Scientists at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) are deploying unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) or drones into forests across country to monitor poaching, track wildlife and even count the population of tigers.
These series drones are being customised indigenously to suit different types of forest landscape in India.
Such drones were recently tested successfully in Panna Tiger Reserve and Kaziranga forest.
They have identified ten places in the country where this drone monitoring project would be implemented from 2015- high-altitude Himalayas, Himalayan foothills, central India, coastal regions of Sundarbans, islands of Andaman, etc.
These drones would also need clearances from the Ministry of Defence.
As per Wildlife Institute of India (WII)
- The drones will provide scientist platform for the second generation technology for monitoring and surveillance of wildlife.
- This platform will be cost-effective and can reach areas where it is difficult for humans to enter.
- This project will be implemented under a joint collaboration with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and international environment body WWF.
- Both the agencies are preparing a detailed project report for introducing drone monitoring in 10 wildlife-rich areas across the country.
- The primary objectives of these drones would be to track the movements of wildlife and monitor poaching. It can be particularly useful in monitoring poaching of lesser known species. But drone technology can only detect poaching and so it should be backed by on-ground staff monitoring.
- They may also be used in counting the population of animals like tiger as many areas camera trap method for counting of tigers had not proved to be effective.
- These drones would be a useful as hi-tech tool in the hands of ill-equipped forest guards.
- Drones can also be used for night surveillance and tracking of many elusive and shy animals like the red panda and snow leopard, which are very rarely seen by the human eye in their natural wild habitat.
- A drone can be put on autopilot mode and sent as far as 40-50 km deep into the forest where it can record images and videos and transmit them on a real-time basis. Its movement can also be controlled through a GPS-based system.
- They can be brought back to the base station, recharged, and sent back several times in a day.
- Some nations in Africa have started using drones for wildlife surveillance and tracking
Present scenario of technology used for monitoring and surveillance of wildlife in India
GPS wildlife tracking is most widely technology used for monitoring and surveillance of wildlife in India.
GPS wildlife tracking is a process in which biologists, scientific researchers or conservation agencies remotely observe relatively fine-scale movement or migratory patterns in a free-ranging wild animal using the Global Positioning System.
A GPS-enabled device normally record and store location data at a pre-determined interval or on interrupt by an environmental sensor.
This data received from GPS-enabled device may be stored in pending recovery of the device or relayed to a central data store or internet-connected computer using an embedded cellular (GPRS), radio, or satellite modem.
The animal's location can then be plotted against a map or chart in near real-time or, when analysing the track later, using a GIS package or custom software.
Attachment methods of GPS-enabled device/ tags on wild animals
- Collar attachment
Collar attachment is the primary attachment technique where the subject has a suitable body type and behaviour.
Collars would normally be used on the animal's neck (assuming the head has a larger circumference than the neck) but also on a limb, perhaps around an ankle.
Suitable animals for neck attachment would include primates, large cats, some bears etc.
Limb attachment would work well in animals such as Kiwi, where the foot is much larger than the ankle.
- Harness attachment
Harness attachments may be used in situations where collar attachment is not suitable, such as animals whose neck diameter may exceed that of the head.
Examples of this type of animal may include pigs, elephants, etc.
Large, long-necked, birds such as the Greylag Goose (Anser anser) may also need to be fitted with a harness to prevent removal of the tag by the subject.
- Direct attachment
Direct attachment is used on animals where a collar cannot be used, such as birds, reptiles and marine mammals.
In the case of birds, the GPS unit must be very lightweight to avoid interfering with the bird's ability to fly or swim.
The device is usually attached by gluing or, for short deployments, tapingto the bird. The unit will then naturally fall off when the bird next moults.
In the case of reptiles such as crocodiles and turtles, gluing the unit onto the animal's skin or carapace using epoxy (or similar material) is the most common method and minimises discomfort.
In deployments on marine mammals such as phocids or otariids, the device would be glued to the fur and fall off during the annual moult. Units used with turtles or marine animals have to resist the corrosive effects of sea water and be waterproof to pressures of up to 200bar.
- Other attachment methods
Other applications include Rhinoceros tracking, for which a hole may be drilled in the animal's horn and a device implanted.
Compared to other methods, implanted transmitters may suffer from a reduced range as the large mass of the animal's body can absorb some transmitted power.
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