BHUBANESWAR: In a bid to strengthen the big cat surveillance exercise, the Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) is set to be laced with 500 more camera traps in and around the protected area. A senior official said process in this regard has already been initiated by the Similipal south division and tender has been floated recently. Around Rs 1.25 crore will be spent on procurement and installation of the camera traps.
Similipal currently has around 400 cameras for pre-monsoon and post-monsoon surveillance of the tiger land. These cameras, however, have proved to be inadequate for the tiger reserve spread over 2,306.61 sq km. “We need at least 1,000 more camera traps. However, 500 will be procured initially,” an officer said.
As per the guidelines of National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), the surveillance is carried out every year to monitor the tiger movement along with that of co-predators, prey base and other changes. Officials said for effective monitoring they need to undertake the surveillance in buffer area of the reserve as well where tiger and co-predator movement are recorded frequently. This requires installation of more camera traps.
Besides, officials said, more number of camera traps will also help in improving monitoring and surveillance in the 7,263-acre Similipal-Hadgarh-Kuldiha conservation reserve notified by the state government last year. A large part of this reserve falls within the buffer area of STR. As per All Odisha Tiger Estimation (AOTE) 2023-24 report, Similipal is home to around 27 tigers. However, three of these adult tigers have not been camera trapped though evidence of their presence has been found.
