Underpasses a boon for wildlife in R’bhore

Jaipur: A special study conducted in Ranthambore on the instructions of Pawan Upadhyay, Chief Wildlife Warden and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, on the utility of underpasses under highways and other roads to minimise wild animals dying in road accidents, has yielded positive results.

FD Anup KR, DCF Dr Ramanand Bhakar, Field Biologist Hari Mohan Meena, GIS and Data Security Expert Vivek Raj and Forest Staff conducted the study in which 23 camera traps were installed under various underpasses on Sawai Madhopur and Sheopur Highways.

From April 15 to May 3, about 3,417 photos were obtained from these traps which showed four tigers on four different routes. The tigers used Neem Chowki, Rajbagh, Kushalipura and Bodal underpasses. Tigress T 127 used Rajbagh and Neem Chowki, Tigress T 8 Kushalpura, Tigress T 108 Bodal and Tigress T 2401 Kushalpura underpass. Other animals using the underpass include leopards, hyenas, desert cats, golden jackals, Asian palm civets, sloth bears and more. The study shows that the construction of the underpass has reduced the threat to wildlife and has paved the way for more such underpasses in other tiger reserves.