Dr Bilal Habib is a reputed wildlife scientist working with Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun. A recipient of the prestigious UNESCO MAB Young Scientist Award for developing monitoring program involving local communities, his work is cited in several contemporary conservation publications. Dr Habib has been involved in field research on carnivores in India since 2001.
Maharashtra is going in for radio collaring of its tigers and Dr Bilal is the man involved in the processes. In the latest, he collared two tigers -- Bittu and Shriniwas -- in Umred-Karhandla. TOI talks to Dr Bilal, who through his research, tries to seek answers relevant to conservation in changing scenarios. Excerpts from interview...
Q. Why did Maharashtra forest department take up radio collaring project with WII?
A. To safeguard efforts and investments to conservation for the coming generations, it is critical that tiger populations remain connected with each other through landscapes. The natural green corridors would ensure genetic exchange through dispersal and a safeguard against extinction risks caused by environment and man-made factors. The radio-collaring project by the state is an initiative to understand mechanism of dispersal through corridors.
Q. Till now how many collars have been fitted to tigers and leopards?
A. As a part of Tadoba monitoring and dispersal project, we have collared 5 tigers and 2 leopards.
Q. How has collaring helped in improving management?
A. We will be able to identify their actual route of dispersal, help in understanding the level of risk taken by tigers and also in managing the corridors in a much better way.
Q. You say it has helped but the results are not encouraging.
A. It is the beginning of an exercise. The results are more than encouraging. So far we have been able to identify critical corridors used by one of the dominant male tigers. We hope in coming years we shall be able to give a better picture of corridor use.
Q. Man-animal conflict and poaching still looms large.
A. Shrinking habitats, reduced connectivity, ever-increasing human population and reduced tolerance level of humans in coming days will only aggravate the situation. We as conservationists need not to be emotional about individuals who are in conflict, we need to think beyond them for the conservation of species at large. Poaching of course is bigger threat.
Q. 'Jai's' collar hit a snag and it went without monitoring for months.
A. Jai's collar had GPS, VHF and iridium satellite link which helps in sending GPS locations to the user. The collar was able to take GPS locations but was not able to send it. But VHF (very high frequency), which allows 24/7 monitoring of animal by VHF receiver and antenna, was functional. Within two months of collaring, we have been able to map its movement paths. Jai is an established individual and not dispersing one. It takes less time to validate movement paths of such tigers.
Q. Why aren't tigers in territorial areas being radio collared?
A. Tigers which are about to disperse from core areas will establish themselves in low density territorial areas except Brahmapuri, which has its own established tiger populations. Under the project we are planning to collar some animals from such areas too.
Q. You also fitted collars to Great Indian Bustards (GIB), what is analysis?
A. Tagging birds is more challenging than tigers. The process of capture is much difficult and you are always limited by the weight of the transmitter. We have fitted transmitters to GIBs in Warora and Nannaj. The Warora transmitter stopped working after 25 days, but the one at Nannaj which was tagged on April 17, 2015 is still functional. Tagging has helped us to identify critical areas beyond protected areas network which is more critical for conservation. The tagged bird used an area of 10,000 sqkm. It travelled all the way from Nannaj to Karnataka and then returned to Latur and Solapur. During the 9 months, the tagged bird covered a distance of almost 1,600km.
Q. Is it true that radio-collars are a hurdle in mating and uncomfortable too?
A. I don't think so. Look at the famous Collarwali tigress of MP Pench, it has given 5 litters till date.
Q. Do you think with NH7 widening, dispersing tigers from Pench reserves need to be collared?
A. Not only Pench reserves, we also need to collar at least 2-3 dispersing individuals from each tiger reserve to understand better tiger dynamics and dispersal mechanism across the human dominated landscape.
Q. Is radio collaring the only solution to protect tigers?
A. Radio-collaring is not the solution for protecting tigers. We need strong protection, public support, willingness and commitment of the governments. Radio-collaring will only help in strategizing. There is no alternative to radio-collaring in collecting data.
Q. If protection of tigers is so vital, why did WII curtail mitigation measures on NH7?
A. The mitigation measures proposed in the May 2015 report are based on scientific rigour considering all the available knowledge and best practices in the field of road ecology. We've considered species ecology and behaviour before proposing structure dimensions. We've considered more than 30 species in the landscape and also their ecological and biological requirements before proposing modification with respect to our 2012 report.
Q. Does it mean WII's 2012 report was not scientific?
A. WII had initially submitted two reports on mitigation on NH6 & NH7 in May 2012. All reports are based on scientific information and will stand the test of scientific scrutiny. Some might term it unscientific. I feel that our four reports have not been read by the 29 wildlife conservationists and NGOs who are fighting the matter in court.
