Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun - 248001
 Phone: +91-135-2640111 to 2640115
Fax: +91-135-2640117
Email : envis@wii.gov.in, wii@envis.nic.in

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Academic & Training Activities (2007-2009) :

  • The XI M. Sc. Course in Wildlife Science commenced in July 2007 for a duration of two years with nine students from different States including one from Nepal.

  • During the reporting period, the students were taken on High Altitude Techniques Tour to Kedarnath Musk Deer Sanctuary and Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (Techniques-II Tour) from April 29, to May 8, 2008 to get an exposure to the high altitude ecosystems and for understanding the ecology and conservation of species such as Snow Leopard, Himalayan Musk Deer, Himalayan Tahr and Pheasants in the Western Himalaya. 

  • As part of third semester curriculum, they undertook the Conservation Practice & Management Tours to Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary & Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park in southern India and Kanha National Park in Madhya Pradesh from September 19 to October 12, 2008 and were exposed to various issues relating to biodiversity conservation and PA management practices. The theoretical examinations were held from November 17-21, 2008.

  • The fourth and final semester commenced in November, 2008. It was field based projects and all the students developed their field projects in consultation with their supervisors and completed the field work. The following is the list of dissertation topics:

  • Asif Hussain (2009): Interaction between Equus Kiang and livestock in Hanley Valley of Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary Leh Ladakh. Supervisors: Shri Qamar Qureshi and Dr. G.S. Rawat.

  • Chandan Jani (2009): Species assemblage and differential basking habitat of freshwater turtles in a gradient of Mahanadi riverine ecosystem, Orissa. Supervisors: Shri B.C. Choudhury and Dr. K. Sivakumar.

  • M. Muralidharan (2009): Nest site selection and effect of Anthropogenic changes to the Rushikuliya Nest Beach, Orissa on Olive Ridley Turtles. Supervisors: Dr. K. Sivakumar and Shri B.C. Choudhury.

  • Rekha Warrier (2009): Resource tracking by three species of hornbills Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand. Supervisors: Dr. K. Ramesh and Dr. G.S. Rawat.

  • Suniti Bhushan Datta (2009): Nutritional ecology of Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) in Chilla Range of Rajaji National Park, Uttarakhand, India. Supervisors: Dr. S.P. Goyal and Dr. S. Sathyakumar.

  • Sahas Sharad Barve (2009): Responses shown by bird communities to Teak (Tectona grandis) plantations in Sagar Forest Division, Karnataka. Supervisors: Shri Dhananjai Mohan and Shri Qamar Qureshi.

  • Sartaj S. Ghuman (2009): A study of vigilance behaviour study of Chital (Axis axis) in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh. Supervisor: Dr. K. Sankar and Co-supervisor: Dr. Y.V. Jhala.

  •  Sumithra Shankaran (2009): Social behaviour of Hoolock gibbons (Hoolock hoolock) in Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam. Supervisors: Dr. G.S. Rawat and Shri R. Suresh Kumar.

  • Sabita Malla (2009): Estimating the status and impact of hunting on tiger prey in Bardia National Park, Nepal.  Supervisors: Dr. Y.V. Jhala and Shri Qamar Qureshi.

  • All faculty members provided teaching inputs at the HQ and also field inputs to the students, besides specialized inputs provided by the external guest faculty from time to time.

Dissertations of other institutions supervised by WII Faculty

  • Alam, Mahbub (2008): Interpretation: A tool of Protected Area Management. North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Supervisor: Smt. Bitapi C. Sinha.

  • Devlin, L. (2008): Assessment of ecosystem services of Loktak lake, Manipur. Doon College of Agriculture Science and Technology, Dehradun. Supervisors: Dr. S.A. Hussain and Dr. R. Badola.

  • Kale, Riddhika (2009): Estimation of tiger (Panthera tigris) and leopard (Panthera pardus) abundance in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu. A.V.C. College. Supervisor: Shri Qamar Qureshi.

  • Neena Priyanka (2008): Coastal habitat analysis and correlation of post-breeding migration and oceanographic factors of Olive ridley sea turtle. TERI University, New Delhi. Supervisors: Shri B.C. Choudhury and Dr. K. Sivakumar.

  • Neha Awasthi (2008): A study on attitudes of people towards ecosystem services of urban forests (FRI Campus). Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun. Post Master Diploma in Natural Resource Management. Supervisors: Dr. R. Badola and Dr. B.K. Mishra.

  • Nishant Sinha (2008): Enhancement of Spatial Decision Support System (SDSS): Olive Ridley Information System and Analysis (ORISA) using ArcIMS, Java and Spatial database. TERI University, New Delhi. Supervisors: Shri B.C. Choudhury and Dr. K. Sivakumar.

  • Preeti S. Virkar (2008): Documentation of baseline information of floral and faunal diversity in two selected fenced area of Dhanolti Reserve Forest, Mussoori Forest Division, Uttarakhand. Department of Environmental Sciences, Pune University. Supervisor: Dr. V.P. Uniyal.

  • Rohini Mann (2008): Monitoring changes in wildlife habitat in Rajaji National Park after relocation of gujjars. Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun. Supervisor: Dr. K. Vasudevan.

  • Salvador, L. (2008): Vegetation mapping and change detection of land use-land cover in and around Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan. Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun. Supervisor: Dr. K. Sankar.

  • Satheeshbabu (2008): Habitat and ecology of migratory birds in the Asan Conservation Reserve. Bharathiyar University. Supervisors: Dr. K. Sivakumar and Dr. B.S. Adhikari.

  • Shivarta Gupta (2008). Vegetation characteristic and carbon stored in forests of FRI Campus. Forest Research Institute University, Post Master Diploma in Natural Resource Management. Supervisors: Dr. S.A. Hussain and Dr. R. Badola.

  • Snehalatha, V. (2008): Prey selection and food habits of tiger and leopard in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu. Department of Ecology and Environmental Education, Pondicherry University, Puducherry. Supervisor: Dr. K. Sankar.

  • Utpal Smart (2008): Microhabitat Description, Ethogram and Time Budget of Vijayachelys silvatica in Karian Shola National Park, Western Ghats, South India. Pondicherry University. Supervisors: Dr. N. Parthasarathy and Dr. K. Vasudevan. 

Internships/Term Paper

  • Bagchi, P. (2008): Movement and ranging patterns of rhesus macaques in New Forest, Dehradun. Term Paper Submitted to Forest Research University, Dehradun for the partial fulfillment of M.Sc. (Forestry). II Semester. Supervisor: Dr. S. Sathyakumar.

  • Bisht, S. (2008): Feeding competition amongst adult female rhesus macaques in New Forest, Dehradun. Term Paper Submitted to Forest Research University, Dehradun for the partial fulfillment of M.Sc. (Forestry). II Semester. Supervisor: Dr. S. Sathyakumar.

  • Burton, S.R. and Neel, M. (2008): A study on trade of endangered mammals in India and creation of a spatial database using GIS. A report submitted to Wildlife Institute of India. Supervisor: Dr. K. Sankar.

  • Kalle, R., Fransis, P. and Deepak, R. (2008): A study on WII campus biodiversity. Internship Report. WII, Dehra Dun. Supervisor: Dr. G.S. Rawat, Dr. K. Sankar, Dr. S. Sathyakumar, Dr. B.S. Adhikari and Dr. K. Ramesh.

  • Naha, D. (2008): Breeding ecology of Red Junglefowl in New Forest, Dehradun. Term Paper Submitted to Forest Research University, Dehradun for the partial fulfillment of M.Sc. (Forestry). II Semester. Supervisor: Dr. S. Sathyakumar.

  • Roy, M. (2008): Interactions among adult and sub-adult male rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) in New Forest, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun. Term Paper Submitted to Forest Research University, Dehradun for the partial fulfillment of M.Sc. (Forestry). II Semester. Supervisor: Dr. S. Sathyakumar.

Status of Doctoral Research in WII

Registered

  • Arindam Tomar (2008): A study of the gujjar population relocated from the Rajaji National Park. Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun. Supervisor: Dr. Ruchi Badola.

  • Singh, G. (2008): Diversity of vascular plants in some parts of Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalaya. Kumaun University, Nainital. Supervisor: Dr. G.S. Rawat.

  • Prakash Chandra Mardaraj (2009): Ecology of sloth bear (Melursus ursinus) and its interaction with human beings in and around Mount Abu Wildlife Sanctuary, Rajasthan. Saurashtra University, Rajkot. Supervisor: Dr. N.P.S. Chauhan.

  • Pratap Singh (2008): Study of altitudinal and Geographical song variation and inter-specific interaction among phylloscopus warblers in the Himalayas. FRI University, Dehradun. Supervisor: Dr. G.S. Rawat and Co- Supervisor: Dr. Trevor D. Price.

Thesis Submitted

  • Ambica Paliwal (2008): Geospatial modelling of ungulate habitat relationships in Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra. Saurashtra University, Rajkot. Supervisor: Dr. V.B. Mathur.

  • A.K. Bhardwaj (2008): An assessment of ecodevelopment initiatives in Periyar Tiger Reserve. Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun. Supervisor: Dr. Ruchi Badola.

  • Foziah Hamid (2009): A study on waterfowl population and human use of Hokersar and Hygam wetlands of Kashmir valley for conservation planning. Saurashtra University, Rajkot. Supervisor: Dr. S.A. Hussain.

  • Neha Midha (2008): Land use, forest fragmentation, and river dynamics and their conservation implications on Dudhwa landscape. Saurashtra University, Rajkot. Supervisor: Dr.  P.K. Mathur.

 Awarded

  • Areendran, G. (2008): A study on vegetation ecology in Pench Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh with reference to gaur (Bos gaurus) using remote sensing and GIS technologies. Saurashtra University, Rajkot.  Supervisor: Dr. K. Sankar.

  • Asghar Nawab (2008): Ecology of otters in Corbett Tiger Reserve. Forest Research Institute University, Dehra Dun. Supervisor: Dr. S.A. Hussain.

  • Dhananjai Mohan (2009): Habitat selection of birds of New Forest, Dehradun, India. Forest Research Institute University, Dehra Dun. Supervisor: Dr. A.J.T Johnsingh

  • Devendra Singh (2009): Status and ecology of leopard (Panthera pardus) in relation to prey abundance, land use patterns and conflicts with human in Garhwal Himalayas. Forest Research Institute University, Dehra Dun. Supervisor: Dr. S.P. Goyal

  • Jatinder Kaur (2008): Impact of landuse changes on the habitat, behaviour and breeding ecology of the Indian sarus crane in the semi arid tracks of Rajasthan, India. Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun. Supervisor: Shri B.C. Choudhury.

  • Panna Lal (2008): Development of spatial database in geographical information system domain for Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve and assessment of landuse/landcover changes. Forest Research Institute University, Dehradun. Supervisors: Dr. V.B. Mathur, Co-supervisor: Shri Qamar Qureshi.

  • Rajinder Singh (2008): Hair characterization of Schedule-I felids of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act (1972) using morphometric, protein and DNA techniques: Implications in wildlife forensics. Supervisors: Dr. Mukesh Kumar, Department of Forensic Science, Punjabi University, Patiala and Dr. S.P. Goyal.

  • Rathore, B.C. (2008): Ecology of brown bear (Ursus arctos) with special reference to assessment of human-brown bear conflicts in Kugti Wildlife Sanctuary, Himachal Pradesh and mitigation strategies. Saurashtra University, Rajkot. Supervisor: Dr. N.P.S. Chauhan.

  • Reeta Sharma (2008): Molecular genetic analysis of Bengal tiger (Panthera  tigris  tigris) population and its implication in  conservation and wildlife forensics” Unit of  Evolutionary Biology/ Systematic Zoology.  Institute of Biochemistry and Biology, University of Potsdam, Germany. Supervisors: Prof. Ralph Tiedemann and Dr. S.P. Goyal.

 D.Sc. Awarded

  • Rawat, G.S. (2008): Alpine vegetation of Western Himalaya - Species diversity, community structure, dynamics, and aspects of conservation. D.Sc. Degree in Botany awarded by Kumaon University, Nainital.

XXIX Post-Graduate Diploma Course in Wildlife Management September 2007 to May 2008

The Management Term Paper Exercise field tour was undertaken to Kaziranga National Park in April 2008. The officer trainees also participated in Management Planning Exercise at Periyar Tiger Reserve, Kerala from April 12 to May 8, 2008. This was followed by Management Plan writing. For the first time, the officer trainees prepared the Tiger Conservation Plan for Periyar Tiger Reserve as per the guidelines issued by the National Tiger Conservation Authority.

The Institute offered a two-month modular training programme in Management Planning for lateral entrants during April 1-May 30, 2008, which was dovetailed in the XXIX P.G. Diploma Course in Wildlife Management. The training programme aimed to provide basic knowledge and skills for preparation of integrated wildlife management plans for Protected Areas with special focus on understanding the relationships of different stakeholders and other process required for development of an implementable wildlife management plan. A total of five lateral entrants from three States (two each from Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan and one from Madhya Pradesh) participated in this training programme. The entire training cost of lateral entrants was borne by this Institute. 

The Viva-Voce examination was held on May 27, 2008. The valedictory function was organized on May 30, 2008. Dr. Devendra Pandey, IFS, Director General, Forest Survey of India, Dehradun, was the Chief Guest on the occasion. He presented the Diplomas and various awards to the officer trainees. All fifteen officer trainees were awarded 'Diploma in Wildlife Management' on successful completion of the course, of which, eight were awarded the Honours Diploma.

XXX Post Graduate Diploma Course in Wildlife Management September 2008 to May 2009

The course commenced from September 1, 2008 with seven officer trainees of the rank of Deputy Conservator of Forests/Assistant Conservator of Forests and equivalent levels from different States within country. Among them, three are Indian trainees (one each from Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Orissa). In addition, there are four foreign nationals from South Asian countries (two from Bhutan and one each from Nepal & Sri Lanka) under different sponsorships. One foreign national (Bhutan) has been sponsored by the Global Tiger Forum, New Delhi while remaining three (Bhutan, Nepal and Sri Lanka) were sponsored under SAARC Wildlife Management Fellowship Scheme respectively for the aforesaid training course.

The following modular based short-term training courses were also offered for the lateral entrants: (i) `Restraint and Immobilization of Wild Animals', November 3-7, 2008;

(ii) Visitor Use Management & Interpretive Planning, November 17-22, 2008; (iii) `Ecodevelopment for Biodiversity Conservation', January 17-23, 2009;

(iv) `Management on Wetlands and Coastal  Habitat', January 27-31, 2009; and (v) `Environment Impact Assessment & Social Impact Assessment', March, 2-9, 2009.

As a part of the course, the following field visits were undertaken by the officer trainees: One-day field visit to Rajaji  National  Park (Chilla) in Uttarakhand on September 20, 2008 to study issues related to Chilla-Motichur corridor, study of animal behavior, familiarization with wildlife evidences and study of habitat & ecosystem succession. Orientation tour was organized at Rajaji National Park (Chilla) from September 26-30, 2008. High Altitude Techniques tour was organized at Kedarnath Wildlife Sanctuary and Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve in Uttarakhand from November 8-12, 2008. The objective of this tour was to study the habitat requirements of Himalayan flagship species like snow leopard, Himalayan Musk Deer, Himalayan Tahr and Monal and its conservation in the Western Himalaya. As part of the module on `Interpretive Planning & Visitor Use Management', the officer trainees and lateral entrants undertook an exercise at Asan Conservation Reserve on November 22, 2008.

The officer trainees were taken to Sariska Tiger Reserve in Rajasthan for Techniques Tour from November 23 to December 6, 2008. The techniques to estimate plant and animal abundance were demonstrated and practiced. The officer trainees as well as lateral entrants undertook a study tour to Corbett Tiger Reserve, Kalagarh (fringe villages) from January 15-17, 2009. The objective of this study tour was to expose the participants to various participatory tools and techniques of social information gathering for ecodevelopment planning besides issues of interface conflict and PA management practices. They also visited Rajaji National Park, Dholkhand on January 24, 2009 to familiarize with wildlife evidences, habitats, animal behavior, familiarization to the vegetation of Shivaliks and bird watching. Management Tour was completed in Several PAs/Wildlife Sanctuaries and Zoological Parks in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh as well as in Malaysia and Singapore from February 2-19, and February 19-28, 2009 respectively. The objective of the tour was to study the range of wildlife management issues and the strategies being practiced by the Park Managers and to assess their relative strengths and weaknesses. During this tour, the officer trainees learnt about the values of the different areas, the management issues–the problems and present management practices & strategies to overcome them. 

As part of the module `Environmental & Social Impact Assessment', the participants visited mine area at Maldevta on March 4, 2009. The objective of the visit was to understand the process of impact assessment studies. Visit to Vulture Conservation Breeding Centre, Pinjore in Haryana was organized on March 14, 2009 to study issues related to various aspects of Vulture Conservation Breeding Programme. Management Term Paper Exercise was undertaken in Dudhwa Tiger Reserve, Uttar Pradesh from March 15-21, 2009. The trainees were assigned specific topics before hand on various aspects of the resources and protected area management. 

XXIV Certificate Course in Wildlife Management November 2008 to January 2009

The course commenced on November 1, 2008 for the duration of three-months. In all, thirteen officer trainees of the rank of Range Forest Officers & equivalent joined the course. Among them, one each represented Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh & Maharashtra and two from Sikkim. In addition, there were five foreign nationals from neighbouring Asian countries, of which, three foreign nationals (one each from Nepal, Bhutan and Indonesia)  were sponsored by the Global Tiger Forum, New Delhi and  two nationals from Pakistan were sponsored by WWF-Pakistan.  

The officer trainees undertook the Orientation-cum-Techniques Tour at Rajaji National Park, Chilla (Uttarakhand) from November 26 to December 5, 2008. The Management Tour was conducted from January 2-21, 2009 in National Zoological Park (Delhi); Keoladeo National Park (Rajasthan); Chambal Wildlife Sanctuary, Panna National Park, Kanha Tiger Reserve, Pench Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh and Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve in Maharashtra. This tour exposed the officer trainees to a variety of management practices across several Protected Areas/Wildlife Sanctuaries, Zoo and ex-situ conservation areas in the central and southern parts of the country.

The Viva-Voce examination was held on January 28, 2009. The Valedictory Function was organized on January 30, 2009. Shri S.C. Dey, Secretary General, Global Tiger Forum, New Delhi, was the Chief Guest on the occasion. He presented the Certificates and various awards to the officer trainees. All thirteen officer trainees were awarded 'Certificate in Wildlife Management' on successful completion of the course. Ten out of thirteen officer trainees obtained the “Honours Certificate” in this course.