Goa begins trials to establish tiger presence in its wild

The Goa Forest department will post-monsoon take up the exercise to establish presence of tigers in its wildlife sanctuaries, nestled in the Western Ghats, but the trials of the same have begun from today.
A senior forest department official told PTI that camera trapping method, through which the real time pictures of tigers are captured, is being used to prove the presence of tigers in the wildlife across Goa.
"The actual exercise would begin after monsoons this year but from today onwards we are holding the trials in the wildlife sanctuaries," Sanjay Waradkar, deputy conservator of forest (wildlife and eco-tourism), told PTI.

The cameras are installed at 15 different locations in Cotigao and Netravali wildlife sanctuaries, which cover a distance of 300 square kilometres in South Goa.
The cameras would remain placed there for five days, before shifting them to next spots in other wildlife sanctuaries, Waradkar said.
"After Cotigao and Netravali, the equipment (cameras) would be installed in Mhadei and Bhagwan Mahaveer wildlife sanctuaries," he added.
The exercise has come in the backdrop of Union Ministry of Environment and Forest asking the state government to submit its proposal to declare Mhadei Wildlife sanctuary as a tiger reserve.
The Union government's directives were received after the state forest department, a fortnight ago, captured images of a tigress in Mhadei wildlife sanctuary, further boosting the possibility of having more wild cats in the area, which is an integral part of the Western Ghats.