E-Paper
Tiger census in Sunderbans, due to begin from Dec 5 will turn paperless
Till the last census, officials used to take down data in the field with pen and paper, this time it will be uploaded digitally through two apps – Polygon search and patrol app and MSTrIPES, a GIS-based patrolling module, will also be used.
The tiger census in the Sunderbans, scheduled to take off from December 5, will be completely paperless this year, forest officials in West Bengal said.
The Sunderbans, formed by the River Ganges and River Brahmaputra, is the world’s largest and only mangrove delta inhabited by tigers. There are around 100 tigers each in India and Bangladesh over which the forest spreads.
“For the first time, the tiger estimation in the Sunderbans will be held in a completely paperless manner. The tiger estimation will take off on December 5 this year and continue over the next two months till February 15, 2022,” said S Jones Justin, deputy field director of the STR.
Till the last census, officials used to take down data in the field with pen and paper, this time it will be uploaded digitally through two apps – Polygon search and patrol app and MSTrIPES, a GIS-based patrolling module, will also be used.
“MSTrIPES was used in tiger estimation in some national parks and tiger reserves in the last census too. In the Sunderbans, it will be done for the first time. We are trying to be do this exercise in a paperless manner as much as possible,” said a senior official of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.
The census will take off next week with the installation of trap cameras in the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve. Thereafter officials will undertake the sign survey and transect survey to study the habitat and prey abundance.
“Later the cameras will be installed in the South 24 Parganas forest division. The entire exercise will continue till February next year,” said an official.
This time officials plan to install 788 pairs of camera traps, compared to 600 pairs used during the last exercise.
The Indian part of the Sunderbans comprises 102 islands out of which 54 are inhabited by humans. Tigers live in the remaining islands. Every year thousands of people enter the forest to collect honey and catch fish, crabs and prawns legally and illegally and get attacked by tigers and crocodiles. Many cases go unreported.
The Sunderbans account for the highest number of tiger attacks in the country with around 30 people being killed between 2017 and 2019. Every year more than 100 people are mauled. But these are just official figures and the total numbers could be much more, both villagers and forest officials said.
