The country’s largest wildlife survey workshop has begun in Khawasa, Pench Tiger Reserve. Approximately 150 officials from 22 tiger reserves in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Jharkhand are participating in the workshop. According to Rajneesh Kumar Singh, Deputy Director of Pench National Park, field directors, DFOs, deputy directors, ACFs, range officers, field biologists, and frontline staff are receiving specialised training. This training includes scientific methods of tiger estimation, digital monitoring using the MSTrip app, camera trapping, and occupancy surveys.

 

Organised by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and the Wildlife Institute of India, this workshop is the first phase of training trainers. These trainers will further train field staff in their respective areas. This will help make Tiger Estimation 2026 a success. During the workshop, a short documentary, “Ek Nayi Sehar,” and a teaser for the film, ‘Tiger Protectors: Silent Warriors of Pench’, were launched. Pench’s frontline staff were also honoured on this occasion.