The Bengal forest department has deferred the tiger census planned for this month because of a shortage of trap cameras in the plains and sub-zero temperatures in the hills.
Earlier, it was decided that the Gorumara wildlife division of the department, along with the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), would conduct the census from February 18 to 20 in the Gorumara National Park and the Chapramari Wildlife Sanctuary.
The exercise was scheduled to take place in the Neora Valley National Park in Kalimpong district later this month. The Neora Valley park also falls under the jurisdiction of the Gorumara division.
Dwijapratim Sen, the divisional forest officer of the Gorumara wildlife division, said that the temperature in Neora Valley was currently below freezing and the threat of Himalayan black bears posed additional risk.
“Once the cold subsides, survey teams will install camera traps at altitudes of up to 10,500 feet and will conduct trekking-based surveys. The survey will also focus on identifying tiger habitats, as well as movement corridors connecting Neora Valley with Bhutan and Sikkim,” he said.
Before the onset of winter, 80 trap cameras were installed in the dense forests of Neora Valley.
“In Gorumara and Chapramari, installation of 60 cameras is in progress. We were supposed to get another 45 cameras from the Jaldapara National Park, but they have not arrived yet. We will source such cameras from Sundarbans after the census is completed there. Once these cameras are fitted, the census will be conducted in these two reserve forests,” Sen added.
Sources said though the tiger census in Neora Valley was planned to be conducted in February, the exercise would be taken up in April or May.
Although multiple photographs of tigers have been captured in the park through cellphones and camera traps since 2017, and scat samples were sent to the WII for analysis, the all-India tiger estimation report of 2022 did not officially record a single tiger in Neora Valley.