In a week, over 600 citizens will scout forests in search of dung or wait patiently besides waterholes to keep a track of wild elephants as the 2017 census kicks off on May 16. The volunteer list released by the Karnataka Forest Department shows over 533 volunteers, apart from 92 ‘resource’ persons, a record of sorts for the once-in-five-years census, which has this year expanded its public outreach.
This is a drastic rise from the 100 people who had volunteered during the last iteration of the All India Synchronised Asian Elephant Population Estimation in 2012. The volunteers who have come forward for the four-day exercise include a diverse range of professions: engineers, students, teachers, doctors, businessmen and researchers, but seemingly united in their passion for wildlife conservation.
“This is more than we expected. We had to reject more than 125 applications as they did not turn up for the workshops, but clearly there is great enthusiasm,” said Dilip Kumar Das, Chief Conservator of Forests (Project Elephant).
Among those going is 36-year-old Veerendra Pavate, a techie from Bengaluru, who had even attended two workshops (Bannerghatta and Mysuru) to increase his chances for selection.
“I have harboured an interest for wildlife even as a boy. In 2013, I participated in the tiger census and since then I have been waiting for the elephant census,” he said.
Though having applied for a preference in Bandipur, he has been assigned to Mangaluru, a place he said he will go with equal enthusiasm.
Similarly, for psychiatrist Naveen Jayaram (32) from Whitefield, the census comes in the background of his growing desire to connect with wildlife conservation.
“I had applied twice for the tiger census but was accepted. This is a great chance to learn from the forests, learn how enumeration works and get involved in conservation,” he said. He has been allocated to Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary.
While volunteers are allocated to 17 divisions, spanning contiguous landscapes stretching from Bannerghatta National Park to Bhadra, it was clear that Bandipur-Nagarahole had remained the most popular.
“Most of the volunteers wanted to go there, but we had to divide the volunteers based on what the requirement in the field were,” said Mr. Das.
Eventually, 273 volunteers have been placed in and around Bandipur-Nagarahole-BRT, with a staggering 98 volunteers being allocated to count elephants in Bandipur.
Each batch of between 20 to 30 people will be accompanied by two forest personnel and resource persons to ensure scientific rigour in data collection.
The 2012 census had enumerated more than 6,072 elephants in the State, and the 2017 exercise is expected to show a greater number.
