Cameras at Nandadevi reserve a deterrent to poachers

Jotirmay Thapliyal

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, May 27

As many as 60 camera traps in Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve are helping keeping anti-wildlife elements like poachers at bay.

The cameras primarily aimed at monitoring wildlife activities, especially charismatic species like snow leopard that have witnessed an increase in sightings, and ensuring accuracy in the census work. However, it have turned out to be a boon in keeping poachers at bay.

Director, Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve, SS Raisaily besides the monitoring of wildlife, camera traps had proved to be a major deterrent to poachers and other anti-wildlife elements. “A total of 26 miscreants had entered “Valley of Flowers” last year and were caught on cameras, leading to their arrest”, said Raisaily.

He said even fringe elements from villages situated in close proximity to the protected area understand that they would be caught on camera if they indulge in any anti-wildlife activity. “This is proving to be a big discouraging factor as people with anti-wildlife mindset now understand the consequences after getting caught on cameras,” he said. He said images recorded in cameras were regularly monitored. Interestingly, camera traps had played a very crucial role in ensuring the first-ever sighting of snow leopards in the higher reaches of Uttarakhand, which included Nandadevi, Gangotri and other protected areas.

Ever since the installation of camera traps in Uttarakhand, the first-ever photo capture of the endangered snow leopard was made through one such camera trap on April 10, 2011 by a joint team of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) and the State Forest Department from the Malari region of Nandadevi Biosphere Reserve. Since then several sightings of snow leopard have taken place in the biosphere reserve. Referring to other initiatives, Raisaily said they had been adopting rotational grazing to ensure that prey base of snow leopards did not shrink in the reserve.