The forest department will install 30 camera traps at strategic locations inside Dalma Wildlife Sanctuary, around 30km from here, to monitor animal movement and curb the felling of trees.

The cameras, have already been dispatched to the Dalma range office and are kept at a staff quarter near the entrance to the sprawling 192sqkm elephant abode at Makulakocha.

Dalma divisional forest officer C.M.P. Sinha said the cameras would be installed within a month.

“We will shortly decide on the strategic locations where cameras would be put up. Cameras will be helpful in keeping tabs on the movement of animals,” he said.

A camera trap is a remotely activated gadget equipped with a motion sensor or an infrared sensor. Camera trapping is used to capture wild animals on film when researchers are not present and has been helpful in ecological research for decades.

The battery-operated cameras have compact discs (CDs) for recording animal movement.

“We can easily watch the movement of animals on our monitors via the recordings in the CDs,” the DFO said, adding cameras will also help foresters check the felling of trees to a large extent.

A forester said Badka Bandh, Chotka Bandh and Bijli Ghati — the watering holes inside the sanctuary — were among the locations where the cameras would be set up.

“A decision on other locations was yet to be taken,” he said, adding that the gadgets will be tied to the trees.

According to him, there are gangs active in felling trees inside the sanctuary and trap cameras will be handy in tightening vigil against such illegal activity.

“The large area of the sanctuary makes it practically impossible to keep a watch on the movement of animals, including elephants,” the forester said while highlighting the need for camera traps.

Though Dalma authorities have recruited trackers (village youths working as daily wagers to keep a watch on the movement of animals), they can’t cover the entire area of the sanctuary.