Elephant count begins with hope that numbers are up

CHENNAI: Officials of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka will carry out a three-day elephant headcount starting Tuesday, with foresters optimistic about finding a significant increase in the number of pachyderms.

The timing of the census is significant as this is first one after a series of measures to improve the habitat of the animals in the south. The last joint census was carried out in 2007.

The census is a Project Elephant initiative and will be simultaneously carried out across the country.

“We have created watering holes for the elephants and set up tree fodder patches for them,” said a forest official in Nilgiris division. “We are hoping that the number of elephants will be higher than in the last census.”

Owing to shrinking habitats, man-elephant conflict has been on the rise, and highways in elephant corridors further fragmented their range. This led to a decline in their population in south India.

The Madras high court recently directed several private properties in elephant corridors to remove solar electric fences that limited the range of the animals.

The census in Tamil Nadu will largely be confined to divisions with known elephant populations. “It will be conducted in forest divisions of Coimbatore, Erode, Satyamangalam, Nilgiris, Dindigul, Srivalliputhur, Kodaikanal and Tirunelveli,” a senior state forest official said.

The enumeration will be done in three stages. On the first day, a direct count will be carried out. “The numbers will be corroborated on the second day with line transects, in which forest officials and volunteers will walk along a 2km line to check dung density,” the official said. “On the third day, there will be a count of elephants at waterholes and they will be classified as male, female or calves.”

Dung density method was first used during a synchronised census in 2005. This method helps determine the density of elephant population in areas where visibility is low due to dense forest cover.

In Coimbatore division, home to Mudumalai sanctuary, 180 enumerators will fan out in the next three days. “Among them will be 60 volunteers. They will cover an area of 300sqkm,” said V Tirunavukarasu, divisional forest officer (DFO), Coimbatore. “But we are not expecting good numbers in this division as the summer was harsh this year.”

However, other divisions expect to record a rise in numbers. “We have been having heavy rainfall here in Satymangalam,” said Satyamangalam DFO N Satheesh, where 560sqkm of area will be covered. “We have seen herds of elephants moving through the Moyyar gorge in the Sengumarudu forest area.”