ANTARCTICA: INDIA TO START HI-TECH WILDLIFE CENSUS

• by IPS Correspondents (dehradun, india)
• Saturday, December 17, 1994
• Inter Press Service

DEHRADUN, INDIA, Dic 17 (IPS) - TRACKING A PETREL IS NOT A ROUTINE BIRD SPOTTING CHORE IN THE FROZEN WASTES OF ANTARCTICA WHERE BLINDING BLIZZARDS AND THE ABSENCE OF LANDMARKS CAN CONFOUND THE MOST DETERMINED WILDLIFE WATCHER.

BUT FOR TWO MONTHS EARLY NEXT YEAR, AN EXPERT FROM ONE OF THE WORLD'S PREMIER WILDLIFE INSTITUTES IN THIS NORTH INDIAN TOWN WILL USE SATELLITE NAVIGATION, HI-TECH MAPS AND A ZEST FOR THE UNKNOWN TO COUNT BIRDS AND MAMMALS IN THE ICY DESERT.

S. SATHYAKUMAR, A WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST AT THE DEHRADUN-BASED WILDLIFE INSTITUTE OF INDIA (WFL), IS PART OF INDIA'S 60-MEMBER SCIENTIFIC EXPEDITION TO ANTARCTICA WHICH SAILS TO THE SOUTHERNMOST CONTINENT ON DEC. 15 ON A HIRED ICEBREAKING SHIP, 'ICEBIRD'.

THIS IS THE COUNTRY'S 14TH ANNUAL SCIENTIFIC TRIP TO ANTARCTICA AND WILL TAKE THREE WEEKS TO REACH ITS BASE CAMP NAMED 'DAKSHIN GANGOTRI', LOCATED AT 70.05 DEGREES SOUTH LATITUDE AND 12.00 DEGREES EAST LONGITUDE.

INDIA HAS TWO SCIENTIFIC STATIONS IN ANTARCTICA -- THE SECOND BEING THE 'MAITRI' BASE CAMP NEARLY 100 KM INLAND FROM DAKSHIN GANGOTRI. THE COUNTRY IS ONE OF SEVERAL CARRYING OUT SCIENTIFIC STUDIES ON THE CONTINENT. A TEAM OF INDIAN SCIENTISTS LIVES IN ANTARCTICA ROUND THE YEAR.

FOR THE FIRST TIME, A WILDLIFE EXPERT IS PART OF THE EXPEDITION WHICH WILL START A LONG-TERM STUDY OF ANTARCTIC BIRDS AND MAMMALS IN THE AREAS AROUND THE INDIAN BASE STATIONS. SATHYAKUMAR WILL BE FOLLOWED BY OTHER WILDLIFE BIOLOGISTS WHO WILL KEEP TABS ON THE ANIMAL NUMBERS OVER THE NEXT QUARTER CENTURY.

"THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE ARE TRYING TO SAVE WILDLIFE IN AN AREA WHICH IS AWAY FROM THE COUNTRY," SAYS SATHYAKUMAR WHO IS EXCITED BY THE PROSPECT OF SEEING SPECIES "I HAVE NEVER SEEN BEFORE."

SET UP IN 1982, THE DEHRADUN INSTITUTE IS RECOGNISED BY THE INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE (IUCN) AS A CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR WILDLIFE STUDY AND HAS TRAINED EXPERTS FROM SOUTH ASIAN AND SEVERAL OTHER NATIONS.

THE INSTITUTE IS PIONEERING A CONTINUOUS ANTARCTIC WILDLIFE CENSUS. AT LEAST 18 OF THE MORE THAN 40 ESTIMATED ANTARCTIC BIRD SPECIES ARE FOUND IN THE AREAS AROUND THE INDIAN BASE CAMPS WHICH ALSO HAVE TWO KINDS OF SEALS AND THREE TO FOUR WHALE AND DOLPHIN SPECIES.

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