Training programme for wildlife staff conducted in Kashmir

Srinagar, June 30: Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in collaboration with the Department of Wildlife Protection (DWP), Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) has been working on Markhor and Hangul  recovery projects in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

Various anthropogenic activities like the construction of roads, linear intrusions, power lines, army settlements on the borders, heavy livestock grazing and poaching has caused a disastrous impact on the habitats and populations of Markhor and Hangul.

To reduce the threats in the area, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) in partnership with the Department of Wildlife Protection Jammu & Kashmir (UT) and with due support from Astral Foundation and the Serenity Trust, conducted a one-day capacity-building programme for the Markhor and Hangul watchers and training of frontline staff.

WTI trained 45 frontline staff for important facets of anti-grazing patrolling and wildlife monitoring data collection techniques. The underlying purpose was to reduce the grazing pressure and conduct effective monitoring of Wildlife and its habitats.

The role of the “Markhor and Hangul Watchers” is to support WTI and the DWP, J&K in monitoring the animal movements and reporting and controlling any illegal activity in the concerned areas.

"We trained the teams on how to collect and share information on wildlife movements and also introduced them to important facets of identifying hoof marks, scats, pellets, and other indirect methods to identify a species’ presence during the patrolling surveys. We also trained them on how to use GPS devices and deploy camera traps."

While boosting the morale of the Markhor watchers during her session, Dr Tanushree Srivastava (Manager and Head, J&K, WTI) emphasised on the importance of such patrolling sessions in keeping a check on the wildlife crime-related activities as well.