Tiger monitoring system identifies vulnerable points in protected areas

Jotirmay Thapliyal

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 28

The monitoring system for intensive patrolling and ecological status of tigers popularly known as “MSTrIPES” has started delivering results after four years of its implementation.

Software “MSTrIPES” identifies vulnerable points inside the protected area and ensures that ground work done by forest staff officials remains transparent. 

The implementation of MSTriPES has four components — data collection, data entry, storage and analysis.

The phase I of MSTrIPES started in 2012 and continued till 2016. This GPS-aided patrol module was implemented in seven tiger reserves of the country and resulted in improved law enforcement in these parks. 

The implementation of MSTrIPES not only transformed attitudes among frontline staff towards patrolling, but also augmented patrolling efforts invested by them.

“An annual patrol effort of over 1.2 lakh km was recorded from a range of the Kanha Tiger Reserve in 2015-16 and the number of patrol days saw a two-fold increase in comparison to the previous years,” said Qamar Qureshi, a tiger biologist.

He said there was a need to develop a technology that aided patrolling and a monitoring system meant to update and guide park management of trends in wildlife populations, illegal activities, anthropogenic pressure and habitat status and the MSTrIPES had done exactly that.

Qureshi said the phase II of MSTrIPES allowed real-time visualisation of the park protection, thereby facilitating immediate intervention against illegal activity recorded by any patrolling team across a protected area. 

“The newly developed android application of MSTrIPES supports recording and uploading of this information through smart phones. A panic button included on the MSTrIPES mobile application enables users to send an alert message to the office concerned during medical emergencies, armed encounter and animal mortality inside the park, thereby eliciting a rapid response,” he added.

“If implemented in totality as designed, the MSTrIPES can facilitate a cultural shift in the management of protected areas of our country and other tiger range countries,” he said.