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun experts, records the route that foresters have covered and what kind of reports are being uploaded on the website. The Park directors and senior wildlife officials in Bengaluru too have access to the information that is being fed into the software by field staff.
Officials from the NTCA said that the M-STrIPES will continue to be in operation in Bhadra and seven other Tiger Reserves. “This year we will be adding 10 more Tiger Reserves in the country under the M-STrIPES and another Tiger Reserve from Karnataka will be considered for the project. In the next few years all the Tiger Reserves in the country will be covered under the programme,” said the official.
According to the last Tiger census, Bhadra has 3.1 tigers per 100 sq kms, as compared to 11.8 tigers in Nagarhole and Bandipur. “There is a tremendous scope for increase in the tiger population and it will take at least 10 years for the Reserve to have bigger tiger population. The M-STrIPES will ensure that the threats of poaching big cats, which are anticipated from the fringe areas will be curbed,” said a forest official from Bhadra.
Tiger Biologist Dr K. Ullas Karanth feels that the Bhadra Tiger Reserve has a high potential for the survival of viable populations of tigers in the future. "There is a rich prey density and Reserve is covered by high mountains. The Reserve has got a secure future as far as tigers are considered,” Dr Karanth said.

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