WII to study impact of chopper services on Kedarnath wildlife

Jotirmay Thapliyal

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, September 3

Animal droppings will be analysed for hormonal changes in the wildlife as part of wildlife behavioural studies on the impact of chopper services on the Kedarnath wildlife sanctuary. There has been rising concern over chopper flights adversely affecting the Kedarnath region wildlife.

Wildlife conservationists have expressed deep concern at a large number of chopper flights taking place above the sanctuary, which they say will be detrimental to the region’s faunal wealth.

Following which the state authorities have entrusted the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) with analysing hormonal changes in the wildlife due to the chopper services. The study is to be completed in next six months.

WII Director Vinod Mathur says the institute will study the impact of chopper flights on the wildlife in the Kedarnath wildlife sanctuary. The analysis will be done in two phases.

In the first phase, the impact on the wildlife in the Kedarnath sanctuary will be studied, followed by a study of migratory animals that come to the Kedarnath region in the second phase.

“Animal droppings of the wildlife in the Kedarnath region will be collected to extract hormones. This will help us to know the changes in hormonal levels that may finally indicate the impact of chopper flights on the behaviour of animals,” he says.

Further, sound measuring devices will be used to check levels of noise pollution. These devices will be put in places below the helicopter flight routes also at places where helicopters do not fly to help the WII scientists get a baseline sound data.

Uttarakhand Chief Wildlife Warden DVS Khati some time ago had asked the WII to conduct a detailed study of the impact of chopper flights on the wildlife in the Kedarnath sanctuary.

It is noteworthy that the state government in recent years has given emphasis on promoting chopper flights that take pilgrims to the Kedarnath shrine. This had led to a spurt in number of aviation companies doing chopper sorties to Kedarnath, thereby causing concern among conservationists of the possible bad effect on the wildlife.

The National Green Tribunal too recently sought response from the Uttarakhand government on an application filed by the Doaba Pariyavaran Samiti alleging adverse helicopter services were causing harm to the region’s wildlife.