Papikonda – a sneak preview of the national park!

A forest where you can see wonders like Malabar pied hornbills swooshing, a shy pair of Malabar trogons, a herd of gaurs mulching on post-monsoon grasses on a high-altitude shola landscape  and there are tribal hamlets which need a day’s walk in treacherous terrain to access them.

Malabar Pied Hornbills

Malabar Trogon

Stream inside the park

Mighty Godavari

You might be thinking you are in Western Ghats or some remote Vietnam rainforest, but it is a paradise known as Papikonda landscape which lies on border of Andhra and Odisha.

River

Hill Myna

These semi-evergreen and moist-deciduous forest give a refuge to wealth of diverse biodiversity.

             Splendid Teak Trees

From mouse deer which is world’s smallest deer to gaur which is world’s largest wild bovine, from rusty spotted cat which is world’s smallest cat to the majestic Bengal tiger.

Text & Photos by Santosh Edupuganti

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Tiger Survey in Telangana

HyTiCoS and Telangana Forest Department Invite Citizens to count Tigers!!

Starting Jan 21^st, 2018

Hyderabad Tiger Conservation Society in association with

Telangana Forest Department have launched a “citizen volunteers” program to count the Tigers in Telangana forests.

“Conducted once in 4 years the “All India Tiger Estimation” is part of the National Tiger Conservation and Wildlife Institute of India’s national exercise.”

Hyticos being appointed as partners with Telangana forest department will be supporting in this prestigious monitoring programme

This survey will help estimate and protect our “umbrella species” the Tiger, its prey base of herbivores and their forest habitats. These “natural” Forests will in turn keep feeding our rivers, absorbing oxygen, storing carbon, prevent floods and erosion and countless other free services without which we will not survive.

LEVEL 1- All India Tiger Estimation (Telangana) – Jan 22^nd – 29^th 2018 (minimum of 8 days)

Volunteers will help survey Tigers, other carnivores, herbivores and condition of forests through “Sign surveys” and “Line Transect Surveys” in forests of Telangana.

LEVEL 2- Long Term Wildlife Research – Feb 1^st– May 30^th 2018 ( Phase IV of Tiger Monitoring, minimum of 2 weeks )

Volunteers will help count Tigers by setting up camera traps, and counting Tiger prey species through “Line Transect Surveys” in Tiger Reserves in Telangana.

Submit applications online at https://goo.gl/ZhRpi1

For more details contact volunteer.hyticos@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/HyTiCos/

https://hyticos.wordpress.com

 

Tiger Research Volunteering Opportunity @ Amrabad Tiger Reserve and Kawal Tiger Reserve, just rush in your enrollments first!

To Enroll Yourself Fill The Form NOW!!! (Limited Vacancies)

Please Fill The Form Today to Enroll

Volunteers are expected to

1. Carry their own torch lights, Binoculars, caps, sleeping bags, medicines etc
2. Should be prepared to walk for long treks (5-10 kms) in evenings and mornings. It can sometimes also be camping in a suitable place.
3. They should sign an indemnity bond and go through a screening process.

Collector Urged to Eat his Words

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/collector-urged-to-eat-his-words-on-killing-wild-boars/articleshow/57935240.cms

HYDERABAD: The Bhupalpally district collector has been urged to publicly denounce his call for killing of wild boar and consume their meat by people with a caution that not only is killing of wild boar currently prohibited in Telangana, but any consumption of its meat too is prohibited by law.

In a letter to district collector A Murali, Imran Siddiqui, a member with the Telangana State Board for Wildlife said any permission for hunting of wild boar, that too by a panel of 17 hunters appointed by the chief wildlife warden of the state, expired on December 28, 2016.

Anyone propagating the hunting of the animal or consumption of its meat will also fall foul of High Court orders in a writ petition (PIL), No 37 of 2016 on the subject of hunting of wild boar, Siddiqui told the collector in his letter. The Wildlife Protection Act states that any wild animal killed in defence of any person or their property becomes government property. A post-mortem needs to be performed after which the animal’s body needs to be disposed off by destroying the carcass, he said.

He further said that the HC, in the case, had clearly said “there should not be any killing allowed in sanctuaries and national parks, If at all any such killing occurs, a case should be booked under Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.” Siddiqui further said that the collector’s statement around Eturunagaram Sanctuary is thus in violation of the HC order and the spirit of the Wildlife Protection Act.

Latest and refined Methods of tiger counting

https://www.asianscientist.com/2017/04/in-the-lab/bayesian-model-wildlife-tiger-count/

Count Me In! Bayesian Model Used To Estimate Tiger Population Researchers have developed a more reliable method for estimating tiger numbers in India. Asian Scientist Newsroom | April 4, 2017 | In the Lab AsianScientist (Apr. 4, 2017) – A new methodology developed by the Indian Statistical Institute and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) may revolutionize how to count tigers and other big cats over large landscapes. Their results have been published in the Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics. The new method offers the opportunity for researchers to rigorously assess animal numbers at large geographical scales—a critical need for informing conservation interventions and wildlife management. Called Bayesian smoothing model (BSM), the methodology addresses a thorny problem faced by ecologists and conservationists: Extrapolating accurate population counts in smaller areas, such as protected reserves, to wider regions where only weaker methods can be employed. Currently, scientists rely on information collected using rigorous but resource-intensive survey methods—such as camera trapping—to provide reliable results at smaller scales. However, they are compelled to use weak surrogate indices, such as track counts, while surveying large landscapes of 10,000 square kilometers or more. The current statistical method of integrating these two types of data, known as index-calibration, was developed decades ago and is known to generate misleading population estimates. BSM addresses this critical flaw by developing a far more complex but realistic model for combining information obtained at different geographical scales. The authors illustrated the BSM technique by applying it to the information from actual data sets from WCS tiger surveys in India. These data included tiger abundance derived from camera surveys and habitat occupancy estimated from counts of tiger signs such as tracks. They found model results to be in conformity with tiger numbers expected based on WCS ecological studies going back three decades. In addition, the new method confirmed scientists’ earlier critiques of the traditional index-calibration tiger survey method. “BSM offered a superior, more rigorous methodology to combine these two types of data to yield more transparent, reliable estimates,” said Professor Mohan Delampady at the Indian Statistical Institute, Bangalore, who guided the development of the new method. “This also opens the door wide for development of even better methods in the future.” “The progress on scientific techniques we describe can significantly impact and greatly inform how we direct our efforts in saving these iconic species into the future,” said Dr. Ullas Karanth, WCS Director for Science in Asia. The article can be found at: Dey et al. (2017) Bayesian Methods for Estimating Animal Abundance at Large Spatial Scales Using Data from Multiple Sources. ——— Source: Wildlife Conservation Society. Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff. Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: https://www.asianscientist.com/2017/04/in-the-lab/bayesian-model-wildlife-tiger-count/