TDP News Desk
Itanagar, Apr 11: Camera traps installed at Pakke Wildlife Sanctuary & Tiger Reserve have detected the presence of nine big cats, ETV Bharat reported. The latest data comes after the completion of the 2023–24 camera trapping exercise at the sanctuary located at Seijosa in Pakke-Kessang district along the Assam border.
Divisional Forest Officer Satyaprakash Singh was quoted by ETV Bharat that analysis of the footage showing big cat movements is currently underway. He said the sanctuary maintains 38 anti-poaching camps staffed by forest workers to ensure 24x7 vigilance against poaching activities.
Singh said that seven tigers were recorded in the reserve in 2023, while this year's monitoring exercise confirmed the presence of nine tigers. The Phase IV monitoring was conducted across all ranges of the reserve, including Seijosa, Tippi, and Rilloh wildlife ranges. However, only data from Seijosa and Tippi wildlife ranges were used to estimate the tiger population.
Intensive camera trapping was also carried out in the Rilloh range, in collaboration with the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), as part of their Asiatic Black Bear Population Survey. Covering a sampling zone of 600 sq km, 230 camera traps were installed at 150 locations, accounting for 6,750 trap nights.
Singh said that following a 45-day closure period during the session, nine unique individual tigers were recorded, comprising five females, three males, and one cub.
In addition to tigers, the cameras captured a diverse range of other wildlife, including common leopards (both common and melanistic forms), clouded leopards, marbled cats, leopard cats, golden cats, binturongs, Asiatic black bears, Chinese pangolins, wild dogs, and small carnivores such as the large Indian civet, small Indian civet, and yellow-throated marten. Prey species such as sambar, barking deer, wild pig, gaur, elephants, capped langurs, Assamese macaques, brush-tailed porcupines, smooth-clawed otters, red junglefowls, and khaleej pheasants were also recorded.
Singh further noted that the small-toothed ferret badger was captured on camera for the first time from the Rilloh range during the 2023–24 trapping session, adding to the growing list of documented species in Pakke Tiger Reserve.
