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Uttarakhand preps for elephant census, will use drones for first time
In the last census in 2015, Uttarakhand had 1,797 elephants with 1,035 of them in the Corbett landscape alone.
Uttarakahnd will carry out an elephant census after a gap of five years and drones will be used for the first time in the exercise, forest officials said Wednesday.
According to Wild Elephant Population estimation carried out in 2015 by the state forest department, Uttarakhand had 1,797 elephants with Corbett landscape emerging as the main bastion of the jumbos in the state with as many as 1,035. The Dhikala range alone had 242 elephants.
In Rajaji national park, another stronghold for the elephants in the state, 309 elephants were recorded.
“The elephant census after a gap of five years will begin on June 6. According to the last elephant census, there were 1,797 wild elephants in the state. We are expecting a good surge in the elephant numbers across the state this time”, said Parag Madhukar Dhakate, chief conservator forests, (western circle) Kumaun region.
“The elephant census will be conducted from June 6 to June 8 in the morning and evening hours. This census will be done on the basis of direct sighting method,” Parag said.
To avoid double-counting, elephants will also be tracked for all three days, he said.
“If there is a possibility of the same elephant showing up at two or more places, then it will be counted only once. The forest staff has been trained for the census and as such we are expecting an accurate census. The data generated from the census will be analysed, after which the exact number of elephants will be ascertained,” he said.
Dhakate, who is also the coordinator of the forest department’s drone force, said for the first time drones will also be used in the census of the jumbos. “We have divided forests into blocks. The drone will fly over these blocks in a zigzag manner and capture the elephants,” he said.
“Use of drones will expedite the census process and increase the accuracy of the counting process via direct sight method through drone cameras,” he said.
Around 2,000 personnel will be deployed for the exercise.
Last year in January, Uttarakhand forest department had initiated drone-based crocodile counting in the Terai area of the state, claiming it to be first such initiative in the state. Also, in September last year, for the first time the state forest department had used a drone with a flying range of up to 15 km to reroute an elephant herd that had raided a sugarcane field in Tarai area of Udham Singh Nagar.
The state forest department officials said that elephant census is carried out in the state after every four years. They said it helps them to deal with the man-elephant conflict and making policy changes in conservation initiatives
Man-elephant conflict is on the rise in the state. The aggression of elephants in Uttarakhand’s Corbett landscape, Rajaji National Park landscape and Tarai areas is becoming a major concern for wildlife officials.
People have been killed by elephants on a regular basis while many jumbos lost their lives due to electrocution and after getting hit by trains
