From January 31, an exclusive leopard counting census in Assam’s forest and non-forest areas has been initiated by North Kamrup Forest Division in leopard density areas of Amingaon in Kamrup district.
Aim of the initiative by the Government:
This initiative has been taken by the Assam Government in order to reduce the chances of man-leopard conflicts in the state.
According to reports, camera-trapping will be used for the census with 50 cameras being installed in Sila Reserve Forest, Changsari, NIPER, AIIMS, etc.
Plans:
The camera trapping will be done for a period of 24 weeks and data from each camera will be extracted at an interval of every seven days which will take place from February 7 after the layout of the detailed plan.
Assam Forest Minister Parimal Suklabaidya took the initiative to its official Twitter handle where it wrote, ”The 24-week camera trapping census will be the first of its kind in Assam! Sustainable development remains our commitment with priority to wildlife conservation too!”
Execution program:
A one-week execution program has been planned by North Kamrup Forest Division during which verifying of camera traps, the study of maps, in-depth discussion with senior forest officials, volunteer participation plan, field survey, and target location selection will be held.
Urbanization and wildlife:
As the state is rapidly moving towards urbanization changing the composition of animal communities dynamically.
It is to be noted that urbanisation leads to habitat fragmentation, where larger continuous habitats are divided into smaller unconnected patches. It also causes habitat loss, through an increase in roads and buildings that are not producing any biomass. This exposes wildlife to new man-made stress. Physiological and ecological constraints affect organisms directly, but also change host-parasite and predator-prey interactions.
Prolonged chronic physiological stress caused by air, noise and light pollution, or low food quality could affect susceptibility to parasites and disease. Animals’ body condition and immune function can be altered as a result.
