Camera-trapping Mammals in Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary

Nandini Velho


Chosen as 'Picture of the Week'

The mammalian fauna of Eaglenest has been poorly documented. CI presents some of the mammals “captured” in a recent camera trapping exercise.

Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary in West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh contains within itself a wide elevation range (500 to 3200 m ASL), diverse habitats and species which make it one of the most important areas of the Kameng Protected Area Complex. This complex covers over 3500 sq km; two states, and five protected areas. The spectacular bird diversity of Eaglenest has been the keystone in ensuring Eaglenest’s protection by the resident Bugun and Shertukpen community. About 525 bird species are known from a 100 km region centred around Eaglenest – globally second only to the eastern slopes of the Andes in South America.

Surprisingly, the mammalian fauna in Eaglenest and the surrounding community forests remained undocumented. As part of my PhD project for James Cook University, Australia, Priya Singh and I did a 60-day camera trapping exercise (from April to June 2013) in a comparable area of the protected area and community forest. The exercise revealed some really interesting species! Here is a photofeature of some of the mammals “captured”.

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About the author

Nandini Velho

Nandini is a postgraduate in wildlife biology and conservation. She is currently a PhD student at James Cook University and research associate at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS).



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