A three-day synchronised elephant census - which began at four bordering states of Jharkhand, Bengal, Odisha and Chhattisgarh on May 10 to avoid duplication and arrive at a more accurate count - ended yesterday.

Part of the 7th All India Elephant Census under Project Elephant, the census had used an identical set of rules for counting - direct (sightings) and indirect (dung decay analysis) - for the four states.

M.P. Singh, field director of Palamau Tiger Reserve, today said the park's jumbo count had increased more than 10 per cent from the last national census around four years back. "We now have 182 elephants against 160 earlier," a visibly elated Singh told The Telegraph, following the completion of the compilation process.

The report will now be sent to the state forest headquarters, which will declare the state-wide count after collating data from every pocket.

The census was conducted in 36 forest divisions, including 31 territorial and five wildlife divisions, across the state.

Palamau Tiger Reserve, which is spread across 1100 square km, was divided into 186 blocks for the census. Out of that, 93 blocks were taken up for counting. "Total 91 elephants were found directly. Using a special formula, the extrapolated figure now stands at 182. In the buffer area, we have 142 elephants, while in the core area there are 40," Singh said.

He attributed the increase in the figures to migratory elephants who were currently camping at the park because of its habitable condition.

"The increase in the number of animals is directly proportional to the health of the habitat. So, we can say that our habitat is in good condition but there is always a lot more to do," Singh added.

The tiger reserve has to grapple with an acute water every summer prompting animals to venture out and fall prey to poachers.

Singh, however, said the reserve wasn't facing any major water crunch this year. "The buffer area has good amount of water and food vis-à-vis the core area if the concentration of elephants at the moment is anything to go by," he said.

On plans to revive the habitat, Singh said a massive bamboo plantation drive would be carried out across the park. "It will be done in a phased manner."

However, the state's lone elephant sanctuary Dalma preferred to reserve comment on the jumbo count till a formal report was submitted to the state forest headquarters. "We shall finish our formal compilation by early next week," field director V. Baskaran said.

"According to the last census, Jharkhand has 688 elephants and we hope that the latest figures are satisfactory. I am awaiting data from all regions before making a formal announcement," state's chief wildlife warden L.R. Singh said.