The letter sent on Saturday by Dr. Vaibhav C. Mathur, the Assistant Inspector General of Forests under National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) comes rather as a shock to many wildlife photographers who flood their images on social media. The message is simple and clear. “Do not circulate photographs of tigers or camera trap pictures with location of the animal on social media”.
Even before one could question why would the NTCA come up with such a statement restricting photographers to even share the location of a National animal like the Royal Bengal Tiger, the answer comes in the very next line. “This information has the potential to be used for committing wildlife crimes, being in the public domain,” the letter reads.
It is evident that the locations shared so openly on the social media platform proves a sweet platter for poachers who kill the animal for its skin, teeth, bones and what not. While, many conservationists have started to breathe freely with the anti-poaching measures brought by NTCA being helpful to reduce poaching of the national animal, now they are left to face a modern problem in the name of photographers and social media who provide easy information for mere Facebook likes.
While sharing of individual photographs taken by photographers is a common thing, the advent whatsapp had paved a way to the sharing of pictures taken by camera traps. According to sources, camera traps are kept for various reasons and provide closer pictures of animals that help in identification of individuals. However, when these images are shared with location, it becomes easy for poachers to spot the animal and kill it.
It has been a trend among photographers to post with location, share and debate on the pictures of various animals and birds on the social media platform. Sharing such images not only helps poachers but also provides fellow photographers opportunities to capture the animal with their lens, yet proves a major disturbance to the creature.
Few of the fitting examples to this phenomenon are the Nilgiri Tahr of Valparai and the hornbill nests in various locations in the Western Ghats. Some crooked minded Photographers are also known to disturb the nest of birds so as to not allow others to take pictures. Their indulgence in disturbing the animal after taking a picture is also known.
These activities question the conservationist ideology of photographers who must always remember that the animal or bird is more important to environment than mere Facebook likes and their pictures themselves. At the end of the day, the subject in the image which is one of the reasons that makes the picture beautiful is not going to appreciate, if the image makes way for its destruction.
Even before one could question why would the NTCA come up with such a statement restricting photographers to even share the location of a National animal like the Royal Bengal Tiger, the answer comes in the very next line. “This information has the potential to be used for committing wildlife crimes, being in the public domain,” the letter reads.
It is evident that the locations shared so openly on the social media platform proves a sweet platter for poachers who kill the animal for its skin, teeth, bones and what not. While, many conservationists have started to breathe freely with the anti-poaching measures brought by NTCA being helpful to reduce poaching of the national animal, now they are left to face a modern problem in the name of photographers and social media who provide easy information for mere Facebook likes.
While sharing of individual photographs taken by photographers is a common thing, the advent whatsapp had paved a way to the sharing of pictures taken by camera traps. According to sources, camera traps are kept for various reasons and provide closer pictures of animals that help in identification of individuals. However, when these images are shared with location, it becomes easy for poachers to spot the animal and kill it.
It has been a trend among photographers to post with location, share and debate on the pictures of various animals and birds on the social media platform. Sharing such images not only helps poachers but also provides fellow photographers opportunities to capture the animal with their lens, yet proves a major disturbance to the creature.
Few of the fitting examples to this phenomenon are the Nilgiri Tahr of Valparai and the hornbill nests in various locations in the Western Ghats. Some crooked minded Photographers are also known to disturb the nest of birds so as to not allow others to take pictures. Their indulgence in disturbing the animal after taking a picture is also known.
These activities question the conservationist ideology of photographers who must always remember that the animal or bird is more important to environment than mere Facebook likes and their pictures themselves. At the end of the day, the subject in the image which is one of the reasons that makes the picture beautiful is not going to appreciate, if the image makes way for its destruction.