Calcutta: Phone-based patrolling has been introduced in the buffer zone of the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve in an attempt to minimise chances of conflict between tigers and other animals and humans.

The core area of the tiger reserve has been witnessing phone-based patrolling - or e-patrolling - for some time.

Officials said the introduction of the patrolling in the buffer zone in March will help forest guards prevent animals, especially tigers, from straying into human settlements. A village in the Sunderbans is usually separated from the buffer zone by a river.

As part of e-patrolling a team sends a text message to a common forum of the forest department, monitored round-the-clock, as soon as it spots a tiger. The message contains details about the tiger's location.

If a tiger is spotted in the buffer zone - poised to enter a village - the forest department will deploy its staff at the earliest to push the big cat back into its terrain.

"Usually, multiple teams are on surveillance duty and the teams closest to the spot where a tiger has been located will be pressed into action," an official in the forest department said.

S. Kulandaivel, joint director of the Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve, termed the strategy "soft push".

"We won't cause any harm to the tiger. Three-four vessels will line up at a distance from the tiger. Seeing the vessels, the tiger will retreat into its terrain," he said.

The Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve includes the tiger reserve - or the core area - and the buffer zone, which lies between the tiger reserve and human settlements. The term "tiger terrain" loosely refers to the area comprising the core area and the buffer zone.

"There is a demarcated area that the forest department considers as the tiger terrain," Kulandaivel said.

Joydeep Kundu, general secretary of SHER, an NGO working to minimise human-wildlife conflict in the Sunderbans, explained how the e-patrolling would bring about a positive change.

"Earlier, an employee on field duty would write down the location of a sighting at the field office at the end of his shift. The record book would reach senior officials after several days," he said.

With the introduction of e-patrolling, news of a sighting is being immediately posted on a common platform, which is being monitored continuously.

"If a tiger is sighted close to a village on two or three consecutive days, one or more vessels will be deployed close to the spot to prevent the animal from straying into the village," Kundu said.

In the Sunderbans, teams patrol on large vessels (which that can accommodate 10-15 men each), medium-sized vessels (which can carry up to eight people each) and small boats (ideal for a four or five-member team).

The mangroves also have a 96km-long nylon net fencing, which has reduced the incidence of tigers straying into villages over the past decade.

An independent conservation worker welcomed the forest department move but also sounded a note of caution: "Only a few days ago, the forest department had miserably failed to protect a tiger in the Lalgarh forests. Let's hope the department will improve its efficiency."