Volunteers From Nine States Help in Tiger Counting

Mannanur: The ongoing All India Tiger Estimation and wildlife census in Telangana has turned into a truly all-India exercise with volunteers from different states joining in for the six-day search for signs of presence of wildlife, as well as direct sightings.

The field director of Amrabad Tiger Reserve Dr Sunil Hiremath told Deccan Chronicle that this round of AITE, the sixth in the country and which is held once in four years, has not only seen the highest volunteer participation but also a wide mix of people from varied backgrounds signing up in the wildlife estimation exercise.

Dr Hiremath said volunteers came for the tiger estimation in Telangana from several states, including as far away from Rajasthan, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and also from Chatthisgarh Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. In all, 1,129 volunteers are now camped in Telangana’s forests and wildlife sanctuaries and the two tiger reserves and taking part in the tiger estimation exercise.

There are doctors, students, those who are preparing for All India Services competitive exams, retired army personnel among the volunteers, he said.

The exercise is already yielding good data and also providing some exciting, if heart stopping moments for some of the volunteers. On the first day of AITE on Tuesday, and the second day on Wednesday, volunteers in Bhadradri Kothagudem district, and in Amrabad Tiger Reserve reported direct sightings of tigers during transect walks, and from fairly close quarters. Because transect walks cut through the forest and do not follow established animal tracks with volunteers taking notes of animals sighted over a two km one way walk, coming across wild animals suddenly is not unexpected. Typically, prey species such as deer and boar are the ones that are seen the most as part of this prey base estimation, but this time, volunteers have already started reporting seeing tigers too.

The tiger estimation exercise comprises three days of transect walks, and three days of 5 km trail walks. Taking up the exercise across the state at the same time, is expected to give a better picture of wildlife in the state because of the state-wide simultaneous data collection.