The Rajamahendravaram Wildlife Division is preparing the ground for the All India Tiger Estimation-2022. It will install more than 200 camera traps in Papikonda National Park (PNP), which is spread over 1,013 square kilometers in East and West Godavari districts.
Almost 300 forestry officials from the two districts will be deployed to the exercise, which aims to identify potential locations in the national park and in the adjacent forest. The preparatory exercise includes completing the locations where the camera traps will be installed to record the presence of tigers.
Three tigers were recorded in the PNP, which was declared a national park in 2008, as the forestry department claimed in 2016. The park was included in the 2018 tiger census, but there was no mention of the number of big cats present there.
“The training of the forest personnel to be deployed, including the Divisional Forest Officers and Rangers, began on Tuesday. The field exercise begins in October with the installation of more than 200 camera traps in the PNP and adjacent forest areas, ”said C. Celvam, Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife-Rajamahendravaram). The Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society trains the forest staff.
“The contributions from local communities in and around PNP will be used during the field study to identify the potential locations where the census will be conducted,” said N. Nageswara Rao, Chief Conservator of Forests (Rajamahendravaram). The Hindu.
The employees of the forestry department of the Kakinada, Eluru and Chintoor divisions were present at the workshop on the All India Tiger Estimate-2022 held here.