PANJIM: Almost four years after conducting a mammoth exercise of estimating the wildlife in the State’s government forests, including wildlife sanctuaries, Goa government is yet to analyse the figures using the scientific camera trap method in the absence of which the study cannot be termed complete.
Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII), which conducted the animal assessment, has already submitted its analysis of the report that needs further assessment using modern technology. The animal census conducted in 2010 was done using the camera trap method. However, the forest department failed to make use of the technology in 2013.
Forest Department officials under the guidance of WII had conducted estimation of the wildlife in State’s forest in 2013, which according to them is more scientific as the sighting reported during the exercise is cross checked with the other parameters like analysis of vegetation.
The data collected with the help of department officials, volunteers and WII had healthy sightings of the wildlife including the presence of tiger.
“To further understand the data, the camera trap has to be done for some specific animals like tigers whose presence is recorded and cross checked with other states. However, it is yet to be adopted,” an official said.
“Proper authentication is required to know whether the tigers spotted during the survey, have come on transit from other neighbouring areas,” a senior official said.
During a recent camera trap (not part of the census), forest department spotted five tigers –one male, two female and two cubs in the Mhadei wildlife sanctuary.
As per the Forest Department the animal census has to be undertaken every three years, with the latest one supposed to be in 2016. However, the 2013 data is not complete in absence of the camera trap method.
Official said that the current camera traps laid by the department are not part of the wildlife census but an initiative taken by officials on their own to authenticate the presence of the wildcat. “And they have been successful in it,” official added.
