(IN)( Radio collars for tigers in Bengal

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Radio

collar for tigers

26 Nov 2007, 0225 hrs IST,Prithvijit Mitra,TNN

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KOLKATA: Radio collars are going to be used for the first time for a

tiger census in the Sunderbans this winter. Arrangements are being made and

a blue-print is being chalked out for the project.

 

The emerging data will be integrated into an existing software that is being

used to count tigers at the mangrove forest. The new technology might

confirm an increase in tiger population in the Sunderbans, the state forest

department has claimed.

 

Initially, the forest department has received permission for collaring two

male and two female tigers. These animals will be tranquilized and fitted

with the instruments. By tracking the signals from the collars, their

movements are going to be monitored over a period of time.

 

" The idea is to gauge the area that the tigers cover within the forest. This

is known as their home range and unless we have this data, it is impossible

to arrive at a correct figure, " said principal chief conservator of forests

Atanu Raha.

 

A Sunderbans tiger usually covers around 10-12 sq km. The Indian Statistical

Institute (ISI), which had developed a software to assist tiger census at

Sunderbans, had not taken the home range factor into account. According to

the forest department, this led to serious errors in the counting process.

 

" Unless you know the area a tiger covers, no proper calculation is possible.

The ISI software had analysed some other factors. As per their study, the

same tiger was spotted at Sajnekhali and Bagmara on the same night which is

impossible for the two places are 100 km apart. Their methodology was

incomplete without the home range data which can only be collected through

radio collars, " added Raha.