1,100 camera traps installed: Corbett National Park set to hold high-tech tiger census

Chanchal Gola/ Ramnagar

Corbett National Park is once again gearing up for its tiger census. Under the All India Tiger Estimation (AITE), this year’s exercise will witness the biggest combination of technology and human efforts. Around 1,100 camera traps will be installed at about 550 locations across the dense forests of the park to record the tiger activity.

Earlier, the officials from the tiger reserves across the country were trained at Rajaji National Park and the trained teams then provided training to the staff of Corbett. Spread across 1,288 square km, Corbett is now in the final phase of training which will be completed by December 7.

The sub-divisional officer, CTR’s Bijrani Range, Amit Gwasakoti informed that sign surveys, vegetation sampling and fieldwork would begin from December 20. “Nearly 800 Corbett employees will participate in this massive operation. Teams will identify locations in the forest where tiger movement is the highest and cameras will be placed accordingly,” he added.

After nearly forty days’ work, all data will be sent to the Tiger Cell. The tigers captured on camera will be identified through special software as well as manual verification by experts, Gwasakoti stated. 

Notably, 260 tigers were recorded in Corbett during the AITA in 2022. With the increased number of camera traps and upgraded technology being used this time, more accurate data is expected to emerge about the tiger population.