Citizens roped in for bird survey in Maha's Pench Tiger Reserve
Nagpur (PTI): A bird survey is being conducted at the Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR) in Maharashtra as part of the "citizen science" model with an aim to create a baseline data of bird diversity and density, an official said.
More than 125 volunteers, in the age group of 18 to 74 years, from 11 states were participating in the three-day bird survey which began on Friday, PTR's deputy director Dr Prabhunath Shukla said in a release on Saturday.
Shukla claimed this was one of largest "citizen science" initiative in central India and the first in Maharashtra.
"The aim is to create a baseline data on bird diversity and density using the citizen science model. Citizen Science events are widely used in western countries and are recently being used in many parts of India to collaborate and contribute in large-scale data collection on various biodiversity surveys," he said.
"This gives a new discipline in changing the scientific landscape for scientific community and spread conservation awareness to a broader community," he said.
The participants, in groups of two to three members, were staying in forest protection camps. These teams will cover 78 beats of PTR, the release said.
The "adaptive reline transect" technique and point count method were being used to record bird diversity in the reserve, it said.
The data will be compiled on Kobo Collect App, where each bird sighting will be recorded with its name, number of individuals and its geo-location, Shukla said.
A baseline checklist of 310 species in the Pench Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra has already been created by the Central India Bird Academy, a Nagpur-based NGO, the release said.
The programme has been organised in collaboration with TINSA Ecological Foundation, an NGO involved in ecological research, it added.
The Pench Tiger Reserve is located across parts of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.
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Man kills 12-year-old nephew over property dispute in Karnataka’s Sindhanur
Sindhanur: A 12-year-old boy was killed and his mother seriously injured after a man allegedly attacked his elder brother’s family with a knife over a property dispute in Alabanur village of Sindhanur taluk on Wednesday morning.
The deceased has been identified as Nagaraj Siddappa Alvi (12). Amrutha Siddappa (42) sustained serious injuries in the attack. Police said the accused is Basavaraj Rudrappa Alvi, the younger brother of the victim boy’s father.
According to preliminary information, Basavaraj had arrived in Alabanur village on Tuesday and was staying at his mother’s house.
On Wednesday morning, he allegedly went to the house of his brother Siddappa carrying a knife. At the time, Siddappa’s wife Amrutha and children Nagaraj and Dhanush were present in the house.
Police said the accused allegedly attacked them with the knife. Nagaraj died in the incident, while Amrutha and Dhanush suffered serious injuries.
The injured were shifted to the government hospital in the city for treatment.
Deputy Superintendent of Police G. Chandrashekhar visited the spot and gathered information.
Sources said Chinnamma Rudrappa of Alabanur village has two sons Siddappa, who lives in Alabanur, and Basavaraj, who resides in Alliganur village of Siruguppa taluk.
Police suspect the long-standing property dispute between the two brothers led to the fatal attack.
