Rajamahendravaram: Census of tiger population in National Park begins

Rajamahendravaram: The estimation of the tiger population has begun in the Papikondalu National Park forest area of twin districts of Godavari. Rajamahendravaram Forest department officials will count pugmarks at water holes and other areas in the forest. The all India tiger estimation (AITE) is conducted by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and Wildlife Institute of India (WII) in collaboration with the State Forest department. It was started in 2006 and the last estimation was done in 2019-16.

According to the sources, the Papikondalu national park has at least four to five tigers, but it has to be proved scientifically. Nearly 10 teams are conducting this census programme in the National Park. According to Forest department officials, the National Parks covers 1005.85 sq km in East and West Godavari districts along the banks of the Godavari.

Divisional Forest Officer (DF), Wildlife C. Selvam said that more than 250 camera traps will be deployed for this exercise in Papikondalu National Park and adjoining forests.

Wildlife Forest Ranger SSR Vara Prasad told "The Hans India" that only panthers and tigers would be counted in the census.

He said that more than 250 modern cameras would be used to photograph the tiger pugmarks which would be analyzed using computers to identify various parameters of the tigers. He said that initially the counting of tigers and panthers will be taken up. He said that during 2014-15 they identified tigers and panthers in the National Park.

He said that they are conducting surveys every year in the National Park. For the census they have installed modern cameras at Chinturu and VR Puram mandal in Chinturu division of East Godavari district. Prasada Rao said that they installed modern C1 cameras in Chinturu 10 and 35 in VR Puram of Chinturu agency.

He added that they observed the tiger and panther movements in a great number in the Chinturu agency area. Recently, they identified tiger pug marks in Chintruru agency. But, the actual tigers would not be traced. He said that the census programme will continue for three more months in the National Park. After completing the census in East Godavari district they will further move to Polavaram and Kannapuram forest areas in West Godavari district.

The official said that they also identified pug marks in Kannapuram in west Godavari. He said that they would carry out the works of the census in the spirit of dedication and hard work. The latest cameras installed in these places are of immense value in tracking the movement of the tigers and panthers during the night. He said that in this national park all wild animals like tigers, panthers and other animals are in a large number. The camera trap images help in identifying the individual tigers through stripe patterns and other physical features. He said that it is possible to arrive at their count in a more accurate manner compared to the collection of pugmarks.

Many people are little aware of the presence of wild animals in the Papikondalu area particularly in the National Park and the present study and census undertaken by the Forest department would enable to create an awareness of the existing wildlife in the little known national park.

Some people are of the opinion that wild animals like tigers and panthers are almost extinct. But the present census would dispel such wrong notions as the national park contains a good number of wild animals and the census would help for confirmation of the presence of wild animals.