Gurgaon: The Haryana wildlife department will install more than 100 camera traps across the Aravalis in May and June to carry out a census of wildlife in the ecologically fragile area.
This is part of the upcoming wildlife survey to be conducted jointly by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the state wildlife department, officials said.
The survey is actually divided into two phases. The first phase will be carried out via a mobile phone application to count the number of monkeys in the state, while the second phase involves a census of wildlife in the Aravalis, officials said, adding that an awareness generation campaign will also be the focus of this survey to mitigate human-animal conflicts.
ML Rajvanshi, chief conservator of wildlife, Haryana, told TOI, “In the first phase, the survey will be carried out with the help of the Haryana wildlife survey app, developed by WII, Dehradun. It can be downloaded by our staff and also by local people who are keen on helping us in carrying out a census of monkeys. Our main objective in the first phase will be to estimate the population of monkeys in the state.”
“During this survey, we will also generate awareness among people and develop mitigation strategies for human-animal conflicts,” he added.
In the second phase, some 100 camera traps will be installed in the Aravalis to conduct a census of both herbivorous and carnivorous species. Birds’ census will, however, not be included in the survey. “These two phases will continue in the months of May and June,” Rajvanshi said.
The camera traps that capture wildlife are mostly activated by infrared sensors at night.
They capture images by detecting body heat or movement of any animal. These cameras are designed in a camouflaged way to protect them from animals and humans.
The camera-trap survey method will be used to conduct a census of the wildlife in the Aravalis.