23d March
by Amit Kumar
The third day of our field training started with a morning assembly at the queen’s corner with tutors. Based on the previous day experience, we proceeded to the field to carry out a line transect as part of a distance sampling exercise.
Dr Bilal Habib, Dr. Bivash Pandav were the main tutors for field exercise. We were divided into three groups with one support field staff. Field information was recorded and we returned. We assembled in the lecture hall at 1000h where Sh Hemant Shekhavat DFO Jhalawar provided a brief history of Sariska, how it was established, its initial status as a game reserve and subsequent conservation success story. After a health break with tea and cookies, Dr Bilal freshened the concepts of camera trap & SECR that were dealt with online. The lecture was quite helpful as I could now better understand the concepts and procedures. He discussed the conceptual framework, procedure and sample Lincoln-Peterson estimation.
After lunch, Dr Bilal again discussed the utilization of data in Distance software for population estimation and subsequently dealt with occupancy estimate (Site covariance & Survey covariance) with lots of simple examples: Detection of disease in a wild population, preparation of occupancy map, finding animal density area wise.
In the evening there was a drastic change in weather with heavy rain and storm which compelled us to stay indoors. The day ended with a interactive session with Mr Hemant Shekhawat who shared his experience on managing animals in conflict. Today course schedule was quite exhaustive but in the end, I was satisfied to become a part of this training program as there was great learning. Thanks, team IWAH and thanks team Sariska Tiger Reserve.
