The wild inhabitants of Kawal Tiger Reserve (KTR) in old undivided Adilabad district, will, presumably, never be able to appreciate the efforts being made towards their safety and comfort in the forests. The latest in the list of measures to protect wild animals and improve habitat to come from the Jannaram Wildlife Division core area of KTR is analysis of pictorial data collected from more than 60 camera traps set up at strategic locations in the forest.
“Starting April 1 this year we are analysing day wise and date wise pictures from each camera trap to find out the number of visits by wild animals to the given location as such, besides their species. The pictures also reveal the pattern, if any, which is adhered to by the animals while moving inside the forests,” explained Jannaram Forest Divisional Officer (FDO) V. Tirumal Rao of the simple yet, innovative process.
“In a sense we have a complete picture of animals moving inside the core area within the ambit of the camera traps. Analysis of this data will eventually reveal behaviour and population of individual species,” he added.
Immediate benefits
One of the immediate benefits of data collection has been identification of spots where biotic pressure is more. “The pictures have revealed the undesirable movement of cattle and humans in given locations which helped us to take focussed measures in controlling the phenomenon,” the FDO observed.
One of the most important advantage of this type of generating a permanent database is the enhanced familiarity of KTR field staff with their area. “Even they will get to know the type of animals found in respective beats and their movements,” Mr. Rao added.
The field staff of Jannaram Division is also making physical observations of the wildlife. Individual staff covers some area on foot at least six days every month and notes down the observations which will also become part of the permanent database.
The authorities at KTR are waiting for some more data to pile up so that it can constitute a proper study. “We will subsequently submit this as a report to our superiors,” the FDO disclosed.