The state forest department has formed a three-member committee headed by SP Sisodiya, chief conservator of forest, to finalize the leopard and sloth bear count. According to officials apart from Sisodiya, the committee will also have chief conservator of forest, RC Mistry and conservator of forest, UdayVora.

Sources in the department said that the census exercise has thrown up some rather encouraging results as there were numerous sightings by teams across the state of both leopards and sloth bears. The officials said that if these sightings were an indication, the number of both the leopard and sloth bear is likely to grow.

Forest officials said that the beat officials have been asked to compile their data by Monday night and send their reports to their seniors. Sources added that the senior officials have been asked to compile the data and send it to the team by May 30.

The officials said that the leopard census 2011 had revealed 1,160 big cats in the state out of which 290 were spotted in revenue areas. "Going by the pre-census count, we estimate an increase of around 15-20% in numbers. We hope that leopards could register a growth similar to that of lions. The 2015 census conducted had revealed a 27% growth in the number of lions from 411 to 523. There is also possibility of an increase of 20% in sloth bear numbers."