“M- STrIPES” - Global Tiger Initiative

“M- STrIPES”
Monitoring System for Tigers – Intensive
Protection & Ecological Status
Field Protocols & Customized Software for Analysis, Mapping & Inference
National Tiger Conservation Authority
Wildlife Institute of India
Zoological Society of London
World Wide Fund for Nature - India

Aims
• Assist in Effective Patrolling & Protection
• Evaluate Status & Trends of Carnivores &
Ungulates at Regular Intervals
• Monitor Habitat Change
• Evaluate Human Pressures
• Generate Reports to Provide Quantitative
Information for Management Effectiveness
Assessment and Decision Making

System Features
• Provide user friendly Field Protocols (inc training
and material material, data quality control) control), Data Storage and
Report Generating Tool
• Administered and maintained at protected areas areas,
landscapes, States and NTCA
• CCaptures t ddetailed t il d iinformation f ti on population l ti status t t
and trends, animal mortality, illegal activity, human
pressures pressures, patrol effort effort, habitat status for monitoring
and guiding management
• Provides a comprehensive GIS and statistical tool for
processing and reporting information needed for
conservation and management purposes

Protection
MM-STrIPES STrIPES
Field Protocols
Software
Data Entry, Entry Storage Storage, Retrieval
Ecological
Analytical Engine
Statistical, Spatial, Trends, etc.
Output
Reports, Maps
Adaptive Management Informed Decision Making

Field Protocols & Equipment q p
Patrol Data collection
• Routine / Anti-poaching / Investigation Patrol
• GPS Units (or ( PDA’s) ) and Data Collection Forms
• TTraining i i of f Tiger Ti Reserve R Staff St ff in i Data D t Collection C ll ti and d Software S ft
Entry

Field Protocols & Equipment q p
Ecological (Phase I) Data collection
– Carnivore Sign Survey
– Ungulate Line Transect
– Human Pressure Assessment on Plots on Transects
– Ungulate Dung on Plots on Transects
– Habitat Status on Plots on Transects
• Fixed Location PIP’s for Tigers (min. 5 in each beat monitored once
a week) k)
• GPS Units (or PDA’s) and Data Collection Forms
• Training of Tiger Reserve Staff in Data Collection and Software
Entry

SSampling li AArea
Road & Drainage network in a Beat, Satpura Tiger Reserve
Road
Drainage

Tiger g / Carnivore Sign g Surveyy
Intensive search for
tiger / carnivore sign
3-5 searches each
of f48k 4-8 km
Minimum 15 km
search in most likely
areas in each Beat
Record distance
covered and time
spent tiin each hsearch h

Ungulate Encounter Rates
�Establish line
transect 22-4km(or 4 km (or
seg. >2 km) in
each beat.
�Walk early
morning. g Count
no. of each species,
group size, young
of fthe h year.

Matkuli
Vegetation of Matkuli Range, Satpura Tiger
Satpura Vegetation Map with Beat Boundary BoundaryReserve Reserve
Transects Occuring in Beats, Satpura Tiger Reserve

Human Disturbance Survey
�Along every 400m
on established
transect
�List �List signs of wood
cutting, lopping,
grass cutting cutting, human
trails within 15m
radius

Ungulate Pellet
CCounts t
�At every 400m
plot along the
line transect
sample a 2 by b
20 m strip.
�Classify and
count ungulate
pellets to
species (wild
& domestic) )

PIP

Data Sheet-6
Patrol Form
Name of Guard: …….…. Date: ………………… Forest Division…………..……
Range: ……………………. Beat: …………………
No. of Persons on Patrol:….. ……… Armed……………. Unarmed…………………..
Patrol Type: General Duties, Investigations, Surveillance, Others
Patrol Method: Foot, Jeep, Motorbike, Bicycle, Elephant and Others
Dat
a
Ti
me
D
eg
Lat Long Anima
M
in
Se
c
D
e
g
Mi
n
S
e
c
Plac
e
l
speci
es
seen
Gro
up
size
seen
Ty
pe
Illegal Activities Animal Mortality Records
Time
elapse
d
M – Male, F – Female, Un – Unknown, Y – Young, Ad – Adult.
Detail
s
Actio
n
take
n
Species
Gender
(M/F/Un)
Age
(Y/Ad/Un)
Carcass state
Cause
of death
Sample
s taken

tblTransectSamplePre
tblTransectPlot
An entity relationship diagram
tblTransectSampleHabitat
tblState
tblDivision
tblRange
tblBeat tblCompartment
tblTransect
tblTransectSample
tblTransectSampleHabitatSpecies
tblTransectSampleUngulateDun
tblTransectSampleHumanDisturbance
tblPlot
tblPlotSample
tblPlotSampleAnimalSig

Patrolling Intensity & Spatial Coverage in Corbett TR

Spatial Mapping and Trends of Illegal
Activities

Encounterrs
per km patrolled p
Snare
018 0.18
0.16
0.14
0.12
0.1
008 0.08
0.06
0.04
0.02
0
Patrolling Intensity VS Illegal
Activities
0 002 0.02 004 0.04 006 0.06 008 0.08 01 0.1 012 0.12 014 0.14 016 0.16 018 0.18 02 0.2
Patrolling Intensity (km/100 sq.km)

Human Disturbance in Corbett Tiger Reserve

Species Distribution, Status & Trends

Tiger Sign Encounters
(Beats of Corbett Tiger Reserve 2006)

Tiger Sign Encounters
(Beats of Corbett Tiger Reserve 2009)

System y Process
• Computes adequacy y of sampling g effort and
advises to sample more if required statistical
power p is not achieved
• Conduct Spatially Paired Statistical Comparisons
• CConduct d t TTrend d AAnalysis l i (R (Regression) i )
• Interpret Results at Appropriate Spatial Scales
(Beat, range, 10x10 km Grid, Circle and State)
both Statistically y and Biologically g y
• Output User Friendly Results as Maps and
Tables

System Output – Tiger Status Change in Corbett

Tables for Carnivore Occupancy Estimates
Spatial
Scale
Occupancy estimates (Season / Year)
Tiger g Leopard p Dhole Hyena y Etc…
Beat ID-1 0.10 0.09 0.10 0.09 …
Beat ID-2 0.12 0.05 0.12 0.05 …
Beat ID ID-33 007 0.07 009 0.09 007 0.07 009 0.09 …
Beat ID-4 0.06 0.34 0.06 0.34 …
Beat ID-5 0.03 0.23 0.03 0.23 …
Beat ID ID-66 018 0.18 014 0.14 018 0.18 014 0.14 …

Tables for Changes in Carnivore Occupancy
Spatial
SScale l
Change in Occupancy
(Year ( 1 – Year 2) )
Tiger Leopard Dhole Hyena Etc…
Range 1 ↓ ↔ ↓ ↓ …
Range 2 ↔ ↑ ↔ ↓ …
Range 3 ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ …
Range 4 ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ …
Range 5 ↔ ↔ ↔ ↔ …
↓ = > -20% negative change
↑ = > +20% positive change
↔ = > no significant change
- = no sighting data

Applications
• Monitoring population status, trends, and spatial
occupancy
• Mapping of illegal activities and their trends
• Guiding Park Management for patrolling - spatially and
intensity
• Mapping and trend analysis of human impacts
• Understanding interrelations between above parameters
• Export of data for in-depth analysis in desired format
• Entry, Analysis, Interpretation, and use of Phase I data at
field level
• Ready reports at desired spatial & temporal scales and for
evaluating management effectiveness and guiding
decision and policy making

THANKS !

Tiger Occupied Landscape
Complexes
Out of 500,000 km 2 Surveyed about 300,000 of potential
Tiger Habitat Remains in India 2006-07
Shivalik
Terai
Central
India
Western
Ghats EEastern t
Ghats
NNorth th
-East
Sunderbans
Only 93 000 km 2 in 2007 Occupied by about 14
Only 93,000 km 2 in 2007 Occupied by about 14
hundred Tigers

Data Sheet-1
Data Sheet for Tiger, Leopard & Other Carnivore Sign Encounter Rate
Observer Name: ______________________ Date: ________________Start Start Time:
______________________
End Time: ___________________________Begin GPS: Lat: ___________N, Long:___________E
Forest Division: ___________________ Range _______________ Beat________________
Total Kms. Walked: _________Km. Time Spent in any other activity______Min.
Sighting. No *Carnivore
SSpecies i
1.
2.
3.
4.
^Sign Type Forest Type Terrain Type Remarks
* Carnivore species to be recorded: tiger, leopard, wild dog, bear, hyena, wolf, jackal
^ Sign types to be recorded are pugmark (trails), scats (Old: dry with hairs and bones visible; fresh:
dry but intact with shiny surface; very fresh: soft moist, and smelly), scraps, scent marks (spray,
rolling), rake marks on trunks, vocalization (roaring), actual sighting.

Data Sheet-1
Data Sheet for Tiger, Leopard & Other Carnivore Sign Encounter Rate
Observer Name: ______________________ Date: ________________Start Start Time:
______________________
End Time: ___________________________Begin GPS: Lat: ___________N, Long:___________E
Forest Division: ___________________ Range _______________ Beat________________
Total Kms. Walked: _________Km. Time Spent in any other activity______Min.
Sighting. No *Carnivore
SSpecies i
1.
2.
3.
4.
^Sign Type Forest Type Terrain Type Remarks
* Carnivore species to be recorded: tiger, leopard, wild dog, bear, hyena, wolf, jackal
^ Sign types to be recorded are pugmark (trails), scats (Old: dry with hairs and bones visible; fresh:
dry but intact with shiny surface; very fresh: soft moist, and smelly), scraps, scent marks (spray,
rolling), rake marks on trunks, vocalization (roaring), actual sighting.

Data Sheet-2
Encounter Rate on Line Transects
Observer name: .................................... Start time: .................................
......................................................
Date:
End time: ............................................ ID no. of line transect: .............
………………………km
Total length:
Forest circle: ........................................ Forest division: ..........................
....................................................
Range:
Beat: ..................................................... Transect forest type: .................
...........................
Transect terrain type:
Weather condition: Cloudy/Clear sky
………........................................E
Beginning GPS Lat: ................N; Long:
End GPS Lat: ...................................N; Long: ......................................E
Sight
1
2
3
ing
Tim
e
Species
*
Total Nos.
(Adults &
No Young)
Youn
g
Forest Type Terrain Type Remarks

Data Sheet-3B
Human Disturbance
NName of f Ob Observer: …………………. DDate: t ………………… FForest t Division………………….
Di i i
Range: ………………………………… Beat: ………………… ID No. of Line Transect: ………
Plot
Human Disturbances
No.
1
2
3
4
5
Wood
Cutting
(No (No. of trees
cut)
Lopping Grass/
(No. of trees Bamboo
lopped) Cutting
(Yes/No)
Presence of
Human/Livestock/Tra
il
(Yes/No)
People Seen
(Yes/No)
Livestock Latitud
Seen e
(Yes/No) (D (D,M,S, M S
North)
Are there any permanent human settlements in the beat? (Yes/No) If Yes how many? Approximate human population
Are there any permanent human settlements in the beat? (Yes/No). If Yes, how many?_____. Approximate human population___________,
Approximate livestock population _______ Cattle, _______ Goat/Sheep, _______ Other Livestock.
Is there NTFP collection in the beat____ Yes/No. If yes, what NTFP is collected_____________, __________, ___________, ___________,
Rate NTFP collection on a scale of 0-4, 0-No to 4-Very high_______________, _______________, _______________, ______________.
Longitud
e
(D (D,M,S, M S
East)

Data Sheet-4
Pellet Counts of Ungulates
NName of f Ob Observer: …………………. DDate: t ………………… FForest t Division………………….
Di i i
Range: ………………………………… Beat: ………………… ID No. of Line Transect: ………
Type
Plot
NO NO. Forest
1
2
3
4
5
*Present
/ Ab Absent t
F
Terrain
Type
Chital
Sambar
Wild Pig
Nilgai
Gaur
Barasingha
B
Barking
Deer
Hog Deer
Chinkara
Chowsingha
C
*Based on your personal knowledge mention if the species occurs in the beat irrespective of whether its dung was recorded or not.
1. Do goat/sheep graze the sampled area ? Yes / No
2. In case pellets are obtained in large piles then these could be categorized into the following categories:
No. of Pellets Category
50-100 A
100-200 B
>200 C
Mouse M deer
Hare
Blackbuck B
Wild W buffalo
Elephant
Rhino
Langur
Cattle
Gooat
& Sheep
Othher
Domestic
livestock
Others/Unid.
O

Data Sheet-5
Track Plot for Carnivores and Mega Herbivores
Name of Observer: …………………. Date: ………………… Forest Division………………….
Range: ………………………………… Beat: ………………… ID No. of Track Plot: ………..…
Type
PIP orest
No.
1
2
3
4
5
Fo
Teerrain
Type
Tiger
Leopard
Sloth S Bear
Dhole
If tracks of young carnivores (eg. tiger cubs) are observed, please mention in remarks.
Hyena
Jackal
Small S Cat
Gaur
Remarks: ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Elephant
Rhino
Waater
Buffalo
Others
Others
Deg N
Min N
Sec N
Deg E
Min E
Sec E