On account of World tiger’s day 2020 ,the nature club of kumaraguru College of technology in association with the Kumaraguru microcosm conducted a panel discussion on technology in wildlife conservation and research. The panel discussion was conducted on 29.07.2020 between 10 a.m and 12 p.m.

The keynote speakers were Dr.K.Ramesh, Scientist from WII-Dehradun ,Dr.R.Suresh Kumar, Scientist from WII-Dehradun and Dr.Lakshmi Narayanan , Wildlife biologist from WII-Dehradun. Mr. Saravanan Chandrasekaran, program manager of sustainability from Kumaraguru institutions hosted and moderated the panel discussion.

Dr. Suresh Kumar described about his research on Amur Falcon. He says that there are many issues in tracking these birds. As the birds migrate to distance places the tracking devices attached to them need to have more lifetime. The Engineers have given a solution for this problem by designing ‘Solar Power Tags’. He said that one must learn the basics of wildlife in order to conserve it.

Dr. Ramesh gave a brief introduction about current technologies used in wildlife conservation. He talked about the Camera traps that has been used to know about the wildlife. He said that technology had brought peoples of various disciplines together. As request, he gave his thoughts upon the application of drones in wildlife conservation. He said that drones are used wide in India for forest surveillance. In Malaysia, they used drones to count orangutan population. As drones can easily go to the remote places where men couldn’t, they help us in enhancing the wildlife. He said that technology is not a substitute for human, it is to support human.

Dr. Ramesh and Dr. Suresh gave their remarks on the development on Camera trapping. The  modern sensors like thermal sensor and motion sensor have replaced the older versions of infra red camera traps which are more effective. There are also researches happening to establish a remote communication between the cameras and the observer to make the works comfortable.

Dr. Lakshmi Narayanan, as an expert in research on elephants talked more about the drivers of Human-Animal conflict. He said to avoid this conflict, we must analyze the drivers and give proper solution for them. He explained about the Radio collar tracking and Satellite collar tracking methods. He also explained the uses of sensors in animal detection.

It is been said that the Citizen Science Programs like eBirds have made the individuals to contribute in conservation of wildlife and animals. They said that are so many possibilities for collaboration between institutions to enhance the conservation. They said that they are offering short term course to the aspirants to learn about wildlife.

Thus they concluded only by phrasing that,  only by understanding the wildlife one can develop a technology to help it. And also Technology should be as a support for human, not as a substitute for him.

More than 100+ participants gathered in for the panel discussion. The discussion concluded with a thanks note by 12 p.m. The overall outcome of this event was that the participants were given an opportunity to understand the reality and how to react and rectify the situation with engineering and  technology.

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