Wildlife Conservation Society Completes Survey Using Advanced Camera-Trap Method The state is set to get an accurate count of tigers in Wayanad forests in a month. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) has completed the counting of the big cats with advanced camera trap studies. Even the last tiger count conducted by the forest department, which came up with a figure of 80, had created a public unrest, followed by reports on Wayanad being a fit candidate for establishing a tiger reserve. The district has also emerged as one of the top human-animal conflict zones in the country, with over 4,000 compensation claims filed in wildlife-related incidents in 2011 and around 36 tiger attacks on livestock. The forest department had approached the society for the survey in the 344-sq km Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary and the study sampled 71 camera trap locations between March and May 2013. Society joint director (science & conservation) Dr N Samba Kumar said the survey was conducted by dividing the sanctuary into two sections with a 30-day time window for each section. The study covered the Tholpetty range bordering the Nagarhole national park in the initial phase and the Muthanga and Bathery ranges bordering the Bandipur reserve later. He said the study was conducted in conjunction with the larger tiger landscape consisting of Nagarhole-Bandipur and Mudumalai reserves. “The tiger numbers in Wayanad cannot be counted in isolation. A snapshot of the larger geographical area is always better for the reliable estimation of tiger density in the region. Consideration of a small part of the larger region in isolation is likely to lead to overestimation of tiger densities in smaller areas.” He said having an accurate estimate of tiger population would help support better management and conservation of tigers in this landscape, which holds the world’s largest tiger population. Camera trapbased capture-recapture surveys involves deploying large number of cameras equipped with infrared triggers on either side of tiger paths that automatically shoot images of the tiger when it crosses the infrared line. The society has an advanced database identifying over 600 tigers in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.