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Citizen Science Programme

Citizen Science is the voluntary involvement of the public in scientific study. Citizen Science has historically contributed to many domains of science, including conservation of natural resources. Involvement of general public in scientific issues can be a powerful way to tackle conservation challenges. Various programmes include Sunday Bird Walk, Tree walk, Butterfly and Moth watch, Nature trails and Herping.

As a part of Zoo education, Nandankanan has prioritized to connect people with nature through Citizen Science Programme. Taking the opportunity of “Sunday Bird Walk” the zoo intended to enhance voluntary public participation in collection of data on bird diversity in and around Nandankanan Wildlife Sanctuary, fostering public input and engagement to conserve and manage natural resources. This programme runs on every Sunday for 20-25 participants on first come first basis. The participants have to register their name and details between Monday to Friday in the online portal i.e. www.nandankanan.org for participation on the coming Sunday Bird Walk. The reporting time for the participants at Forest Rest House of Nandankanan is at 06:15 am. The walk begins at 06:30 am and continues till 09:30 am. In this programme the participants get a chance to observe birds in-situ and ex-situ along with the guidance of various bird experts. This is a great platform not only for beginners but also for researchers and nature enthusiasts. Following the walk, the participants are added to a What’s App group to address their post-session queries and experience sharing.

Butterflies are colourful and active organisms that help in pollination and are food of many birds, lizards, etc. Though State Botanical Garden houses a beautiful Butterfly Park but as a Citizen Science initiative many people join for the Butterfly Walk within the Zoo and State Botanical Garden. The Line Transect Method is followed, where a transect is chosen and all the butterflies that are seen during the walk are documented through cameras and mobile phones and all the important details are noted down along the walk. The participants are instructed how to photograph and how to identify common butterflies through their wing colours, colour of abdomen and are given an idea about the varied host plants they can expect to see a butterfly. The photographs are shared in a Whats App group for identification through authentic resources like books and the website "Butterflies of India".

Moths are different from butterflies. While the former generally being nocturnal in nature the later are diurnal organisms. As a Citizen Science initiative, Moth Watch is conducted at Nandankanan Zoological Park and State Botanical Garden to get an idea about the diversity of moths present in the Zoo. Moths are a good source of many organisms like birds, lizards and other small predators. A light sheet is set up after the sunset in an isolated and dark place within the zoo with the help of a generator. With a mere white screen, a mercury lamp and a camera a lot of information can be gathered about these moths starting from its behaviour to mating. Varied families of moths are seen on a regular basis: Geometridae, Noctuidae, Shingidae and so on. The photographic documentation helps in maintaining a checklist of the diversity of moths which can further help to document the host plants as well. Many serious nature enthusiasts and Zoo volunteers join in the Moth Watch on a regular basis.

Tree Walk at Nandankanan & State Botanical Garden is a regular Citizen Science Programme where a group of people start walking from a point and get to know about the plants on the way. A lot of trees at Nandankanan Zoological Park and State Botanical Garden have been barcoded where one can scan the QR code plate on the tree with their mobile phones and get the information. The QR codes have been set up with the help of Season Watch where a lot of information like the fruit, flowering time and other features can be known about a particular tree. The height of the tree is estimated following the tangent method and other methods where a stick is taken and kept parallely till the top of the tree and the top of the stick are parallel and the distance of the shadow is measured. Many students from Botany and Forestry backgrounds give their insights as well.