Experts question tiger count that inflamed Wayanad
Dec 8, 2012, 04.03AM IST TNN
[ K R Rajeev ]
KOZHIKODE:
The forest department's announcement early this year that the Wayanad
wildlife sanctuary was home to around 80 tigers was viewed as the high
point in the state's tiger conservation history but wildlife experts now
say that the figure itself is suspect and the inflated numbers churned
out by the 'ad-hoc camera-trap study' was a major factor in triggering
the current unrest.
They say that the forest department made a strategic mistake by calculating the tiger density of the relatively small 344-sq km Wayanad wildlife sanctuary without taking into account that the sanctuary is part of the larger tiger landscape spread across 4,000 sq km and comprising the Bandipur, Nagarhole and Muthumalai tiger reserves.
The public anxiety following the survey was natural as going by the forest department figures, Wayanad would have the highest tiger density in the world. The study conjured up images of 80 tigers bursting at the seams of the relatively small sanctuary besides triggering media reports of Wayanad being a fit candidate for establishing a tiger reserve.
"The claim of having over 80 tigers in Wayanad is nonsense. Even among the Nagarhole-Bandipur tiger populations, which have high densities and reproductive potential, we see only 10-15 tigers per 100 sq km. Wayanad as such could have 20-30 animals at the most and that too shared within the larger area of Bandipur and Nagarhole reserves," Dr Ullas Karanth, one of India's leading tiger ecologists and member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), told TOI.
He said the ad hoc camera trappings, such as those being conducted by the forest department in Wayanad, have led to claims of inflated tiger numbers. "The inflated tiger numbers have proved counterproductive and have misled and aroused public anxiety and have not been beneficial to conservation decision-making," he said.
Wildlife expert Dr P S Easa of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi said the study results should have been put to rigorous analysis before the results were declared. "But it seems that the numbers were out in the public even before the final report was ready. Also, it should have been put in the public domain for further scrutiny. Releasing just the numbers have proved to be counterproductive," he said.
Mohan Raj, coordinator, Western Ghats Landscape of WWF- India that did the camera trap study, meanwhile, said all the guidelines issued by the NTCA has been strictly followed. "Our study had found 67 adult tigers and 11 cubs, which makes Wayanad a high tiger-dense area. We have provided the photographs to the state forest department and the final report will be submitted soon," he said.
They say that the forest department made a strategic mistake by calculating the tiger density of the relatively small 344-sq km Wayanad wildlife sanctuary without taking into account that the sanctuary is part of the larger tiger landscape spread across 4,000 sq km and comprising the Bandipur, Nagarhole and Muthumalai tiger reserves.
The public anxiety following the survey was natural as going by the forest department figures, Wayanad would have the highest tiger density in the world. The study conjured up images of 80 tigers bursting at the seams of the relatively small sanctuary besides triggering media reports of Wayanad being a fit candidate for establishing a tiger reserve.
"The claim of having over 80 tigers in Wayanad is nonsense. Even among the Nagarhole-Bandipur tiger populations, which have high densities and reproductive potential, we see only 10-15 tigers per 100 sq km. Wayanad as such could have 20-30 animals at the most and that too shared within the larger area of Bandipur and Nagarhole reserves," Dr Ullas Karanth, one of India's leading tiger ecologists and member of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), told TOI.
He said the ad hoc camera trappings, such as those being conducted by the forest department in Wayanad, have led to claims of inflated tiger numbers. "The inflated tiger numbers have proved counterproductive and have misled and aroused public anxiety and have not been beneficial to conservation decision-making," he said.
Wildlife expert Dr P S Easa of the Kerala Forest Research Institute (KFRI), Peechi said the study results should have been put to rigorous analysis before the results were declared. "But it seems that the numbers were out in the public even before the final report was ready. Also, it should have been put in the public domain for further scrutiny. Releasing just the numbers have proved to be counterproductive," he said.
Mohan Raj, coordinator, Western Ghats Landscape of WWF- India that did the camera trap study, meanwhile, said all the guidelines issued by the NTCA has been strictly followed. "Our study had found 67 adult tigers and 11 cubs, which makes Wayanad a high tiger-dense area. We have provided the photographs to the state forest department and the final report will be submitted soon," he said.
Cameras to count tigers in Wayanad sanctuary
- The Hindu A tiger unknowingly walks into the trap and gets counted. Photo: Special Arrangement
- The Hindu STRIPES WITHOUT CAMOUFLAGE: In these times of man-animal conflict, it is a different shoot-at-sight inside the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. The shooting here is done to camera traps, the working of which a WWF worker demonstrates at the Muthanga forest range. Photo: Special Arrangement
Forest and Wildlife Department installs electronic traps to ‘shoot' the elusive big cats and other animals coming into view
Tigers in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary will find it impossible to hide
their stripes now. The Forest and Wildlife Department has installed
camera traps to monitor the population of the big cats in the sanctuary.
The department, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests, and WWF have jointly launched the project.
V.K. Sreevalsan, Wildlife Warden of the 344.44 sq.km sanctuary, told The Hindu
on Sunday that nearly 15 surveillance cameras had been set up in the
Muthanga range of forests and more than 100 would be set up
simultaneously in the other ranges of Sulthan Bathery, Tholpetty, and
Kurichyad soon.
He said dividing the sanctuary into 5 sq.km grids and field
identification of tiger trails had been completed in Muthanga, Sulthan
Bathery, and Kurichyad. The work in Tholpetty would be completed soon. A
pair of cameras would be set up in each grid, opposite each other on a
selected spot or path close to the tiger trails.
Data collection
He said the camera traps would give pictures of tigers and other
animals. The cameras equipped with infrared triggers collected critical
and accurate data about tigers and their habitats. Similar data of other
animals could also be collected.
“We can access the same pictures to study them and their habitats and
also make important decisions about their conservation,” he said.
The forest personnel would be able to learn more about various species
that inhabit the sanctuary. A detailed study of animals would be
possible and the photographs collected could be used later for research,
he said.
A camera trap is an automated camera used to capture photographs of wild
animals, V.N. Mohanraj, South India Coordinator, WWF, said.
He said the traps were installed on a site where animals were expected.
When a motion or infrared sensor detected the presence of an animal, its
photo was automatically taken.
Electronic eye
Usually, the camera was placed at a height of 45-60 cm on a tree, and
using infrared technology, the camera captured the picture of the animal
that came in its range. Day and night, the electronic eye looked for
heat in motion. When an animal passed in front of the trap, the camera
detected its movement and body heat and quietly snapped a photograph.
Taking one-minute videos was also possible.
“Camera trapping is the primary method used where individual tigers are
identified from photographs based on their unique stripe patterns.
Stripes of one tiger will be different from another,” Mr. Sreevalsan
said.
He said the information would be subsequently analysed using a scientific framework.
Capture-recapture method
With developments in capture-recapture method and the use of remotely
triggered cameras, it was possible to capture individually marked or
identifiable animals and photographically recapture them for estimating
population parameters.
Since individual tigers were readily identifiable using the stripes, the
capture-recapture method would be used to estimate its population.
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