Wildlife census begins at Point Calimere sanctuary

It is based on ‘direct-transect count’ methodology

December 18, 2013 08:40 am | Updated November 16, 2021 06:10 pm IST - NAGAPATTINAM:

Wild boar is one of the attractions at Point Calimere in Nagapattinam district. File photo: M. Karunakaran

Wild boar is one of the attractions at Point Calimere in Nagapattinam district. File photo: M. Karunakaran

A two-day census operation to enumerate wildlife commenced at Point Calimere wildlife sanctuary to coincide with the all-India tiger census in tiger habitats across the country.

The census is being held in all protected areas and buffer zones to ascertain the species count from December 16 to 23.

“Here at Point Calimere, we are holding it for two days to know the count of herbivores. Jackal is the lone carnivore, and wild boar, the lone omnivore in the habitat,” says C. Meenakshi, District Forest Officer and Wildlife Warden.

Point Calimere sanctuary is the home to black bucks, its flagship species, along with feral pony, spotted deer, bonnet macaque, jackal, wild boar, mongoose, black-naped hare, and Indian star tortoise.

The census is based on ‘direct-transect count’ methodology where the vast expanse of the sanctuary is divided into 21 line transects. Each line transect will be covered by direct observation by the assigned team.

Division of labour

The teams are divided on random to cover all transects. Each transect is covered by a team of four members led by a forest department staff. Each team will cover three different transects to avoid arbitrary counting. “This way we can ensure that right numbers are arrived at and avoid duplication,” says Ms. Meenakshi.

The teams that set off on their tasks at 3 p.m. on Tuesday will cover the sanctuary stretched over 3,000 hectare till Wednesday. Students of A.V.C Arts and Science College, Mayiladuthurai, and Kumbakonam Government College form part of the team. Earlier, the students were given a day-long orientation training on data observation, measuring, and recording.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.