DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand will have to start the tiger estimation exercise in a 108 sq km area of Corbett Tiger Reserve again after torrential rains swept away 27 camera traps installed inside the reserve.
“Data captured in the camera traps — covering 108 sq km — is lost now. The tiger estimation exercise in the area will have to be started from scratch,” R K Tiwari, warden of the reserve, told TOI. The reserve area spans 520 sq km.
The camera traps were installed earlier this month to provide the tiger count of the area for a nationwide tiger estimation exercise which is carried out every four years. Camera traps are attached to the base of trees and are generally equipped with infrared sensors to sense movement and capture images of wildlife. In the case of tigers, images taken by camera traps can help identify each individual through its unique stripes.
Corbett authorities said 494 camera traps had been installed in Ramnagar division of the reserve. Almost all zones of the reserve lost camera traps, but Dhela zone — which lost 10 of the devices — and Bijrani zone, where four camera traps were washed away, were the worst affected.
A request has been forwarded for new cameras to kick off the tiger estimation exercise, authorities said. Tiwari said the lost camera traps are unlikely to pose a threat to wildlife or provide any information to poachers. “By now, the cameras would either be buried deep under debris or would be so damaged that no one can find any information on it,” he said.
TOI had earlier reported that at least 250 km of forest land has been washed away in Kumaon division of rain-battered Uttarakhand, according to an estimate by the forest department. Several forest roads — which would measure 600-km combined — were also washed away after the heavy downpour. In Corbett, 120 km of forest roads have been eroded.
