What helped Kenya to track down its poachers in the national parks is now to be deployed in the tiger reserves in the country.
Hi-tech aerial vigilance using drones will now be used by National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) for improved protection of big cats and wildlife. The trials for using this advanced anti- poaching technology will begin in Panna Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh beginning from January 9.
The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) which is carrying out the drone exercise in tiger reserves has received clearance from the Ministry of Defence to fly them for trial from January to June this year. The Ministry had earlier rejected plans to use drones to track rhinoceros in Kaziranga National Park.
The sources in NTCA confirmed that after getting approval from MoD, test flying of drones in the Panna Tiger Reserve has been scheduled from January 9-13. The WII is working in association with a US-based company, “Conservation Drones”, for the trials.
It is taking an assembled drone from them at a cost of `6 lakh which is being born by the World Wide Fund (WWF) for Nature International. Two experts from Conservation Drones, Lian Pin Koh and Simon Wunderlin would be in the Panna on Thursday for demonstrations.
The sources said that conservation drones are low-cost unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) that can be effectively used for surveillance of wildlife. They are capable of autonomous flights for over 30 minutes or more at a stretch, covering a range between 30 km to 50 km.
They can also be equipped with high definition night vision cameras and can relay real time images and videos back to the control room. Nearly 74,000 acres wilderness track in Kenya, are being kept under vigil through drones. It can do the work of 50 rangers, said the sources.
According to Dr K Ramesh, WII scientist and programme in-charge, drones are the future of conservation and can have multiple applications. They will not only be useful for monitoring of tigers and to keep tab on poachers but also carry out detailed research works as tiger counting and prey base estimation.
“We are making an effort to use integrated advance technology to monitor tigers in areas where humans cannot reach. Drones can reach hilly, riverine and other difficult terrains and send us pictures. If for instance there is a fire or smoke in the forest, we can fly the drones and would get to know what’s exactly happening and where,” said Dr Ramesh.
Drones can also help the forest officials in getting updates from the dense forest areas as they have a receiver system that can penetrate into thick canopy of trees, he added.
