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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