The three-day synchronised elephant census in over 958 sq km area of the six ranges of the Anamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR) and 690 sq km area in six ranges of the Coimbatore Division began on Tuesday.
The western region of Tamil Nadu accounts for a substantial elephant population along the entire Western Ghats spread over Tirupur, the Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts.
The census is being carried out in all the four States, in a bid to assess the elephant population and ascertain the condition of the habitat and corridors.
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The census results will help in revisiting the elephant population, habitat management strategies as well as reorienting the efforts of the department in conflict mitigation measures. The census and mapping of elephant population in various pockets will serve as an indicator for ensuring water, fodder availability and in assessing the condition of the migratory corridors, especially if there was a fragmentation, officials said. During the three-day exercise, the officials will adopt all the three methodologies i.e., block count method dividing the entire forest area into various blocks, line transect method and waterhole counting. The census involves both direct and indirect sighting for the head count of pachyderms.
The six ranges in Anamalai Tiger Reserve where census exercise has been taken up included Pollachi, Ulandy, Manomboly, Valparai, Udumalpet and Amaravathy. It is being carried out under the direct supervision of Field Director P. Varatharaj and Tirupur DFO Rajkumar.
In Coimbatore Division, the ranges where the exercise is under way under the supervision of Conservator of Forest V.T. Kandasamy and District Forest Officer V. Thirunavukkarasu include Coimbatore, Booluvampatti, Periyanaickenpalayam, Karamadai, Mettuppalayam and Sirumugai.
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In the Nilgiris, the census exercise is underway at the Nilgiris North, Nilgiris South, Gudalur divisions and Mudumalai Tiger Reserve.
Forest officials accompanied by representatives from voluntary organisations and non-governmental organisations involved in conservation of nature began the census exercise in the forest areas in western Tamil Nadu on Tuesday after a briefing on do's and don'ts. After the third day exercise, there would be a debriefing for the forest staff and volunteers and then the compilation of statistics would begin.