JAIPUR: A Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, team is currently at the Sariska national park. It will try to change the VHS radio collar of male tiger ST-4 that has become defunct for quite some time.
According to forest department officials, "A two-member team from the WII has been in the park for some time. They will try to tranquillise the male tiger in a day or two. We are changing the radio collar of ST-4. It has been defunct for quite some time and we are not receiving signals from it," they said.
Initially, the plans were to replace the collar of tigress ST-2 that has not been working well, but officials said it has now started functioning and will not be replaced immediately.
"In case of ST-2 we will also have to be more careful and there are chances of the tigress being pregnant and in that case tranquillising it will not advisable," officials said.
However, what remains intriguing is lack of effort of the department in introducing satellite collars for tigers. Satellite collars send constant signals no matter where the tigers are as against VHS collars that often stop signals when tigers stray far go into valleys. However, the cost of satellite collars are more than VHS ones.
Union minister for forest and environment Jairam Ramesh, during one of his visit to Sariska after the death of male tiger ST-1, had also suggested use of satellite collars despite their costs. He had even instructed Rajesh Gopal, director, National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), but the move seems to have no takers.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/jaipur/WWI-team-in-Sariska-to-change-male-tigers-collar/articleshow/8075938.cms
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