india

Updated: Apr 18, 2020 20:12 IST

The Wildlife Institute of India (WII) is banking on an app called ‘Lockdown Wildlife Tracker’ that collects data of wildlife movement through human habitation during the lockdown period and which can help in wildlife conservation and management in the long run.

It has been about a week since the app was launched and is mostly being used by officials.

Dhananjai Mohan, director of WII said the application has been developed to track movement of wildlife during the lockdown. Videos of animal movements have been surfacing on social media from across the country since the app was launched amid the lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus.

“The data received on this application will help us learn more about movement of wildlife during the lockdown. This information is very critical in understanding the human-wildlife interface in the country. People can report sightings of animals in real time as well as at any later period and as it is GPS enabled, we will be able to understand the movement better,” said Mohan.

But he cautioned wildlife enthusiasts not to venture out to take photos or videos of wild animals during the lockdown period. They should do that from the balconies and windows of their homes and not violate lockdown, he said.

Once the lockdown is lifted, a national and state wise data will be released by the institute based on patterns of the animals’ movements.

At present, the application can be downloaded from the website of WII, using the link https://wii.gov.in/lockdown_wildlife_tracker, and it will soon be available on Google Play store also.

After downloading the application, one can upload photos along with GPS location of their sightings Officials said that this free to use application makes it convenient to keep track of what one sees, while making the data available for further analysis and interpretation.

“Lockdown Wildlife Tracker app shall be available for download from Google Play store in a couple of days with more options, especially the bilingual version. After the lockdown period Wildlife Institute of India will share the data with the respective States and shall also come with detailed State Specific Reports and National Report.

“The information collected as a part of this initiative during the lockdown phase shall help in wildlife conservation and management in the long run,” added the director.

The important features of the application are, recording wildlife sightings anytime and from anywhere, upload sightings with photographs, quick entry tools making the recording experience short and simple and GPS enabled entries of all sightings. Now, an app to track wildlife straying outside habitats during lockdown