MoEF to begin field work on elephant enumeration this November

DNA India , Thursday, August 11, 2016
Correspondent : Nikhil M Ghanekar
Starting October this year, the union ministry of environment, forest and climate change will begin the population estimation exercise to ascertain the number of wild elephants across India's forests. The entire process will last nearly eight months and the revised population estimate will be out in May 2017. The population estimation of pachyderms happens every five years. As per the last study of 2012, the population of elephants is estimated to be between 29,000 and 30,711. Besides these wild elephants, around 3,500 elephants are in captivity.

The Southern region of the country has the largest concentration of elephants, especially across the Western Ghats that is spread across all Southern states except Andhra Pradesh.

Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh have nearly 40 per cent of the country's jumbo population with more than 12,000 elephants. The North-eastern region has more than 9,000 elephants, Eastern region has more than 3,500 elephants while the Northern region has around 1,700 elephants.

The methodology used to estimate population of elephants is different from the one used to count tigers. While the forest departments and scientists use camera traps to capture images of individual tigers and extrapolate the population estimate, this is not possible in the case of elephants as they do not bear distinct individual physical features such as the stripes of a tiger. Ministry officials, chief wildlife wardens of states and independent scientists have decided to use a combination of direct and indirect methods.

"We will be using the dung decay rate method, line transect method and the waterhole count method. Elephants move in herds and their territorial range is vast as they move from one state to another. With the help of elephant dung and its size we are able to assess their path and the probable size of their herd," said senior ministry official associated with the project said. He added, "The other methods are direct methods wherein individual elephants are counted, while walking in a straight line, fixed block and while sitting at a vantage point," the official added.

Independent expert Raman Sukumar said that the dung decay rate method is an effective indirect method as elephants are difficult to track without technology in hilly terrains and dense forests. "Elephants defecate 14-17 times a day. The decay rate of elephant dung is calculated along with deposition rate and their density. This gives an idea about their density and these values are used in a formula to arrive at an estimated number," said Sukumar, Professor, Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Since the dung decay rate is an indrect method, it is does not give any idea of individuals and herds.

 
SOURCE : http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-moef-to-begin-field-work-on-elephant-enumeration-this-november-2243573
 


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