Balpakram – Meghalaya: To increase surveillance against the illegal logging in the Balpakram National Park in the north-east Indian state of Meghalaya, seven searchlights were provided to the forest staff to be used in night patrolling, an official said.

The searchlights are provided under the Wild Aid programme of the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI).

The Balpakram National Park along with Baghmara Reserve Forest and Siju Wildlife Sanctuary forms part of the South Garo Hills Elephant Reserve, home to over 500 Asiatic elephants. Other rare species are also found here.

Besides checking illegal logging, the searchlights will also help the patrol team to check elephant depredation at night, Dr. Sandeep Kr. Tiwari, Asst. Manager of WTI said.

The lights have a range of upto 500 meters for seeing objects at night and are battery operated.

Destruction of forest habitats and human habitation in forest land have forced the elephants to come in contact with humans. “Further, crop damage by elephants at night in some areas is a major source of conflict with the residents”, Dr. Tiwari said.

Other rare animals in the reserve include tiger (Panthera tigris), rhesus macaque (M. mulatto), capped langur (Presbytis pileata), hoolock gibbon (Hylobates hoolock), slow loris (Nycticebus coucang), wild dog (Cuon alpinus), Himalayan black bear (Selenarctos thibetanus), leopard (Panthera pardus), clouded leopard (P. nebulosa), Asiatic golden cat (Felis temmincki), wild boar (Sus scrofa), sambar (Cervus unicolor), Indian muntjac (Muntiacus muntjak), gaur (Bos gaurus), in addition to a wide variety of flora and avian species.

Of late, human activities in the reserve threatened the fragile eco-system, comprising vast areas of evergreen forest. The current initiative is to reinforce vigilance in the reserve.

Pix credit: Dr. Sandeep Kumar Tiwari / WTI