JOIN USAll states to adopt Karnataka's model of monitoring tigers
The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) is adopting the Karnataka Forest Department’s technological model to strengthen patrolling and keep round-the-clock check on tigers across the country.
The NTCA is launching M-stripes, a software on the lines of Huli and Hejje software being used by the department to monitor the movement of frontline staff and wildlife animals in tiger reserves of Karnataka.
The decision to introduce M-Stripes in all tiger reserves in India was taken at a review meeting of forest officials and the NTCA in July, G Ranga Rao, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Project Tiger, Mysuru, told DH. The NTCA was impressed with the technological advances made by Karnataka in monitoring tigers and wanted them to be emulated across India.
The M-stripes software will be installed on Android phones and given to frontline staff, including members of the Anti-Poaching Camp (APC). They will carry the hand-held device everywhere, updating direct tiger sightings and pug marks. The data fed will be accessed by forest officials of the respective states and NTCA officials.
The software is being developed by the Wildlife Institute of India. A demo on the software will be given to heads of all tiger reserves in South India in the first week of September at the Bandipur Tiger Reserve, Rao said. The Karnataka Forest Department had introduced the Hejje software around four years ago to monitor the movement of frontline staff and those stationed at the APC. Hejje is an improved version of Huli software, and enables officials sitting in the department’s head office in Bengaluru to monitor the movement of frontline staff. While Huli is used on hand-held GPS devices, Hejje is accessible on Android phones.
Six Indian states had shown interest in adopting Hejje and Huli software. “After the introduction of M-stripes, all software could be integrated into a single device. While other states will have to buy devices to use the technology, in case of Karnataka the software will be integrated into the existing devices,” Rao added.