4 states conduct elephant census, population rise documented

Millennium Post , Monday, May 15, 2017
Correspondent : Debamoy Ghosh

Four states came together to coordinate with each other for a composite elephant census and study. The census came to an end on Friday at West Midnapore'sGoaltore. On March this year, Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand decided to conduct a census from May 10 to 12. The dates were deliberately chosen as the sighting of elephants was expected to be easier on the night of May 10, which was a full moon night. Elephant experts often say that these four states together have the maximum numbers of human-elephant conflict. However, on the other hand, a sizable portion of the population here worships the elephant as a god. In a recent incident, at Goaltore'sDudhpathari, local villagers treated an ailing elephant which was suffering from dehydration. "We undertook block counting, water hole and line transect dung count methods to count the number of elephants in the region. The data will be compiled in a specific format and sent to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for analysis," said Vijay Kumar Salimath, the Burdwan DFO. Block sampling with direct counting method basically means taking samples from the selected block randomly across the entire division. In this method, for each division, approximately 50 per cent of the forest beat areas to be randomly chosen and to be demarcated as census block. Water hole count is used not for estimating population density or size but for recording population structure. Approximately 30 to 50 percent of old waterholes (water bodies inside the forest) within each division can be selected. Elephant visits to the waterhole could be observed between 7 am to 6 pm by a team positioned on a macha (towers made of wood and bamboo for the census workers) or watch tower where available. During this period all elephants visiting the water holes are to be aged (identifying their approximate age) and sexed (identifying their gender). Line transect dung count method and dung decay rate experiment should be started about 4 months before the census. In all divisions, line transects are to be laid in all blocks where the block count was undertaken. In each sample block, a 1 km length of transect line is to be laid covering different altitudinal gradients. Elephant dung piles are counted here by this method. Elephant density estimates may be arrived at based on elephant dung density, daily elephant defecation rate and daily dung decay rate. The direct counting method is based on sighting of elephants while the indirect method uses the 'dung decay' formula, in which an analysis of elephant dung is used to estimate the population. The second method has already been used by Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. This type of census was done in 2010 in Bengal when 70 elephants were counted. Forest officers believe that the number of elephants would have increased after analysis of the recent census. "We believe that around 123 migrant elephants live in South Bengal that came from Jharkhand's Dalma. Besides that, 32 to 35 resident elephants have also been spotted," said Salimath. "The census was conducted in six districts — West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum, Burdwan East and Burdwan West. There are four members in each team comprising trained forest officers and NGO workers," he added.

 
SOURCE : http://www.millenniumpost.in/kolkata/kolkata-241959
 


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