Tamil Nadu Kicks Off Statewide Elephant Census in Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve

The Tamil Nadu forest department has commenced a three-day elephant census at Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve, involving around 300 forest officials. This synchronized effort spans 26 forest divisions across Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. The initiative aims to estimate the elephant population in the region.

The Tamil Nadu forest department on Thursday commenced a three-day-long elephant census at Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve as part of the state-wide initiative, officials said.

Around 300 forest officials are deputed to conduct the census in ten forest ranges at STR.

All precautionary measures are being taken, like providing firearms for enumerators to safeguard them from animal attack, drinking water and food, officials said.

The forest officials will conduct the census from 6 am to 6 pm daily till Saturday.

This second synchronised Elephant Population Estimation 2024 which began today will cover 26 forest divisions in 697 blocks, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment Climate Change and Forests, Supriya Sahu said.

The estimation will be done simultaneously in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala, she said in a post on the social media platform X. ''The first synchronised estimation done in 2023 in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala had estimated a population of 2,961 elephants in TN. A total of 1,836 forest staff and 342 volunteers are participating in this exercise Video - @supriyasahuias #TNForest #Elephantestimation,'' Sahu said posting a video.

Five tiger reserves spread across the state have been included in the elephant census covering the forest areas from Hosur to Kanyakumari. The Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) has also been included in the census.

Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas R Reddy, and Chief Conservator of Forests and field director of MTR, D Venkatesh, were among the officials involved in the annual exercise.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)