Tiger census begins in Similipal Tiger Reserve

Tiger census work has started in Similipal Tiger Reserve (STR) in Odisha along with a ban on entry of tourists till the end of this month, a senior official said today.
The counting of tigers, which began yesterday, is being carried on with camera trap and pug mark methods, Deputy Director of STR, Ajit Satpathy said.
As many as 500 cameras are already installed inside the sanctuary area spread over 250 locations and 9,000 Plaster of Paris pads (PIP) were being prepared to take the identification marks of the big cats.
A total number of 135 teams were formed comprising a forest guard and two protection assistant official in each of them, Satpathy said.

The cameras capturing the movement of the tigers would be stored in the database for every five days duration to determine their population, he told.
The PIP method was invented by late Saroj Raj Chowdhury, an erstwhile field director of STR, to count the tiger population which was later widely used by researchers in the neighboring countries too.