With the recent wildlife census in the North Division of the Nilgiris Forest department having revealed that the population of most of the wild animals was healthy, a two-day census got under way in the South division on Monday.
Speaking to The Hindu , the District Forest Officer, Nilgiris South, Anurag Mishra said that it was being conducted by forest officials with the help of volunteers from the World Wide Fund (WWF) of India and the Nilgiris Wildlife and Environment Association (NWLEA).
Pointing out that the division extended over about 320 Square km and covered areas like Kundah, Parsons Valley, Naduvattam, Pykara, Avanalchi and Emerald, he said that about 40 persons in groups had fanned out to different places. Among them were college students.
Training in various aspects of the census operation has been imparted to them. The transact method was being adopted.
Stating that the South division was ideal habitat for a variety of wild animals including the Nilgiri tahr, sambar, Indian Gaur, barking deer, Nilgiri Langur and even leopards and tigers, Mr.Mishra said: “Thanks to effective conservation measures, I expect the population to have gone up”.
Expressing the confidence that the census operation will go off without a hitch, he said that if the weather plays spoilsport, the exercise would be repeated wherever necessary.
