Bandipur Tiger Reserve: Soon every tiger inside the Bandipur Tiger Reserve will have its own ‘Aadhaar card’ with their stripes providing the unique identity. As human finger prints, the stripes of tigers are also unique and they will be photographed using cameras installed at different points in the forest.
This project will begin soon after the ongoing tiger census concludes. About 65 cameras will be installed at Bandipur reserve to capture the tigers and ID them in the next two weeks.
Bandipur reserve Director H. C. Kantharaj said the cameras will be first installed at four ranges of the park – B S Betta, Moolehole, Bandipura and Begur - for one and half months after which other ranges will be covered. The Bandipur Tiger Reserve is divided into 13 ranges and has 114 beats.
“Tigers often move on the mud roads in the Reserve and the cameras will be located in such sites. The cameras will be covered with metal lids so that the elephant herds or any other animals do not spoil it.
“Once in a week the camera will be checked and photographs will be downloaded. Though the cameras are programmed to take picture of any object that moves in front of them, tiger pictures will be used to ID and zero in on the territory,” explained Mr Kantharaj.
The officer added that the ID will help to maintain a track record of tigers and in case of poaching, the tiger can be traced back using the ID.
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has made it mandatory for all the tiger reserves to photograph and ID the big cats in the next two years. In the coming years states having tiger population will have accurate database on their numbers.
Mr Kantharaj said that in the coming years the tiger census will be conducted annually and camera trap equipment will play a major role, minimizing the involvement of the volunteers. “The NTCA has already declared that the tigers must be counted or their habitat must be studied every year through camera trapping.
“This is called as Phase-4 monitoring of tigers in India and through this the forest department will have its own database on tigers,” Mr Kantharaj added.
