The state forest department has installed around 200 trap cameras across the Buxa Tiger Reserve (BTR) in Alipurduar to click photos of the royal Bengal tiger and other wild animals in winter.

During the past three years, photos of the big cat were clicked in the BTR in the winter months.

“We had installed some cameras earlier and this time, an additional 200 cameras have been fixed across the reserve area to click photos of tigers and other animals. These photos will help us make certain deductions about the population of tigers and wild animals and take certain decisions to conserve nature and wildlife,” said Apurba Sen, the field director of BTR.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) considers photographs as the final and most reliable proof of the presence of tigers in a reserve forest area.

“In the BTR, the NTCA has planned a tiger relocation programme for which it is necessary to improve habitat and prey base for tigers. These cameras will help us make our assessments,” said a forester.

According to him, after 45 days of installation of these new cameras, they will check each camera to see the photos clicked by it.

“After that, the locations of some cameras will be changed. The idea is to cover the maximum area in the reserve rotationally so that no stretch is left unattended,”he added.

Earlier, along with the tiger, photos of other cat species like the Melanistic leopard, the Indian dhol, the clouded leopard and the yellow-throated Himalayan Marten were also clicked inthe BTR.

“To estimate the population of these animals, we conduct transact survey (or direct sighting along a specific stretch), carnivore sign survey (pugmarks, scratches and scat) and camera rapping survey. The results are then collated and sent to authorities concerned for the estimation of numbers,” said theforest official.