GUNTUR: The annual All India Tiger Estimate (AITE) survey is set to begin from January 22 in the three tiger reserves in the State — Nagarjunasagar- Srisailam, Tirupati, and Visakhapatnam.
The AP Forest Department has rolled out a six-day schedule and has given instruction on all the protocols that need to be followed in collecting data on the presence of tigers. The exercise also includes collection of data pertaining to mega herbivores such as elephant and gaur.
According to principal chief conservator of forests P Mallikarjuna Rao, the department has introduced a mobile application, ‘M-Stripes-Ecological,’ in which the personnel would have to upload the data pertaining to tigers. The mobile App can also be downloaded in desktops. This is the first-of-its- kind application designed for the tiger census.
During the nine-day training programme organised at the three reserves, the department focused on identification of forest trails, beat personnel, and laying of transacts. Local communities and NGOs would be involved in a big way during the survey.
Positive indications
The timing of the survey assumes importance in the wake of latest sighting of a female tiger in a farm land on the fringes of the dense Atmakur forest division and outside the tiger reserve area of Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam.
There are 43 tigers in the State, but the rare sightings indicate the possibility of increase in their population in the region.
The survey may also hasten the process of declaring the Gundla Brahmeswara (GBM) sanctuary in Kurnool district, which is home to sizeable population of tigers, as a separate tiger reserve.