Gurgaon: Camera traps spot wildlife in Aravallis

The camera traps set up by the forest department to spot wildlife in the Aravalli hills in Gurgaon have captured large number of images of animals such as wild bores,

The camera traps set up by the forest department to spot wildlife in the Aravalli hills in Gurgaon have captured large number of images of animals such as wild bores, jungle cats, jackals and blue bulls in Wazirabad and Sector 56, about three kilometres from human habitation.

Some of the wildlife creatures captured by camera traps in Gurgaon included Porcupines (Camera traps)

However, these cameras have not captured images of leopards in the last week.

As many as 15 camera traps were installed in forest areas in the first week of October with a view to track the predator and prey populations, and to trace their pattern of movement. The move came after residents’ complained to the forest department about spotting a leopard in the city in September.

“The two camera traps installed in Wazirabad, Ghata and Chakkarpur stretch have captured images of wildlife and it is evidence of forest cover in the area. This is a major groundwater recharge area for the region,” MD Sinha, conservator of forest, south Haryana, said.

The exercise to monitor wildlife will continue in Bandhwari, Mangar, Damdama, Gairatpur bas, Raisina, Kot, Ghamdoz, Manesar and Wazirabad areas, the forest department said. Officials will analyse the data from the camera traps to study wildlife in the region.

These infra-red cameras were installed with the help of Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun. Soon, more than 100 such camera traps will be installed in south Haryana in an effort to develop a plan to protect wildlife in the region.