The Forest Department has been entrusted with the gigantic task of enumerating wildlife population in the district comprising a total forest area of little over 10 lakh acres, both wildlife and non-wildlife areas.
The predominantly tribal-populated district accounts for nearly 17 % of the total forest area in the State, sources said. The Kinnerasani wildlife sanctuary in Palvancha mandal, spread across 635.41 sq km, forms the core of the forest cover of the district. The sprawling sanctuary is home to a diverse range of wildlife including leopards, gaurs and spotted deer.
With the deadline for the wildlife census as stipulated by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF) fast approaching, the Forest Department is mobilising the requisite manpower to undertake a week-long survey to ensure comprehensive census of wildlife population, from January 22. The last wildlife census was conducted in 2013 in the undivided Andhra Pradesh.
The Forest Department has drawn up plans to deploy adequate manpower, employ the line transect method, and other scientific techniques of census to accomplish the task.
Around 400 forest field staff and 200 protection watchers besides volunteers will be deployed for the week-long wildlife census to be held in 400 beats spanning across 23 ranges under six forest divisions in the district, said V Rambabu, District Forest Officer, Bhadradri-Kothagudem. The final phase of training will be imparted to the personnel drafted for the purpose of census on January 18 and 19 at ten locations in the district, he told The Hindu .
The census staff will follow the line transect method to record pugmarks of the wild animals and collect other relevant field data. The 32 camera traps positioned at vantage points in the wildlife sanctuary will also be utilised to aid the survey, he said.
