^{‘Shyamu’ moving about his home range with the satellite collar}

Udanti Wildlife Sanctuary, March 23, 2017: Working in collaboration with the Chhattisgarh Forest Department, Wildlife Trust of India’s Central India Wild Buffalo Conservation Project team successfully deployed satellite collars on two wild buffaloes (Bubalus arnee) and one gaur (Bos gaurus) this week.

The need to deploy the satellite collars was an urgent one; the free-ranging wild buffaloes had proven difficult to properly monitor, moving about as they were between Udanti WLS, Sitanadi WLS and the adjoining forests of Odisha. Even the trained and experienced trackers associated with the project had found monitoring them a difficult exercise, especially during the monsoons.

The need to deploy satellite collars was urgent as the free-ranging wild buffaloes had proven difficult to monitor, especially during the monsoons

The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh had agreed in principle to the collaring operation during the 6^th Chhattisgarh State Wildlife Advisory Board Meeting, following which the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC) and Chief Wildlife Warden, Chhattisgarh granted permission for collaring two wild buffaloes and a gaur.

Having commenced intensive monitoring of the free-ranging wild buffaloes in the lead-up, WTI and the forest department began the operation on March 18. A core team comprising Mr SK Singh, IFS, APCCF (WL), Government of Chhattisgarh; Mr OP Yadav, IFS, Field Director, Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve; Mr V Vivekanand Reddy, IFS, Deputy Director, Udanti-Sitanadi Tiger Reserve; Dr NVK Ashraf, Senior Director & Chief Veterinarian, WTI; Dr Rajendra Mishra, Project Head, WTI; Dr JK Jadia, Veterinarian, Nandanvan Zoo, Chhattisgarh; and Dr PK Chandan, Veterinarian, Kanan Pendari Zoo, Chhattisgarh, planned and conducted the operation with the additional expertise of Dr Markus Hofmeyr, Head Veterinarian, South Africa National Parks (SANParks), who had previously assisted WTI in its pioneering eastern swamp deer translocation in Assam.

^{Dr Hofmeyr deploys the satellite collar on ‘Shyamu’}

Dr Hofmeyr darted the first wild buffalo, ‘Jugadu’, at 4pm on March 18 in Forest Compartment 06 of Udanti WLS. The buffalo, a male, was collared within 30 minutes and blood samples were taken. Dr Hofmeyr darted ‘Shyamu’, another free-ranging male at 3pm the next day in Compartment 81; the animal was collared within 35 minutes and a minor injury on his neck treated. The gaur, also an adult male, was darted and collared near a waterhole in Compartment 81 as well. All the collared animals are successfully being tracked through their collars; they are reported to be healthy and are moving about their home ranges as usual.

Wildlife Trust of India’s Central India Wild Buffalo Conservation Project aims to stabilise the critically endangered wild buffalo population in Udanti and Sitanadi Wildlife Sanctuaries by implementing a number of ex situ and in situ interventions. The project is being implemented in partnership with the Chattisgarh Forest Department, with support from Oracle.

^{The collaring team with local trackers associated with WTI’s Central India Wild Buffalo Conservation Project}