Nagaland is all set to conduct its first tiger census as a part of the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE), 2018.
This will be done under the aegis of the Wildlife Wing, Department of Environment Forests & Climate Change. Suman W M Sivachar IFS, Wildlife Warden, Kiphire informed about it in a press note.
A training camp for the staff members of AITE was organized by the State Forest Department on February 9 in Dimapur. There was a class room briefing followed by a mock drill in estimating wildlife including tigers.
Suman WM Sivachar, IFS, Wildlife Warden, Kiphire, who is also the AITE 2018 Nodal Officer for the State highlighted that the tiger status in the country has been undertaken earlier in three cycles with a gap of 4 years across the country, in the years – 2006, 2010 and 2014.
Tiger population estimation is determined by a variety of factors that include finding out habitat characteristics, prey availability and anthropogenic (human) pressures.
Some of the signs to recognize the predator like pellets, visual sightings, animal calls and pug marks have also been taught to the team. The event was attended by a total of 25 members.