Manipur forest officials, environmentalists and wildlife experts jointly carried out a wildlife census for sangais and other wild animals at the 40-squarekm park that links Loktak, the biggest freshwater lake in the northeast.

In the latest census, experts spotted 206 sangais, 212 Kharshas (hog deer) and 269 wild boars, forest officials said. The wildlife wing of the forest department submitted the latest census report to the government a few days ago and the same has been approved, a source said.

Keibul Lamjao, the only floating park in the world, was declared as a national park in 1997 with the primary objective to conserve its bio-diversity, particularly the sangai, which is incorporated in Schedule I, a list of the most endangered wildlife species in the country under Wildlife Protection Act ( WPA). During a headcount of Sangais conducted by the forest department in 2003 at the park, the population of the rare animal, also known as "dancing deer", was found to be 180.

Despite poaching, military operations and water pollution, there has been a rise in Sangai count. In one of the major counter-insurgency operations carried out at Keibul Lamjao in April, 2009, security forces killed at least 12 rebels and busted five camps.

Nonetheless, there was no official report on killing of any Sangai in the military operation.

Despite sharp vigil by forest officials at the park, there have been cases of poachers being arrested and recovery of traps from the park. In February, forest guards caught two poachers while they were dressing a Sangai carcass at Keibul Lamjao .

People for Animal (PFA), Thoubal, has already asked the state government to install a pilotless plane inside the national park to detect poachers.