Chandigarh to install 20 camera traps in Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary

Dushyant Singh Pundir

Chandigarh, December 23

To keep an eye on the movement of wild animals, the UT Forest and Wildlife Department will install 20 more camera traps at strategic locations in the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary.

Debendra Dalai, Chief Conservator of forest-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden, UT, said three camera traps were fixed at different places in the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary on a pilot basis in order to monitor the movement of wildlife in various parts of the forest area.

After the success of the pilot project, it was now decided to put up 20 more camera traps in the sanctuary by mid-January, he said, adding that the camera traps would be set up mainly near the water bodies where animals come to drink water.

“Proper management interventions can be made once we know the locations of animals, especially leopards,” he said.

Dalai said: “A sensor is attached to the camera. When an animal will walk past the camera, it will immediately capture the image or record video, which will help the authorities know about the movement of the wild animals.”

Leopard pugmarks were spotted at the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary while carrying out the second wildlife census at the reserve forests in May last year.

In April last year, a leopard was caught in a camera trap installed near a water body in the Kansal forests.

In March 2020, a leopard had strayed into Sector 5 during the lockdown. It was caught and released in the wildlife sanctuary at Morni Hills in Panchkula.

During the survey, a good number of direct sighting of wild animals were recorded. Besides, indirect evidence such as pugmarks of leopards and other animals were also found, said Dalai.

The first wildlife census was carried out in the Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary, spread over an area of 26 sq km in the catchment area of the Sukhna Lake, in 2010.

According to the first census report prepared by the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), the population of sambar in the sanctuary was between 1,000 and 1,200 and the peafowl population was between 900 and 1,100.

Main animals spotted at the sanctuary include sambar, chital, pangolin (anteater), wild boar, jackal, small Indian civet, jungle cat, porcupine, Hanuman langur, rhesus monkey, Indian hare, common mongoose and three-striped palm squirrel.

To come up mainly near water bodies

Debendra Dalai, Chief Conservator of Forest-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden, UT, said after the success of the pilot project, it was now decided to put up 20 more camera traps in the sanctuary by mid-January. The camera traps would be set up mainly near the water bodies where animals come to drink water.