Effective monitoring of field staff engaged in jungle patrolling of tiger reserves has become easy thanks to the growing popularity of the Android-based app Hejje (pugmark), giving a thrust to wildlife conservation.

An earlier version of the app, Huli, was first introduced at BRT Tiger Reserve around 2013 and subsequently an updated version was launched for Bandipur in February 2014. There was a trial run for three months — from October to December — last year after which it was inducted in Nagarahole National Park.

“Karnataka was the first to harness this technology and in view of its utility seven States across the country have adopted the app with variations and modifications — with Mudumalai in Tamil Nadu being the latest — and it is proving to be a cost-effective tool for the Forest Department,” said H.C. Kantharaj, Director, Nagarahole National Park.

The app is downloaded to the smart phones of the anti-poaching camp personnel and they feed data pertaining to their patrol, range covered on foot, timings, sightings etc. The details are transmitted to the server where it is stored and can be retrieved anytime for analysis. The app was developed by a Bengaluru-based firm and has been approved by the National Tiger Conservation Authority as another protocol in monitoring mechanism.

Earlier, foot patrol was monitored through a wireless and it was not accurate. “But the app enables us to track their movement, including the time of commencement of patrol, end time and the route length covered,” according to Mr. Kantharaj.

But he pointed out that it was not a tool merely to monitor the field staff but a simple technology to retrieve real-time data on the habitat, animal sightings, areas prone to forest fires, vegetation, tree cover in a range etc. However, a wildlife activist said if the field staff failed to provide accurate feedback pertaining to sightings including signs of any disturbance in the habitat, then the app’s utility would not be fully served. However, it was definitely a useful mechanism to effectively implement foot patrolling which itself was at the core of conservation.