If wildlife crime is going hi-tech with each passing day, so are its mechanisms of tracking. For the first time, a new Android based smartphone application will enable users to report wildlife crimes, from any part of the country using their mobile phones.
The application has been developed by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) under Environment Ministry in coordination with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).
“The system provides a secure platform for real time exchange of wildlife crime related information between WCCB and relevant stakeholders and thus contribute greatly in improving wildlife crime enforcement in India,” said SS Garbyal Director, WCCB.
The app allows an individual to report a wildlife crime quickly and efficiently as the lead will be automatically delivered to a designated email id of WCCB. Most importantly, the user can also remain anonymous and WCCB will be the sole custodian of the collected information.
Further, no details of the person reporting the crime will be shared without the prior consent of the individual. This interactive app has a simple user interface replacing the written reporting and records.
The app is compatible with devices running on Android Jelly Bean (version 4.3) or higher. It just requires 10 MB of space and 512 MB of free RAM with a screen size of 4.5” or higher. It can be downloaded from the websites of WCCB and WTI.
“WTI is further striving to improve the present version of the app. First, the app will be given a simple catchy name to make it more popular”, said Vivek Menon, Executive Director & CEO, WTI.
The development team is already working on additional features which apart from having more features as a pictorial guide of various species and their status of protection and peer-to-peer secure communication facility for enforcement officials. This would help in sharing of data as photos of offenders and reports on trends in wildlife crime happening across the country, he added.
The present application also has an integrated digital version of the Wild life (Protection) Act, 1972. The users can type in a keyword to look for specific sections of the Wild life (Protection) Act 1972, The next version of the app would have regular wildlife crime news alerts and updates on any amendments/notifications related to the Act.
Further, WTI is in consultation with its partner International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) is also trying to develop an application for identification of wild animals which is expected to be integrated in the next version of the present app.
