What is Project Tiger?

 What is Project Tiger?

Project Tiger is a centrally sponsored scheme that offers support to the tiger states for the conservation of the species of tiger in recognized tiger reserves. On April 1, 1973, the Indian government introduced Project Tiger to encourage tiger conservation. The project is the largest species conservation programme of its kind. This was created using Core-Buffer Strategy:

• The buffer or periphery regions are a mixture of forest and non-forest land that is administered as a multiple-use area. It provides habitat supplement to wild animals and site-specific development to surrounding villages so that they don’t impact the core areas. • The core portions have the legal status of a national park or a wildlife century for the conservation of tigers. History of Tiger Conservation Around 1970, a team of scientists and conservationists put tension on the Indian government concerning the constant decline in the tiger population. As a result, the wildlife protection act was created in 1972, ending all hunting in India legally and establishing legal protection for targeted species.

• Later, in 1973 Project Tiger was started, with Dr. Kailash Sankhala serving as its first director. • The first tiger reserve in India was the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand. • Eight additional tiger reserves were created totaling over 9115 square kilometres of forest area. This area has increased to 71,000 square kilometres to date, a significant improvement from its early days but still not nearly enough forest cover for a developing nation like India with a stunning and extensive natural heritage. • In India, there are currently 53 tiger reserves. Objectives of Project Tiger The important objectives of Project Tiger are listed below: • To make sure that anything limiting the habitats for tigers is avoided. • In order to maintain the equilibrium of the ecosystem, any harm done to these habitats should be rectified.

Tiger Task Force

A need for increased surveillance and an additional layer of protection was added in the year 2005. This was a result of widespread poaching and the development of powerful poaching networks by traffickers within India. The sudden disappearance of the tiger population in the famously endangered Sariska Tiger reserve in Rajasthan came to the attention of media and local conservationists. As a result, Indian Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh established the Tiger Task Force to strengthen the conservation of the country's national animal.

The Tiger Task Force established the following criteria as the benchmark for all national tiger reserves:

• Examining the numerous issues relating to the conservation of tigers and making recommendations for solutions.

• Improving techniques for stopping the hunting of tigers and unlawful behavior in wildlife reserves. • Improve the mechanism for accounting and predicting the tiger population.

 • Educating the indigenous locals who live in the reserves regarding tiger conservation and environmental protection.

Challenges in Conservation of Tigers

The following our challenges faced in the conservation of tigers in our country:

• Ecosystem fragmentation

• Providing tiger-exclusive territory to support its social dynamics • Safeguarding tigers against poaching and hunting

 • Resolving the tiger-human interface

• Rehabilitating corridors, and winning the public‘s support

• Offering environmentally sustainable solutions to the locals. Tiger Census in India

• The procedure for calculating the population of tigers in a selected area is called tiger census. • It takes place at regular intervals of time to understand how the tiger populations have improved and their population trends.

• The readily used technique is referred to as the pugmarks census technique. Through this technique, the pugmark imprints of the tiger are taken into consideration and the tigers are identified on the basis of it.

• The latest techniques include camera trapping and DNA fingerprinting. In the process of camera trapping, the photographers capture the different tigers which are then identified on the basis of the patterns of stripes on their bodies.

• The advanced technique of DNA fingerprinting helps in the identification of tigers using their faecal matter.

 

Application of remote sensing in wildlife mapping

 

Application of remote sensing in wildlife mapping

What is Remote Sensing?

Remote sensing refers to the process of detecting and monitoring an area’s physical characteristics ‘remotely’ by measuring the reflected and emitted radiation from its surface.

For instance, cameras on airplanes capture images of large areas of the Earth’s surface, sonar systems on ships map rugged topographies of the ocean floor, and satellite sensors study temperature variations in oceans.

Components and Steps Involved in Remote Sensing

Remote sensing technology primarily involves two components:

Platform: ‘Carriers’ for remote sensors.

Platforms can be of three types: ground-based platforms (hand-held devices, tripods, towers, moving vehicles, and total stations), aerial platforms (helicopters, low-altitude, and high-altitude aircrafts, unmanned aerial vehicles/drones), and spaceborne platforms (polar-orbiting satellites, sun-synchronous, and geostationary satellites).

Sensors: ‘Devices’ that collect data by detecting energy reflected from earth.

Sensors can be of the following types:

Active Sensors (emit, reflect, and detect energy produced by their own source) and Passive Sensors (detect the reflected sunlight or energy emitted by the object being studied). LiDAR and RADAR are “active” sensors, while radiometers and spectrometers are “passive”. Passive sensors are known to produce higher quality imagery than active ones.

 

Human induced undesirable changes such as land encroachments leading to wildlife habitat loss, pollution and introduction of invasive species pose serious threat to wildlife health and richness. Hence in order to restore wildlife habitat, fragmentation and to prevent further local and global extinction of any species, it is imperative to understand and carry out comprehensive study of the wildlife population and pattern. But most of the wildlife habitats are located in those areas where accessibility is not easy because of difficult terrain. Also the study of wildlife conservation and management including wildlife densities, living pattern, population and habitat with the help of conventional methods happens to be tough, time taking, risky and requires lot of resources. Also expressing and measuring biodiversity including study of organisms and their biotic and abiotic components happens to be intricate because of the versatile nature of biodiversity. Remote sensing can answer these problems as the number of strategies for wildlife studies including investigation of biodiversity, wildlife habitation mapping and animal movement modeling can be executed with the help of remote sensing and inventory database. Remote sensing is a computer based software application which obtains and processes geographic information from satellite or air born sensors. Remote sensing measures the reflected and emitted electromagnetic radiations from the objects. The spatial coverage provided by the remote sensing occurs across wide range of electromagnetic wavelength. Remote sensing is capable of providing uniform consistent spatial observation data at wide scale domain. The images and photographs obtained from the remote sensing helps greatly in the investigation of physical conditions. It can be further enhanced for better accuracy using remotely sensed data and field study (multi stage approach). Remote sensing can be classified based on either direct approach or indirect approach (Chambers et al., 2009). The direct approach suggests direct observation of spatial features, objects or communities using satellites or air born sensors using high resolution spatial sensors and hyperspectral sensors (Turner et al., 2003). The indirect parameters are dependent on the environmental parameters such as land use, land cover, species composition etc., obtained from remotely sensed data as surrogate for precise measurement of the potential species verities and patterns (Collingwood et al., 2009). Satellite Remote Sensing offers information on vegetation type, forest cover, and their changes at global, regional, national, or micro level studies (Roy et al. 1987, Unni at al. 1985, Porwal and Pant, 1986). Remote Sensing plays an important role in forest management with reference to wildlife management, fire control, grazing land management, soil and water conservation, mapping of sites suitable for social forestry and afforestation programmes.

Some of the areas where remote sensing can be useful for wildlife studies are:

o Revision and updating of stock maps

o Fire risk Zonation

o Planning response routes

o Protected area management

o Site suitability analysis for Afforestation

o Soil and water conservation

o Mapping wildlife corridors

o Habitat suitability Mapping

o Prediction Analysis

o Change Detection Analysis

o Mapping Required Resources for Wildlife

o Real time tracking

o Population Mapping

o Developing and updating Web Portal of particular Wildlife

Wide varieties of satellite data sets are available commercially including digital data sets obtained from LANDSAT-5 (Land Observation Satellite), TM (Thematic Mapper), LISS-3 (Linear Imaging and Self Scanning Sensor), IRSID (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite Series 1D), SPOT (Système Probatoire Pour l’Observation de la Terre) and XS (Multi-Spectra). TM sensors helps in availability of multi temporal data with replicated coverage of 16 days for examining temporal changes occurring in the wildlife habitat and communities. Latest series of Indian Remote Sensing Satellites and SPOT series (French satellites) come with the advantages of stereo data acquisition competence with ±26° off-nadir viewing potential of and higher spatial resolutions of 6 (IRS1C/IRSID PAN data) to 10m (SPOT PAN data). The sensors LISS-3 on board IRS1C/D satellites give multi-spectral data obtained in four bands of visible and the near infrared (VNIR) and short wave infrared (SWIR) zone. LISS-3 images contain region of 124/141 km for the VNIR bands (B2, B3, B4) and 133/148 km for the SWIR band (B5) perceived from an altitude of 817 km (IRS1C) to 780 km (IRS1D) with recurring coverage of 25 days. The VNIR bands have spatial resolution of 24m and SWIR has nearly 71m of resolution. The spatial resolution of LISS-3 of the IRS satellite series and XS of the SPOT satellite series are superior to LANDSAT- TM. In order to conserve and manage wildlife system, many countries maintain an inclusive forest account databases of protected areas. These vegetation inventory databases are important for the wildlife studies as they are extensive at comparatively larger spatial scales (example, 1:20,000), reduce the cost of production and they are generally allocated in convenient GIS format (McDermid et al., 2009). Generally different management and conservation strategies cover only particular species and protected areas, which happens to be only 5.19% (7.74 million km2 ) of the total earth’s land surface (WCMC 1992). Many of these biological reserves and protected areas are designed for aesthetic purpose and tourist attraction, rather than wildlife conservation purpose. In these areas, sometimes wildlife is exposed to unsuitable land use practices such as grazing livestock, agriculture, mining etc. Poaching of some species makes them vulnerable and sometimes some deceases and invasive species invade wildlife population (Prins 1996). Therefore thriving wildlife resource require up keeping of optimal conditions within wildlife reserve as well as outside it. The successful management and conservation of wildlife reserve can be carried out well if there is complete availability of information and relevant knowledge about the spatial and temporal distribution of wildlife population. The successful mapping of wildlife distribution can be accomplished using satellite remote sensing. Coral reef mapping of 9 reef classes was done with 37% accuracy with LANDSAT TM, 67% with aerial photography and 81% with an airborn CASI hyperspectral scanner by Mumby and his co workers (1998a). Thermal scanners have been used to measure the population of deer, elk, bison and moose in Canada by comparing ground counts with aerial count, as thermal scanners are known to determine the presence or absence of those species which are not easily observable during certain climatic conditions (Intera Environmental Consultants, 1976). Error can sometimes occur during thermal scanning because of sunlight heated objects and presence of non- target animals. Many of the species like earthworms and termites are known to cause interference because of the roughness caused either by their exoskeleton or by their impact to the soil surface. Certain species which readily modify their environment hamper the applicability of remote sensing satellite as the sensors are incapable to capture the impact of such species on the environment. In such conditions radar can be helpful to map such animals as it is sensitive to micro topography (Weeks et al. 1996; Van Zyl et al. 1991)

 

Application of Geographic Information System (GIS)

in wildlife mapping GIS is computer based system designed for capturing, managing, manipulating, analyzing, modeling and displaying spatially geo-referenced data and for solving complex management problems. GIS helps in easy management of natural and man- made resources at wider scales extending from local to global scale. GIS is capable of overlaying information from different thematic maps depending on user specific logic and derived map outputs. Because of the wide array of GIS application, task defined systems have been created which include engineering specific, land based information, generic thematic, statistical and property lot mapping, environmental planning systems and image processing systems related with remotely sensed data and landsat. In GIS, the attribute data are stored in relational database and geospatial data are saved in map layers, map themes and map coverages. These layers geographically referenced to one another happen to be the foundation of GIS. The gist of map layers refers to spatial as well as attributes data. GIS database sourced map coverages and GIS analysis based results can be displayed and printed in maps, tables and figures and shared various GIS software packages.

The increasing use of geospatial technology that involves the use of remote sensing, GIS and GPS have helped vastly in research pertaining to ecological domain. In the context of wildlife management, GIS is used for mapping, monitoring, analysing and modelling the nesting behaviour and habitats of wildlife populations; wildlife distributions; movement patterns; and to identify potential nesting habitats GIS easily helps in creating maps that cannot be created by using traditional cartographic method. Moreover GIS software packages offering modeling tools can easily create measurements and analyze attribute data. The information in GIS is stored digitally hence it is easily accessible for evaluation and analysis making it easy to be shared among wildlife managers and public. GIS particularly offer potential to enhance the accuracy and precision and long term inexpensive basic actions of wildlife management and conservation such as inventorying, analysis, monitoring, planning and communication. Wildlife management actions are ideally based on intimate information of natural landscape, land use and mass of interior and exterior threats to it. GIS and similar type of computer based technologies such as remote sensing provide means to acquire huge amount of geospatial data and offer powerful analysis tools for understanding linkages between different types of data and help in manipulating these data over larger areas for various development goals for wildlife. Geographic information on the population scattering of wildlife forms a basic source of data in wildlife management. Usually the distribution is derivative from observations on the ground. Radiotelemetry and satellite pathway have been used to evidence the distribution of a diversity of animal species. 

 

 

 

Aerial inspection process based on direct observation increased by use of photography have been used to map the distribution of a range mammals (Norton-Griffiths 1978), birds (Drewien et al. 1996; Butler et al. 1995) and sea turtles and marine mammals (Wamukoya et al. 1995). GIS mapping is progressively being used for wildlife density mapping and dispersion mapping derived from ground observation or aerial survey. Habitat studies based on GIS commonly merge information on vegetation type or different area descriptor, with other land feature reflecting the reserve base factors and other significant factors. A model for Florida scrub jay developed included vegetation type and soil drainage to differentiate primary habitation, secondary habitation and unsuitable areas (Breiniger et al., 1991). A GIs-based model was developed to categorize prospective nesting habitation for cranes in Minnesot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GIS sometimes faces basic issues such as in case of determining if GIS is suitable for given situation, finding which data layer is essential and adequate to achieve the planned task. These basic problems need to be resolved before taking any action. constrictions and limitations of GIS applicability consist of the simplification of data for mixed areas due to inadequate scale resolution, data incoherence from integrating data from different sources without due regard to reliability of each source, and lack of quality data.

What is wildlife?

 

What is wildlife?

.Living things and especially mammals, birds, and fishes that are neither human nor domesticated. 2. A group of local or native animals is referred to as wildlife. 3. Undomesticated animal species, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wild in an area without being introduced by humans. 4. Animals that grow or live in the wild without any human interference are known as wildlife.5.  Wildlife refers to plants and animals living in their natural habitat.

Aldo Leopold is acknowledged by some as the father of wildlife conservation in this country. What may be a surprise to some is that he was one of the early leaders of the American wilderness movement. The term wild life was given by W.G. Rosen. Notions of the wildlife of India were introduced in the west and also been made famous through. The Jungle Book in late 1800s by Rudyard Kipling.

Importance of Wildlife: -

 Importance wildlife as part of the world's ecosystems, wildlife provides balance and stability to nature's processes. The goal of wildlife conservation is to ensure the survival of these species, and to educate people on living sustainably with other species. It's been 43 years the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 was introduced in India by the Parliament for the protection of plants and animal species.

The Wildlife Protection Act was enacted by the Indian Parliament in 1972. This Act provides protection of the wildlife (flora and fauna) in the country. This act was enacted in order to ensure environmental and ecological security.

Aim of Wildlife Protection Act 1972: -

India's Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 is a comprehensive piece of legislation that regulates sanctuaries, national parks, and zoos among other protected locations. Its primary aim is to curb the illegal trade in wildlife and the derivative parts. : It balances nature's elements and the preservation of food chains. Wildlife provides a large gene pool. It aids in the conservation of a region's species. Wildlife provides different products such as foods and drugs.

The importance of wildlife can be categorized as ecological, economic and investigatory importance as well as conservation of biological diversities etc. . . . Animals have also been highly useful to us in providing food, clothing and source of income. Our life is almost impossible without the support of wildlife.

Animal, plant and marine biodiversity keeps ecosystems functional. Healthy ecosystems allow us to survive, get enough food to eat and make a living. When species disappear or fall in number, ecosystems and people—especially the world’s poorest—suffer.

In addition, nutritional, aesthetic, scientific, educational and ecological values may be ascribed to wildlife, but they are much more difficult to document and quantify.

Main features of Wildlife Protection Act:-

1. List of protected species of flora and fauna.

2. Banned and controlled hunting.

3. Protection of habitats.

4. Restricted trade of protected flora and fauna.

 

What was the first Wildlife Protection Act?

1934 The Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp Act: Duck Stamp Act, is an early example of a federal wildlife habitat protection law. Enacted in 1934, it is the first major federal legislation to provide a fund specifically for wildlife conservation purposes

Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

The Indian Parliament enacted the Wildlife (Protection) Act in 1972, which provides for the safeguard and protection of the wildlife (flora and fauna) in the country. This is important legislation and forms an integral part of the environment and ecology sections of the UPSC syllabus.

 

What are the features of Wildlife Protection Act 1972?

i) The wild animal becomes too dangerous for humans or; ii) is disabled or suffering from a disease from which it cannot recover. 2. Prohibition of Cutting/Uprooting Certain Plants: It does not permit the uprooting, damaging, possessing or selling of any specified plant from any forest land or any protected area.

 

What was the main objective of 1972 Wildlife Act?

The main purpose of the law is to ensure the protection of wildlife, birds, and plants. The law gives the federal government the power to declare certain areas such as a sanctuary or a national park, wildlife hunting bans and bring punishment for their violation.

This Act provides for the protection of the country’s wild animals, birds, and plant species, in order to ensure environmental and ecological security. Among other things, the Act lays down restrictions on hunting many animal species. The Act was last amended in the year 2006. An Amendment bill was introduced in the Rajya Sabha in 2013 and referred to a Standing Committee, but it was withdrawn in 2015.

Constitutional Provisions for the Wildlife Act

Article 48A of the Constitution of India directs the State to protect and improve the environment and safeguard wildlife and forests. This article was added to the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment in 1976.

Article 51A imposes certain fundamental duties for the people of India. One of them is to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers, and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures.

History of wildlife protection legislation in India

•The first such law was passed by the British Indian Government in 1887 called the Wild Birds Protection Act, 1887. The law sought to prohibit the possession and sale of specified wild birds that were either killed or captured during a breeding session. •A second law was enacted in 1912 called the Wild Birds and Animals Protection Act. This was amended in 1935 when the Wild Birds and Animals Protection (Amendment) Act 1935 was passed. •During the British Raj, wildlife protection was not accorded a priority. It was only in 1960 that the issue of protection of wildlife and the prevention of certain species from becoming extinct came into the fore.

Need for the Wildlife Protection Act

Wildlife is a part of ‘forests’ and this was a state subject until the Parliament passed this law in 1972. Now it is Concurrent List. Reasons for a nationwide law in the domain of environment particularly wildlife include the following:

1. India is a treasure-trove of varied flora and fauna. Many species were seeing a rapid decline in numbers. For instance, it was mentioned by Edward Pritchard Gee (A naturalist), that at the turn of the 20th century, India was home to close to 40000 tigers. But, a census in 1972 showed this number drastically reduced to about 1827. 2. A drastic decrease in the flora and fauna can cause ecological imbalance, which affects many aspects of climate and the ecosystem. 3. the most recent Act passed during the British era in this regard was the Wild Birds and Animals Protection, 1935. This needed to be upgraded as the punishments awarded to poachers and traders of wildlife products were disproportionate to the huge financial benefits that accrue to them.  4. There were only five national parks in India prior to the enactment of this Act.

Salient Features of Wildlife Protection Act

This Act provides for the protection of a listed species of animals, birds, and plants, and also for the establishment of a network of ecologically-important protected areas in the country.

•The Act provides for the formation of wildlife advisory boards, wildlife wardens, specifies their powers and duties, etc.

• It helped India become a party to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

• CITES is a multilateral treaty with the objective of protecting endangered animals and plants.

• It is also known as the Washington Convention and was adopted as a result of a meeting of IUCN members.

• For the first time, a comprehensive list of the endangered wildlife of the country was prepared.

• The Act prohibited the hunting of endangered species.

• Scheduled animals are prohibited from being traded as per the Act’s provisions.

• The Act provides for licenses for the sale, transfer, and possession of some wildlife species.

• It provides for the establishment of wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, etc.

• Its provisions paved the way for the formation of the Central Zoo Authority. This is the central body responsible for the oversight of zoos in India. It was established in 1992.

• The Act created six schedules which gave varying degrees of protection to classes of flora and fauna.

• Schedule I and Schedule II (Part II) get absolute protection, and offences under these schedules attract the maximum penalties.

• The schedules also include species that may be hunted.

• The National Board for Wildlife was constituted as a statutory organization under the provisions of this Act.

• This is an advisory board that offers advice to the central government on issues of wildlife conservation in India.

• It is also the apex body to review and approve all matters related to wildlife, projects of national parks, sanctuaries, etc.

• The chief function of the Board is to promote the conservation and development of wildlife and forests.

• It is chaired by the Prime Minister.

• The Act also provided for the establishment of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

• It is a statutory body of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change with an overall supervisory and coordination part, performing capacities as given in the Act.

• Its mandate is to strengthen tiger conservation in India.

• It gives statutory authority to Project Tiger which was launched in 1973 and has put the endangered tiger on a guaranteed path of revival by protecting it from extinction.

Protected Areas under the Wildlife Protection Act

There are five types of protected areas as provided under the Act. They are described below.

1.         Sanctuaries

2.         National Parks

3.         Conservation Reserves

4.         Community Reserves

5.         Tiger Reserves

 

1. Sanctuaries: “Sanctuary is a place of refuge where injured, abandoned, and abused wildlife is allowed to live in peace in their natural environment without any human intervention.” 1. They are naturally-occurring areas where endangered species are protected from poaching, hunting, and predation. 2. Here, animals are not bred for commercial exploitation. 3. The species are protected from any sort of disturbance. 4. Animals are not allowed to be captured or killed inside the sanctuaries. 5. A wildlife sanctuary is declared by the State government by a Notification. Boundaries can be altered by a Resolution of the State Legislature. 6. Human activities such as timber harvesting, collecting minor forest products, and private ownership rights are permitted as long as they do not interfere with the animals’ well-being. Limited human activity is permitted. 7. They are open to the general public. But people are not allowed unescorted. There are restrictions as to who can enter and/or reside within the limits of the sanctuary. Only public servants (and his/her family), persons who own immovable property inside, etc. are allowed. People using the highways which pass through sanctuaries are also allowed inside. 8. Boundaries of sanctuaries are not generally fixed and defined. 9. Biologists and researchers are permitted inside so that they can study the area and its inhabitants. 10. The Chief Wildlife Warden (who is the authority to control, manage and maintain all sanctuaries) may grant permission to persons for entry or residence in the sanctuary for the study of wildlife, scientific research, photography, the transaction of any lawful business with persons residing inside, and tourism. 11. Sanctuaries can be upgraded to the status of a ‘National Park’.12.Examples: Indian Wild Ass Sanctuary (Rann of Kutch, Gujarat); Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary in Tamil Nadu (oldest bird sanctuary in India); Dandeli Wildlife Sanctuary (Karnataka).

2. National Parks: “National Parks are the areas that are set by the government to conserve the natural environment.”

1. A national park has more restrictions as compared to a wildlife sanctuary. 2. National parks can be declared by the State government by Notification. No alteration of the boundaries of a national park shall be made except on a resolution passed by the State Legislature. 3.The main objective of a national park is to protect the natural environment of the area and biodiversity conservation. 4. The landscape, fauna, and flora are present in their natural state in national parks. 5. Their boundaries are fixed and defined. 6. Here, no human activity is allowed.7. Grazing of livestock and private tenurial rights are not permitted here.8. Species mentioned in the Schedules of the Wildlife Act are not allowed to be hunted or captured.9. No person shall destroy, remove, or exploit any wildlife from a National Park or destroy or damage the habitat of any wild animal or deprive any wild animal of its habitat within a national park. 10. They cannot be downgraded to the status of a ‘sanctuary’.

Examples: Bandipur National Park in Karnataka; Hemis National Park in Jammu & Kashmir; Kaziranga National Park in Assam.

3. Conservation Reserves: The State government may declare an area (particularly those adjacent to sanctuaries or parks) as conservation reserves after consulting with local communities.

4. Community Reserves: The State government may declare any private or community land as a community reserve after consultation with the local community or an individual who has volunteered to conserve the wildlife.

5. Tiger Reserves: These areas are reserved for the protection and conservation of tigers in India. They are declared on the recommendations of the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

Schedule of Wild Life Protection Act (WPA) 1972

Schedule I:-This Schedule deals with endangered species.

Because these species require strict protection, the greatest punishments for law violations are listed in this Schedule. Species listed in this Schedule are forbidden from being hunted in India, unless they pose a threat to human life. Species on this list have absolute protection.It is illegal to trade these animals.

Ex. Tiger, blackbuck, Himalayan Brown Bear, Brow-Antlered Deer, Blue whale, Common Dolphin, Cheetah, Clouded Leopard, hornbills, Indian Gazelle, and other animals are examples.

Schedule II

Animals on this list are also afforded high protection, with trade prohibited. They cannot be hunted unless there is a threat to human life or they are suffering from a disease/disorder that is beyond recovery.

Animals include the Assamese Macaque, Pig Tailed Macaque, Stump Tailed Macaque, Bengal Hanuman langur, Himalayan Black Bear, Himalayan Newt/ Salamander, Jackal, Flying Squirrel, Giant Squirrel, Sperm Whale, Indian Cobra, and King Cobra.

Schedules III and IV:-

It contain non-endangered species.

This includes protected species where hunting is prohibited, but the penalty for any violation is less severe than in the first two schedules. Schedule III animals include - Chital (spotted deer), Bharal (blue sheep), Hyena, Nilgai, Sambhar (deer), and Sponges.  Schedule IV animals include - Flamingos, Hares, Falcons, Kingfishers, Magpies, Horseshoe Crabs

Schedule V: -

Animals are referred to as "vermin" and can be hunted.

Includes only four animals: mice, rats, common crows, and flying foxes (fruit eating bats).

Schedule VI:-

It regulates the cultivation of a specific plant and restricts its possession, sale, and transportation.

Plant cultivation and trade are only permitted with the prior approval of a competent authority.

Plants include the: Beddomes' cycad (Native to India), Blue Vanda (Blue Orchid), Red Vanda (Red Orchid), Kuth (Saussurea lappa), Slipper orchids (Paphiopedilum spp.),  Pitcher plant (Nepenthes khasiana)

Unit 4: Population Estimation

 Unit 4: Population Estimation

Methods of population estimation:

1.      Sex ratio computation;

2.      Fecal analysis of ungulates and carnivores:

3.      Hair identification,

4.      Pug marks and census method.

5.      Application of biostatistics in Biodiversity estimation: Analysis of Shannon and Simpson‘s Diversity Indices.

: Sex ratio computation

Sex Ratio?

Populations change in size based on their birth rates, death rates, and rates of immigration. When individuals are born, populations increase. When individuals die, populations decrease. Immigration results in individuals moving into a population, while emigration results in individuals removing themselves from a population. 

Sex Ratio Types

Sex ratios may be taken at intervals to capture multiple developmental stages within a population. The sex ratios calculated at these different stages are called:

• Primary sex ratios
• Secondary sex ratios
• Tertiary sex ratios
• Quaternary sex ratios

Sex ratios may also be utilized to represent only a specific subset of the population that is reproductively viable, which is referred to as an operational sex ratio.

Primary Sex Ratios

Primary sex ratios are the sex ratios of individuals at conception.

In many populations, the number of males and females at conception is generally equal. This is due to the fact that many sexual organisms have a 50% chance of producing either a male or female offspring.

Secondary Sex Ratios

Secondary sex ratios are the sex ratios of individuals at birth or hatching.

In many organisms, the primary and secondary sex ratios are equal. However, this is not always the case.

 Many organisms have temperature dependent sex-determination. This means that the sex of a hatchling depends on the temperature at which it was incubated. This is a common phenomenon in turtles and crocodilians. In fact, as temperatures rise due to global warming, researchers are noticing large changes in sex ratios in these temperature sensitive organisms. Unfortunately, this is resulting in population declines in many of these species.

Tertiary Sex Ratios

Tertiary sex ratios are those that are calculated for individuals in their later years of development.

For instance, a tertiary sex ratio may be calculated for the number of one-year-olds in a population of starlings.

Tertiary sex ratios are often defined as juvenile sex ratios, though some researchers may use the term "tertiary sex ratios" to define sex ratios of older adults within a population as well.

Quaternary Sex Ratios

Quaternary sex ratios are like tertiary sex ratios. These ratios are used to represent the sex ratios that occur at a later point in life, often within adults. Many times quaternary sex ratios are used to represent the sex ratios of adults that are no longer reproductively viable.

Operational Sex Ratios

Operational sex ratios are used to define the number of reproductively available males and females. These ratios can cross age boundaries and may give a better idea of a population's reproductive potential.

 

Fecal analysis of ungulates and carnivores:

Fecal analysis of Ungulates and carnivores

Based on the mode of nutrition, animals can be classified into two categories:

• Carnivores or Carnivorous animals
• Herbivores or Herbivorous animals

Carnivorous animals derive their nutrient requirements from other animals. Conversely, herbivores are animals that depend on plants for their nutrition. Read on to discover the characteristics of herbivorous and carnivorous animals, and explore how the two differ from each other.

Herbivores

Herbivores or herbivorous animals are those animals that feed on plants, leaves, fruits and other plant-based food for nutrition. They are known as primary consumers and occupy level 2 or higher in the food chain. Cow, goat, giraffe, sheep, and zebra are common examples of herbivores. Interestingly, there are herbivores that specialize in feeding on certain parts of the plant – for example, animals that feed on fruits are known as frugivores while folivores are herbivores that feed on leaves.

Carnivores

Carnivores or carnivorous animals rely on other animals for their food. These animals have several adaptations that help to hunt prey. For instance, most big cats such as lions and tigers have robust bodies, accompanied by powerful jaws capable of crushing bones and tearing flesh.

They can also be classified on the basis of their feeding habits and the kind of animals they consume. Let us have a look at some of these characteristics and classifications of carnivorous animals.

Hair Indication     

The morphological identification of animal (non-human) hairs (MIAH) is based on fundamental aspects of microscopy, biology, and zoology. The purpose of MIAH is to categorize the animal source of an unknown hair sample to a particular taxon based on well-defined, genetically-based features that are characteristic to that group.

The breadth of knowledge required to identify mammalian hairs from all potential taxa is extensive but may be relatively simple in certain contexts,

for example identification of mammal hairs as encountered in biological fieldwork, in museum curation, or in the textile industry. In contrast, the forensic examination of hair involves  knowing not only the range of expression of mammalian hairs within taxa, but also being aware of  other structures that may resemble hairs, such as man-made wig fibers and faux fur fibers, insect  seta, and plant tendrils. The forensic context is thus wider and more complicated than a controlled +

mammalian orientation.

Evidence of animal hair, is ofen discovered at crime scenes. Pet or other animal hairs can be found on the clothes of the victim or on other items of physical evidence collected at the crime scene. Teidentification and analysis of human and animal hairs from a crimescene can indicate physical contact between the victim and a suspect, orprovide other investigative leads. transferring of pet hairs to the victim,to a suspect, or to the crime scene may happen when the perpetrator is a pet owner (or when the victim owns a pet), or when the crime wascommitted in a place where animals are kept, such as barns, stables, basements, or transport vehicles Forensic hair analysis is a scientific method of analyzing traceevidence from a crime scene. It involves examining the hair shaf,including its medulla (inner core), cortex (intermediate layer) and cuticle (outer covering) through powerful microscopes. Hair evidencemust be collected properly and analyzed according to protocols. The first step of the examination involves verifying whether the hairin question is that of a human or an animal. If the hair is from an animal, the examiner can potentially identify the species from which  it originated Hair can be moved from location to location by physical contact, the presence of a specific person’s hair can link a suspect or a victim to a crime scene. transfer of hair is very common with animal hairs, which are commonly found on pet owners and in the environment of pet owners and can be used to link suspects to crime scenes. In hairs from animals, the diameter of the medulla is larger than half the diameterof the entire shaf. Animals produce different types of hair. Tey ofen have coarse guard hair external to sofer fur hairs. Tey also producewhiskers and longer hairs in such places as the tail and mane [3]

 Himalayan Bear (Black with a white chest)

Dorsal guard hair was characterized by using light microscopyby studying features including color, hair thickness, cuticularcharacteristics, medulla pattern, medullary index etc. Medullarcharacteristics, we found a high medullary index and a vacuolatedmedulla. Medulla continuous, usually less than half overall shafdiameter, Unbanded: pigment coarse, granular and fairly evendistribution. Scales imbricate  

Manipuri deer

Deer hair is about 300-1000 micron meter wide from the root tonear the tip. It has a lattice type medulla that nearly fills the hair. thecuticle patterns is imbricating flattened to broadly acuminate and hasa scale count about 3-7/100 micron depending upon the scale pattern.Te characteristics diamond pattern is 3-4 scales/100 microns and theflattened to vermiform scales are around 7 [10]. Deer has a refractive index along its length of about 1.56 and perpendicular to its length ofabout 1.55. It has a birefringence of about 0.01 and a positive sign ofelongation. Diameter: very coarse over all diameters (approximately300m). Medulla; composed of spherical cells that occupy entire hair.Diameter constant throughout most of hair. Wine glass shape root.Regular, wave or crimp. Scale margins are round and isodiametric andresemble fish scales.

 Royal bengal tiger hair

Diameter: fine, little variation. Medulla: Uniserial ladder (fur hairs),continuous, occasionally vacuolated in coarser hairs. Scales: Tey arenot so prominent, may be banded. Root; elongated, no distinct shape,fibrils frayed at base of root. Black or melanistic colored tigers havebeen reported but further research is required before assessing whetherthese sighting were of true melanistic tigers or darker version of theorange tiger(with few large broad dark stripes) [13]. tiger with whitebackground coloration are not considered albinos. An albino wouldbe pure white in color (no striping) and would have pink or red eyes,White tigers are leucocystic meaning that they have a recessive genethat causes them to lack dark colors.

 Hunting dog

As in all other mammals, some hair follicles are in anagen, somein catagen, and some in telogen. Shedding, length of hair and presenceor absence of an undercoat depends upon the timing of these cyclesand the ratio of hair follicle in the various stages. Differences betweensummer coat and winter coat occurs because during the summer agreater numbers of follicles remains inactive [17]. Some breeds for e.g. poodles, tend to be low shedding because almost all of their follicles in anagen (growth cycle) almost all the time; their hairs continues to growand has to be clipped. Some breeds of dog for e.g. Chinese crested havemost of their follicles in telogen and thus may be almost completelyhairless. Both breed are ofen listed as recommends for allergysufferers. A dog’s coat may be a double made up of a sof undercoat.Diameter; fine to coarse (usually coarser than cat hair): diameter may vary to give short hairs a barrel-like appearance. Medulla: Continuous, vacuolated to amorphous, occasionally very broad. Scales: generallynot prominent. Unbanded; pigment occasionally very coarse andextending into roots .

  3. Pugmark Census

Whenever an animal moves through the jungle over a suitable ground, leaves mark or impressions it called as pugmarks (paw marks). In simple terms, pugmarks refer to the footprints of almost all the animals. 

Every individual animal species have distinct pugmarks and numerous features contained in it can be used to support the identification of an animal.  Many people have learned to read wildlife pugmarks with a remarkable skill for hunting purposes.

 

Pugmarks are produced under the following circumstance:

 

The impressions of the pug may be caused in mud, dust, sand, and snow or similar surfaces. These impressions will be depressed or three-dimensional type and these are known as sunken pug mark impressions. These type of pug marks are most commonly found.

If the pug mark is produced by deposition of material like dust, dirt, blood, colored powdery substance, etc., on hard and smooth surfaces, giving rise to a two-dimensional print, which is called surface pug mark.

Pugmarks may also be produced by lifting dust or liquid material in which case a negative print will be left on the surface.

The different species of animals, especially the large carnivores that are traditionally tracked with the help of pugmarks are divided into two broad categories:

The members of the ‘Dog family’ or the ‘Canidae’ that typically move and hunt in packs often walking long distances in a file. In the members of this family, the claw marks are usually noticeable in front of the toe pads. As compared to the heel pad the toes are larger which helps them to run down the prey and the gap between the top of the heel pad and the two middle toes is evidently more than what is found in cats (hyenas is an exception). The front points of the two middle toes occur side by side (aligned).[1]

The members of the ‘Cat family’ or the ‘Felids’ that lead a solitary existence, depending on stealth for hunting down prey. They are acceptable climbers and some like the leopards take their hunt to a tree for abstaining from poaching by different carnivores. The claws or nails are hardly ever visible, the soft heel pad is comparatively larger (to encourage stealth) and the middle toes are put nearer to the pad. The middle toes of the felids are at different levels, especially for the hind paws.[1]

Mostly the large carnivores leave the soft padded four-toed pugmarks in the jungle.

Pugmarks are the marks which are left by different animal’s species while they are walking, running, or moving from one place to another place. Pugmarks refer to the footprints of most animals’ species. “PUG” also means foot in Hindi. Pugmarks of some animals are denoted by some different terms. Pugmarks denote “paw print” of most feline animals for e.g. like dog, cat, etc. Herbivore footprints are called as hoofmark. Some of the herbivore animals are like cow, goat, buffalo etc. Mostly the footprints of tigers are termed as pugmarks. Every animal species has different type of pugmark and this factor can be used for their identification purpose. Through pugmark it is not only possible to identify the animals, but also identify its sex whether it is male or female, age, and its size is also possible to identify accurately.

 

The pugmarks of different animal are different they are not same. Each of the pugmark has its own unique individual characteristic and class characteristic which help in differentiating from other groups of animals .Pugmark can also be examined in forensic science as it can provide reliable data of presence of different species in the area of study, population of the species, sex ratio, etc

Pugmark plays a major role in identifying a given specific animal in terms of sex, age or size as well as total accuracy of the given individual species. Pugmark denotes "paw print" of most feline animals. Herbivore foot prints are called as hoofmark (Deer, Antelope) or simply foot print (Elephant). Every specific individual has its own distinct pugmark and as such, this is used for identification purposes.

The best example is the tiger census programme which is completely based on pugmark technology. The method is simple and easy to count the animal in a very special manner, sometimes bias may happens. Camera trapping, Scat analysis or GIS application are the new advance formula for getting total occupancy in a given forest environment. Similarly, pug-mark is also helpful in tracking those animals that are stray away from the boundary areas, conflicting with the human environment or create problems of their own because of injury.

India has both an All India Wild Animal Census, and a formal tiger census. On top of this, most National Parks carry out their own count each year. The All India Wild Animal Census takes place every four years and this is going on this year (2005) in May. In Tiger Reserves the formal tiger census is carried out every two years in a massive way.

 

Study of Wildlife Population (Census) / Pugmark-based population monitoring:

The population of the remaining rare animals in the forests needs to be protected. An animal footprint is the unique identity of the animal world. There are several techniques available to study animal behaviour. This method is a safe and brilliant way to spot the presence of an animal in a place. The main objective of the wildlife census is to find out the density of the population of the species and to procure basic data for its management.

(6) The pugmark is also helpful in estimating time when an animal moved and direction in which the animal traveled. The major problem with pugmark impressions based on the identification of species includes is an undetectable footprint on hard surfaces and sometimes these footprint sites are often contaminated by the presence of other animals. Undetectable pugmarks and erosions by the other animals in pugmarks analysis are the major limitations in the field of wildlife forensic. If pugmarks analysed skilfully and lawfully, they can provide reliable data.

 

Equipment:

The principal requirement of the census is the detection and record of tiger pugmarks. The equipment necessary is a tiger tracer, sketch pen, tracing paper, field note book and ball pen, prescribed census format, topographic counting unit/beat map, a large scale range map showing counting units, a two metre tape, plastic mug, plaster of paris and a water bottle. field compass, etc.

 Digital pugmark technology (DPT) is another new terminology based on the theory of pugmark technology. The method is used for estimating the specific individual species using statistical approach. Each animal leaves a particular set of pugmark while walking.

 

Shannon Diversity Index: Definition & Example

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The Shannon Diversity Index (sometimes called the Shannon-Wiener Index) is a way to measure the diversity of species in a community.

Denoted as H, this index is calculated as:

H = -Σp_i * ln(p_i)

where:

·         Σ: A Greek symbol that means “sum”

·         ln: Natural log

·         p_i: The proportion of the entire community made up of species i

The higher the value of H, the higher the diversity of species in a particular community. The lower the value of H, the lower the diversity. A value of H = 0 indicates a community that only has one species.

The Shannon Equitability Index is a way to measure the evenness of species in a community. The term “evenness” simply refers to how similar the abundances of different species are in the community.

Denoted as E_H, this index is calculated as:

E_H = H / ln(S)

where:

·         H: The Shannon Diversity Index

·         S: The total number of unique species

This value ranges from 0 to 1 where 1 indicates complete evenness.

The following step-by-step example shows how to calculate the Shannon Diversity Index and the Shannon Equitability Index for a given community.

Step 1: Collect the Data

Suppose a biologist wants to measure the diversity of species in a local forest. She collects the following data:

Step 2: Calculate the Proportions

Next, the biologist can calculate the proportion of the community made up of each species.

For example, there are a total of 105 individuals and 40 are classified as species A. Thus, species A makes up 40 /105 =  0.38 of the total community.

She can perform a similar calculation for each species:

                  

Step 3: Calculate the Natural Log of the Proportions

Next, she can calculate the natural log of each proportion:

              

                      

Step 4: Multiply the Proportions by the Natural Log of the Proportions

Next, she can multiply the proportions by the natural log of the proportions:

                        

                           

Step 5: Calculate the Shannon Diversity Index

Lastly, she can use the following formula to calculate the Shannon Diversity Index:

H = -Σp_i * ln(p_i)

For this example, she can take the sum of the last column and multiply by negative one:

 

The Shannon Diversity Index for this community is 1.49.

She can also use the following formula to calculate the Shannon Equitability Index:

E_H = H / ln(S)

For this example, there are S = 5 total species, so see can calculate this index to be:

E_H = 1.49 / ln(5) = 0.92.