Even as officials and volunteers commenced the annual tiger census at the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve in the Nilgiris, the Reserve has been declared ‘out-of-bounds’ for tourists from December 16 to December 23.
Officials have roped in as many as 88 volunteers, and 36 teams comprising 150 staff will perambulate the 321 sq km tiger reserve spread over six ranges.
Trainee rangers from Tamil Nadu Forest Academy have also joined the census drive and the entire exercise will be carried out as per the guidelines of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA).
The census is being named as Phase IV tiger census. A pre-monsoon census had already been carried out and now what begins now is the post-monsoon census.
Six different methodologies are being adopted in the census as laid down in the protocol. The data generated will be compiled and then sent across to NTCA. Census involves direct sighting and also indirect sighting which includes pug marks, tree bark peeling and carcases of dead animals. Even the excrete of tiger will be taken note of.
The volunteers and staff were given a briefing on day one of the census drive by Field Director of the Tiger Reserve Srinivas R Reddy.
The field count begins from Wednesday and will go on till next Wednesday. Meanwhile, in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (Top Slip) in Coimbatore abutting the Parambikulam Tiger Reserve of Kerala, the census exercise is expected to commence from January 4 and will go on till 11.
Arrangements for this exercise are under way at the Anamalai Tiger Reserve spread over 958 sq km in six ranges namely Pollachi, Ulandy, Valparai, Monamboly, Udumalpet and Amaravathi. The census will be done in 48-beats over 96 line transects.
Officials plan to divide the entire exercise into first day for briefing, next three days for herbivore counting and the next three days for carnivore counting with specific reference to tigers and the last day for debriefing.
The data generated in the winter census will be compiled and then sent to NTCA, the officials said.
