An ariel survey of the over two hundred square kilometers of the Bijnore forest was carried out by the Forest Department on Wednesday.
Conservator Moradabad Kamlesh Kumar while talking to “The Pioneer” said that they would be able to cover the entire four hundred square kilometers by Thursday evening. He said that from the still cameras they were able capture elephant herds and other wildlife, the stray tigress of Moradabad however remained elusive. He also said that there had been no sightings and no killing by the tigress since the last kill of Feburary 6.
“We have already covered over two hundred square kilometers of Bijnore by Wednesday evening. We will complete four hundred square kilometers by Thursday. We have used both the UAV’S and the multicpoters and we have got an instant imaging of elephant herds and some other wildlife” he said. He said that it was difficult to trace the tigress but they could get some information which could be useful wherein they could put to use in creating macchans or traps.
He said that the UAV and the multicopter was mounted with still cameras and video cameras that took a photograph every three seconds. “The photos are then loaded on to the software for the stitching and the removal of the overlapping images” he said. Meanwhile a review report on the tiger operations was submitted to the PCCF on Feburary 18. The PCCF JS Asthana said that the report has made certain recommendations regarding the tiger operations.
The PCCF who is currently holding the additional charge of the Chief Wildlife Warden said that he had directed two officials from the Forest Department to review the situation and submit a report to him in two days. The officials met the forest officials and visited the area of tiger operation before submitting the report
PCCF JS Asthana while talking to “The Pioneer” said, “ It is necessary to identify the tigress. It has been suggested that the area be divided into five parts which will have five shooters with each shooter in one sector along with a forest official and a WTI and WWI members which can locate the tigress and then tranqualize it” said the PCCF. He said that these directions have been given to the Conservator Moradabad and CCF Bareilly to follow the standard operating procedures of tranqualizing of the National Tiger Conservation Authority. He also said that suggestions stated that the cages be camourflaged rather than exposed
The PCCF said that the tiger activity was stretched over a vast area with kills being spread over a distance of over twenty five kilometers. “There is difficulty owing to the dense sugarcane crops and forests” he added. On being asked if the aerial surveys would help the PCCF said that with the thickness of the forest there were limited chance of tracking the tigress through this.