The estimation of the tiger population using camera traps will begin in the Pollachi Forest Division of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) this week.
Forest Department officials said 245 pairs of cameras would be used for 25 days for the estimation in the Ulandy, Pollachi, Valparai and Manombolly forest ranges. Arockiaraj Xavier, Deputy Field Director of ATR and District Forest Officer of the Pollachi Forest Division, said the camera pairs would be installed in 245 girds of two sq.km. each. Their location would be decided on the basis of the knowledge and observation of the field staff.
The images recorded in the storage device of the cameras would be collected once in every five days. Indirect signs would also be collected from all the grids, he said.
I. Anwardeen, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, also in-charge as Field Director of the ATR, said the images would also help the Forest Department in the overall management of the tiger reserve. “The estimation will help us know about the prey base of tigers, the occupancy range of individual tigers and the presence of co-predators,” he said. Officials said the exercise that comes under Phase IV tiger estimation would not include the Tiruppur Forest Division.
