Infrared cameras for wildlife census in Koyna sanctuary

PUNE: The Koyna Wildlife Sanctuary and Chandoli National Park in Western Maharashtra, spread across the Sahyadri ranges will soon have 25 infrared camera each to keep a watch on the movement of wildlife in these forests. The forest department has received Rs 10 lakh for setting up the required infrastructure at various locations in the forests.
"This will be the first deployment of infrared cameras in western Maharashtra and fourth in the state.The tiger project in western Maharashtra is spread over 1,626.27 sq.km area in which Koyna sanctuary is on 429.55 sq.km area. The tiger project covers 92 villages from Satara and Sangli districts," said M K Rao, chief conservator of forests (wildlife).
"The cameras will be installed before the beginning of wildlife census in the area, which is scheduled to start from the first week of February. Apart from the conventional method of counting the marks, animal excreta, hunt, various sounds made by the animals, the cameras will come handy in getting actual recordings of animals. The census work will be further supported and authenticated with the help of images and clips recorded by these cameras. The department is scouting for good locations, where the camera could be installed so as to ensure that they remain out of reach for people but will spot most of the animals passing from a particular route", he maintained.
He added, "Preliminary work for the physical census has already started and samples of excreta and others have been collected from various places and sent for further analysis to the laboratories in Hyderabad and Bangalore. The cameras will also provide information on the behaviour of animals, changes in it which will be supported and authenticated with the images or clippings. Wild animals are generally spotted by hunters near water bodies and the cameras will help us incidents of hunting and poaching."