AMRABAD : The week-long all India tiger census began on a grand scale in Telangana, which has a network of 11 sanctuaries and three national parks, on Monday. The Amarabad tiger reserve, one of the biggest in the country, was abuzz with volunteers and trainee forest officials who came for the census.
On the first of the three-day programme to count carnivores at the Amrabad reserve area spread across the Nallamalla forest, focus was on identifying evidences like pug marks, scats and scratch marks. Groups of volunteers obtained pug marks of tigers and leopards on plaster of paris moulds.
Mananur range forest officer Sree Devi Saraswathi said that over 95 people had volunteered to take part in the census in two ranges.One thing that makes this year’s census special, and also different from all the previous ones, is the use of technology. On the directions of the national tiger conservation authority, the tracking of tiger has gone digital this year.
For this, an Android-based app Monitoring System for Tiger Intensive Protection & Ecolological Staus (M-Stripes) has been developed. However, Monday’s trails saw the officials as well as volunteers struggling with the app. A forest official, on condition of anonymity, said that the old timers in the department are yet to warm up to the new technology. “Also, the app can be used only on smartphones. Not everyone here has one,” he added.