Poaching is one of the major issues in the protection of wild animals. Discuss how can real-time monitoring of animals help in tackling poaching as well reduce instances of man-animal conflict.

India is home to a variety of species including some rare species, however, because of the hunting and illegal trade, some of the species are on the brink of extinction.
Recently in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, a ‘video surveillance-cum-communication enhancer intranet network,’ has been installed, to monitor animal movements and forest areas in real time. Such surveillance system will allow the designated officers to monitor animal movements and inaccessible terrains in real time using smartphones. Solar panels are used to provide power supply to the surveillance network. The camera can provide 360 degrees view and can be tilted to cover a wide range of field.
Such monitoring will help in reducing man-animal conflict as based on movement wildlife authorities can track them. Also, such surveillance will help in reducing instances of illegal trade and hunting.
Similarly, drones are used in some selected tiger reserves of the country. Such drones will not only help in monitoring the tigers but will also help in collection and transmission of visual data on animal movements in human zones, poaching activities and instances of the forest fire.
The issue of poaching is serious as it not only affects animals but affects the entire ecosystem. India is a prime hub for wildlife trafficking because of poor law enforcement mechanism and lack of coordination among authorities. With the help of technological solutions like drones, radio collar, cameras not only poaching but the instances of man-animal conflict can be drastically reduced. This will help in better management of wildlife.

Topics: GS-III: Conservation Environmental Pollution Degradation