The Forest department is set to launch surveys to enumerate wild elephant and tiger populations as part of its efforts to mitigate man-animal conflict in the State.
Forest Minister A.K. Saseendran has said the field-level enumeration of wild elephants in the State would be held from May 17 to 19, while the census of tigers would be undertaken in and around Wayanad in the first week of April.
A meeting on Saturday, chaired by Head of Forest Force Bennichen Thomas and attended by Chief Wildlife Warden Ganga Singh, among other senior officials, was held here to chalk out a strategy for the exercise.
While the activities would be supervised by Mr. Singh, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Administration) P. Pugazhendi would be the nodal officer. The field directors of the Periyar and the Parambikulam tiger reserves would also coordinate the efforts.
The three-day survey would employ the dung count method in sample blocks to estimate the count of wild elephants. The exercise would also involve an assessment of man-animal interactions, water availability, farming practices, and the changes that had occurred in elephant habitats over the years.
The training for forest officials, watchers, and volunteers for the field-level survey would commence on April 17. Volunteers from eco-development committees and Vana Samrakshana Samitis would be also included in the participatory exercise.
Tiger census
The tiger census would be undertaken across the Wayanad landscape comprising areas under the Kannur, Wayanad North and Wayanad South forest divisions and Aralam, Kottiyoor and Wayanad wildlife sanctuaries.
Camera traps would be deployed in accordance with the National Tiger Conservation Authority norms at 312 locations where such equipment were set up in 2018 and 2022 for the all-India tiger estimation. Each tiger caught in the traps would be assigned a unique ID.
A training programme for professionals, biologists, wildlife assistants, and deputy directors (wildlife education) would be held at the Periyar Tiger Reserve. The trainers of the State forest training institutes at Walayar and Arippa would also be part of the exercise.
Published - February 25, 2023 07:55 pm IST
